i've been reading a lot about consumerism lately, especially advertising aimed at children, and i'm repulsed. i'm not raising my kids in america. kids are exposed to 38 (out of 168) hours a week to advertisements. that's sickening to me. i remember buying into it, wanting this Barbie and that toy. i'm so glad i've escaped. i can't handle watching tv anymore because all the annoying commercials distract me. i've been watching tv shows on dvd. it's got me thinking about making movies in such a world...
as you all know, and i'm sure have at one time or another poked fun at, i'm interested in youth culture and the media. i'm not really sure how this happened.
in high school i was really into literature and biology and then theory of knowledge class came about, and first i learned about logic and then formulating scientific methods and then the structure of the systems of math, and then... culture and anthropolgy and social sciences. and finally, that all these things are more similar than different.
then i went and studied film.
and i guess something clicked between the two, and i realized how powerful of a tool film and photography and writing are, and how we can learn about our culture by reading our favorite films and our favorite books and looking at the pretty pictures in the magazine.
and i realized all the lies that these stories tell us about us. and especially aboout kids and teenagers. a vicious circle it is: grown-ups leave their childhood and teen years behind, distance themselves from kids, and forget what it's really like. and then they go off and make movies, and write books about and for kids, and they get it all wrong, they shove a few steretypes of kids.
and kids see it, and they think that that's what they SHOULD be. they should be the jock or the nerd or the artsy kid, and they attempt and become the stereotypes. and then the adults write about the stereotypical kids they've created and how awful stereotypes are.
and that's why i want to make movies.
not to be godard or fellini or spielberg.
i want to show kids and teenagers who they really are. i want to get THEM to tell the world who they really are. i want them to know that they're just like everyone else, like all the grown-ups.
grown-ups lie. they seem like they know what they're doing, or what they want, but they don't. no one ever knows what they're doing, or if it will be ok, in the end.i want to put real people up on those coveted screens, in those shiny photos, so that maybe they can see themselves and think, 'hey, that looks just like me.' and instead of trying to become something, become glam or stylish or rich or artistic, they'll want to become someone, who does something. maybe they'll see the fact that the punk girl's hair and the preppy girl's hair are the same color, but just worn in different ways.
maybe instead of buying a lipstick to impress the boy they'll buy the boy their favorite book, or talk to him. and maybe the boy will talk to the girl, and not the person who's trying to seduce him or impress him or attract him. just maybe...
sidenote: i'm writing a screenplay about two girls that i plan to make after i finish film school. it's going really well so far. oh and i'm going crazy looking at googleearth images of where i'll be going to school next semester in florence. and i leave for europe july 18th.
must download song of the moment:
icky thump by the white stripes
