Yesterday, I caught the Facebook status of a guy who I deeply respect as a journalist in the music business. I won’t paste the actual quote here—though I’m extremely tempted to—but I will paraphrase it. Basically he said that he hadn’t watched a single frame of the Olympics and that he was better off for it. His second comment, that he is planning to watch even less of it next time.
And next month, this guy will want me to read his most recent film music review or interview by posting a link—as he always does—to his Facebook page to bait “likes”. I’m not sure if I’ll be tuning in this time around.
I’ll never forget when I was in the 10th grade, my Christian high school English teacher decided to go on a long rant the day after Oscar night about how people in Hollywood were living a pipe-dream and that nothing of that culture would ever serve an eternal purpose. “Do you think that if you happen to win some award for doing something that is not of everlasting or eternal value it will mean anything in 10 years to anybody?” I remember thinking, “Um… yeah! It will mean something to me! Doesn’t that count?”
Some six months later, that same teacher became one of ten educators nominated for a national award of merit. The entire school rallied around her to win by initiating a community-wide call campaign to encourage people to phone in their vote for our hometown hero. I never participated in the campaign. Also, somehow, I couldn’t bring myself to vote on her behalf.
Doesn’t it kind of go without saying that if you want to be supported, you need to be a supporter? Does that mean you have to like the art or the performance or the path each time out, or that you even have to pay attention to it or make special mention of it every time? Of course not. That’s a little something we call lying.There are people on SoundCloud who I think are potentially some of the worst composers/musicians I’ve ever heard. That doesn’t stop me from encouraging them in their gift. We all have the capacity for improvement. The fact that some people are not quite up to your standards or that you are just simply “above watching” them perform is no reason to dismiss them publicly as an irrelevant entity.
Am I being obtuse? I don’t think so. If you seek my support, I expect to you to respect the art and hard work of others who would likely support you. It works both ways. In the case of the journalist I mentioned in my opening paragraph, the wound runs a little deeper since the music for the Olympic closing ceremonies was produced and put together by prolific A-list film composer and all-around nice guy David Arnold. Yet here we have a self-proclaimed music and film “critic” crapping on about the Olympics in a negative fashion. Nice support of the broader community that you say you serve, buddy. Should he have watched the Olympics? Not necessarily. Especially if he just doesn’t honestly’ enjoy that kind of entertainment for whatever reason. It’s a free country and everyone’s tastes are welcomed and understood. However, should he publicly make mention of how worthless he finds it to be? I don’t think so.
This person’s passion for creating engaging and interesting monthly film music editorial and insight is something I can get behind. I don’t always like his articles, but I support his work and admire his pioneering spirit and his devotion to our business. I don’t want to lose that and I would hate if he ever said, “Yeah, I think I’m done now.” The business wouldn’t be the same without his voice. In the same vein, I greatly admired my teacher’s understanding and command of English. Even if I didn’t necessarily agree with her 100% of the time, I certainly appreciated her fervent study of the language in order that she might impart some of her hard-earned knowledge to me, and I supported it.
Again, you don’t need to like the Olympics (in the case of our journalist). You certainly don’t need to like Hollywood (in the case of my high school English teacher). There is plenty to hate about both, I agree. But much like the musicians we all champion, many Olympic athletes start their training at or close to birth. They work their entire lives for what might ultimately boil down to a few fractions of a second’s difference between them and the next competitor. Likewise, actors and performers do a similar thing. They devote their lives to entertaining people; to making people happier; to alleviating some of the burden of everyday life, if only for 25 minutes on a Thursday night. That holds value no matter if you, as a consumer, like it or dislike it. Passion is universal. Art doesn’t always demand to be supported. But passion deserves to be.
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LOL, I play drums with my jaw too… my dad did it and I’ve noticed my oldest son doing it too. I always thought we were weird for it. Hahaha… I am still cracking up from hearing that.
I love this, especially because it comes at an interesting time with recent events in my local film community. Aside from that, I have felt this for years. In my younger years, I was not much of a fan of opera. As much as I wanted to, I simply didn't enjoy it (thankfully, times change). Even with that, I always had great respect for the art and artists themselves. So much work over many years goes into each and every one. Same with the olympics or sports of any kind, writing, fashion designers, car makers, cake designers and so on. Successful or not, enjoyable or not, I respect the time and effort passionate people put into their chosen craft. Everything takes a level of talent and dedication or it simply wouldn't exist. Of course, I hope people enjoy my work, but if they don't, I hope they at least respect the effort.
I do have to disagree with your teacher. I think our work will long outlast us. Beethoven died in 1827, Mozart in 1791 and Bach in 1750. Their music is still some of the most played today. Beethoven is even being played in space. Sounds pretty immortal to me.
You are so right, Scott. That teacher missed the point entirely. I have never forgotten that rant she went on and I hope I never do. I wish I'd recorded it. It was exactly the kind of thing I'd like to lead some of my university talks with to illustrate how utterly and recklessly devoted you need to be to your passion no matter what anyone else might think or say. There are countless examples of people receiving recognition for outstanding work in their respective fields. I don't know what she was thinking. I'm certain she would have not lumped a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist into her list of irrelevant artists.
Thanks for posting this! I believe it's not only "outside" where we often hear this, by not going to far from home we hear this everyday. Especially my dad, he is an engineer and a career like music made a wide gap between our relationship. He would rant about every possible thing regarding music. Over the years, I realized that it is not something I can control, something that I'd have to shrug off in order for me to progress. It also challenged me to go further, push harder on my craft. At the end of the day, He is my dad and deserves the amount of respect from a son. Same goes to every one who can't keep their mouth shut.