Steven Barnes's Blog, page 40

A thought on “Barry Lyndon” (1975)

Kubrick’s 1975  “Barry Lyndon” is a movie about an absolute rotter who does one good thing and is destroyed by it. An excellent case could be made that he should have shot Bullingdon instead of discharging his pistol in the air. I believe an even better case can be made that by losing the world, Barry gained an opportunity to save his soul. That losing his leg was the price for POTENTIALLY righting his life. The narrator only tells us that Barry immigrated and failed to match his former succ...

You are the world you see

Love yourself Love one other person Understand history without guilt, blame, or shame Protect your tribe.  Let the sleepers sleep, avoid snakes, be strong enough to slay monsters. Win with integrity and compassion.

The implications of #3 are vast.  They ask you to extend the love you feel for yourself to others, to have compassion.

 

 

I cannot say that you should model my answers. I can say that my answers make sense of the world without guilt or “blame” (this is tricky–there is responsibi...

“Geostorm” (2017)

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“Geostorm” re-acquainted me with an old and dear friend: the Matte line. Wow, some really bad, grainy FX for such a big-budget movie. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a film where I could predict the plot points more easily, or had to swallow as many absurdities to enjoy the fun. A single film violating the laws of logic, physics, governmental structure, human psychology, cinema and story-telling all at the same time is sort of genius, isn’t it? Have to admit that I really did enjoy it. As someon...

The easiest path to wisdom

 

 

1)Love yourself.

2) Love one other person.

3) Understand history without guilt, blame, or shame.

4)  Protect your tribe. Don’t wake the sleepers, avoid snakes, and be prepared to protect children from monsters.

5) Win with integrity…and joy.

 

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Is that a catechism for social transformation?  Sort of, I guess.   I keep coming back to it again and again…I love unpacking this stuff.  Once you hit a certain critical mass, all of your thoughts cross-reference with other material, so that you...

Be Loving…but strong

I have been going through the original 101 program, and breaking it down into five-minute chunks for the new FIVE MINUTE LIFE HACKS program.  I’m at day 55 now, and it is definitely bitter-sweet about the process. It feels like a summation of my life, and I realize that I’m no longer looking for new teachers or teachings at this point. I’m testing what I already have, teaching what I already know, and cutting away everything that isn’t powerful and direct.

 

Oh, I’ll still “learn” things, bec...

Down the rabbit hole

http://www.npr.org/2017/10/24/559604836/majority-of-white-americans-think-theyre-discriminated-against

I remember being at a SF convention in Texas maybe thirty years ago. There might have been a panel on ethnicity in SF (a subject I try not to speak on any more.   Done my bit).  Maybe an hour later I saw a young white man who had been attentive during the panel sitting by himself, looking dejected.  “What’s wrong?”  I asked.

He hemmed and hawed and I coaxed it out of him, concerned.

 

“A whi...

Vertical and Horizontal “story integration”

The writing concept I’m working on for this new novel (working title: “Traveler”) is called “Vertical and Horizontal integration”. “Vertical” integration is the thematic core as expressed in human behavior: what am I saying about human beings? One way or another, every action has to reinforce or challenge this notion. “Horizontal” integration is the recapitulation of structure from one sequence to another. “Structure” is an expression of the writer’s view of reality itself, the “ethical struc...

Does the “Hero” have to want something? Does there have to be a “Hero”?

At dinner with the Clarion group last Thursday, I was asked if stories always had an obstacle, an objective.  After all, the classic “Hero’s Journey” is about someone who wants something, and their efforts to achieve it which take them into a deeper and steeper journey until some peak moment of revelation.

 

Well…yes, and no.  The truth is that “story” is one of those things where people know it when they see it, but the definitions can be a little slippery.  It varies between cultures and er...

Finding the Rocks

There is a   story about Jesus preaching to a trio of fishermen.     After he preached, he stepped out upon the water and walked.  Astonished, the first of the fishermen followed…and walked on the water.  The second fisherman did the exact same thing. The third screwed up his courage and took a step…and promptly sank, and thrashed madly.

 

The first fisherman turned to the second and said: “Gee, Ralph…do you think we should show Morty where the rocks are?”

 

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At the Clarion gathering on...

A “Soulmate” note

One of my students (call him “Bob”)  recently announced that he was deleting the dating apps from his phone. My partners wondered what this meant. Was he giving up?  Was he in a relationship?

 

I had the chance to see Bob over the weekend, and asked him directly.  And his answer was beautiful.   Using the techniques of the FIVE MINUTE LIFE HACK system, the “Soul Mate” equation was shifting for him, so that he was dating a nice young lady. But the thing I liked the most was his thought about w...