Storytelling + expertise
Me and Juan were having a conversation yesterday about Interstellar, because as is usual for the moment I segwayed it hamfistedly into our conversation so I could make fun of it again MURRRPH!! MUURRPRHHH!! DOn’t let me LEAVE Murph!!
The thing is, in terms of the main storytelling formats- writing, films, theatre, stand-up comedy (Bill Burr’s latest special!! Maria Bamford!), I guess Youtube videos (have you guys seen Jake and Amir yet?? So jealous if you haven’t. Keep an eye out for the pilot of their hopefully upcoming TV series too!)- these are media for geniuses to deliver their product to laymen for their appreciation. You or I can be blown away by a Kubrick, Bergman, Jodorowsky film etc. without exactly knowing why. Maybe we can learn more about the technical details, and this can sure enrich our appreciation, but it isn’t always necessary. I suspect this is the case in few other places/careers/industries. For example, I can only glance off of whyever Roger Penrose is a genius. I tried with The Road to Reality, which, if you ever want a road to a reality check, is a great way to feel stupid (trademark Carrie Bradshaw- fellow storytelling genius.) I wish I could tell people why I’m so great a chemical engineer, but it’s a non-relatable skill base. Maybe I like patronising people anyways tbh ;)
So imagine this, then: Christopher Nolan is a guy supposedly at the top of his game, is given all this time money resources, actors at the top of their game, some guy called Kip Thorne, and what Nolan makes is a total piece of shit. Super lazy. Silly. Visually arresting, or 70s wallpaper? Anne Hathaway’s hair! (Remember, everything a director chooses to show is on purpose. What was that decision about??) I couldn’t contain a rant about about it in under the length of time it takes to watch the film, so if you want my argument, just watch the damn thing. It’s out of this MURPH!
What’s my point, then? Firstly, the best case scenario is always that everyone does their job to the best of their ability, works “as if living in the early days of a better nation.” Even with as much as I love literature, I’m not totally convinced by the “we need stories” argument, but in theory I guess the person responsible for making a film like Interstellar is in charge of enthusing, well, humanity about space travel [1]. So I’m kinda mad he didn’t do his job properly. And yet, it is inspiring to know that some people supposedly at the top of their game just aren’t very good. Here’s my point about laymen appreciating the experts in their field: surely if it’s true that some geniuses are just bad, there must be bad geniuses and bad experts in every profession? That being the case, we’re reminded yet again that confidence versus ability really doesn’t add up. Confidence is totally arbitrary, so why not choose to be super confident? Because confidence makes you a go-getter, and has been shown to be more readily convincing than a demonstration of ability.
You can see some indie films, and budget aside, the storytelling quality is like-for-like comparable to these brand-like directors. Better in many cases! And many recent examples have shown that barriers for entry in creative industries are basically non-existent! How exciting!
I guess my point is: when did being bad at anything stop anyone from making loads of money at it, if that’s your interest? And how often does something being popular relate to how useful/interesting/actually good it is?
Thank you for reading this weird digression on improving your confidence… I think :)
[1] As an aside, the film made me feel kinda sad. Firstly, we have only a human lifetime to get as far as we can- that’s extending, but even so, visible universe etc… and the idea that there are dimensions of space that we can’t access, and that we can only travel time in one direction… The scope of mankind is inherently limited. We humans already know more than we require to fulfil our basic life responsibilities. For example, we can think ourselves to death no matter our life circumstances: what’s the point in that? Lesser beings aren’t able to do that. I mean, imagine how meaningless is the existence of a termite! If they ever cottoned on, they’d be fucked, but the environment would be better because termites release so much methane. What a conundrum.
