While the title would suggest a review of the classic Marvin Gaye song, it is merely an introduction to this web log. I recently watched the Jamie Kennedy film "Hecklers". It was a look at people who purposefully disrupt performers for whatever reason. It was also about people that review the shows and movies we all see. A lot of the critics were either bullies who enjoyed taking personal jabs at actors, comedians, filmmakers, musicians, and even athletes, or they were morons who could never get a job critiquing dog shit, let alone films or music. They seemed to be vicious simply because they were in their grandma's basement where no one will ever find them. The doc had a ton of my favorite people in it like Lewis Black, Patton Oswalt, and David Cross. I particularly like it when Jamie would bring his hecklers backstage after the show and ask them why they felt the need to be dicks while he was trying to perform. While I can't say that I've seen everything that Jamie has done, I definitely like this documentary. I will probably go find his other films, watch them, and watch some of his TV shows again. What I won't do is personally attack him, or anyone else, if I don't like their work. (Maybe I will so he will come track me down and I can be in his next film.) Bill Maher had one of the best statements. "I don't think any performer of any kind has a thick skin. I don't think you can do any good work if you do. You have to be sensitive to be good. And if you're sensitive, then you're going to also sometimes suffer because of that." I am a writer, a musician, a playwright, a screenwriter, a poet, and a skate shop owner. I hear critiques all the time. While I know that you can't please everyone, I try very hard to do just that. It hurts when someone says my play sucks or my skate shop is lame. I know that pain, so in this blog, I choose not to be the asshole. I choose not to take personal swipes at artists. There are plenty of haters. The world needs more lovers. I love all of the fine arts, so this is my place to tell you all about all the cool things in our world. Welcome to Talking Simian.
See what else is going on at www.talkingsimian.com
"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
ReplyDeleteTheodore Roosevelt
"Citizenship in a Republic,"
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910
Thanks Travis. That is possibly the best quote I have ever read on any topic. That part of his speech shows me that he was better than a politician. He was human.
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