Hello everyone,
It's been a while since I've actually blogged and there are a couple things that have been on my mind lately. Like many out there, I use social networks not only as a platform to promote my work and stay in touch with friends, colleagues, and fans but also as a way of expressing myself and letting people know what I'm about (eg. interests in music, entertainment, fashion sense or lack of fashion sense, etc). I don't make apologies about being who I am and people are free to read or not read what I have to say. I won't argue that my personal beliefs and opinions on things are probably different from most out there and that some will have a problem with/be offended by something that I say and do from time to time.
With that said, I do try to pick and choose when and how I post a viewpoint as I don't want to be a page filled with nothing but doom and gloom. Cause that's no fun. BUT, there are some things that do get my blood to the boiling point. Things that pose the question of what kind of a human being would I be if I DIDN'T say something and remained silent. And something that really gets my blood boiling is seeing someone who isn't, in one way or another, part of the "cool kids club" getting trampled on. Examples of this would be Hollywood/major record label conglomerates constantly trying to take out the independents and our means for getting our work out there for their own selfish and greedy reasons, politicians making laws that benefit themselves while trampling on the rights of the common people, private farmers losing their businesses/farms to the likes of Monsanto, cookie-cutter suburbia wanting to "make and example out of" the kids in black who listen to heavy metal so they accuse them of a horrific crime despite the extreme lack of evidence (which is exactly what happened to the West Memphis 3) while trying to scare their own kids into growing up to be those same cookie-cutter "fine upstanding citizens," and well I'm sure you get the point by now. I think that and hypocrisy are the two things that will make me go off on a rant and here's why:
One thing I do and always will make a crusade for is the independent artist, the rental stores, the movie theaters, and even services now like Netfilx (as they allow the independent artist yet another outlet to show their work). I make a crusade for freedom of self and artistic expression and being free of some studio giant trying to run things for you as the you the artist gets screwed and they prosper. I make a crusade for the artist to retain the rights to their work and to present it as they want and to be the ones to prosper from the work's success, whatever that prosperity may be. I believe that people should not be persecuted for their life choices (so long as those life choices don't hurt, violate, endanger, or infringe upon the rights and lives of others). In that, I believe in "live and let live." I think private farms should be left alone and it should be a person's choice of what they consume. Being someone who is in the indie entertainment world, I get to see alot first hand of how those who are not at the cool kids table are (metaphorically speaking) getting shoved into lockers and given swirlies by the bullies and cool kids (really, it's like high school all over again for many). It also gives me an awareness of how so many are unaware of what really goes on. How many don't pull the curtain back and look beyond what the corporate media feeds them. How many just accept things as the written gospel because their favorite politician, Hollywood actor, major label artist, or mainstream news source says it? When I'm in a world/industry where I see what goes on behind all the glitz and glamour, where I see the little guy getting screwed so the conglomerate giant can protect their own interests. When I see this because I chose to look beyond the matrix we are given to mask what really goes on? How can I just remain silent? How can I just sit by and watch people get screwed when all they are trying to do is live their lives? People may not want to hear what I and others have to say in order to protect their perception of reality. And that's ok. Feel free to tune me out and replace my words with the gibberish used to mask the adult's voices in the Charlie Brown cartoons. But I am going to say what I have to say to those who wish to listen. And if you feel I'm somehow misinformed on something or disagree? Feel free to speak up. I have no problem with healthy debate as I feel that through debate, one can often learn to see a view from another angle and maybe even learn more about their own viewpoint. And I won't get mad if I'm proven wrong at something. I'm always up for encouraging others to think outside the box, question things, and make the effort to look for answers and step away from the superficial side of things so what kind of a hypocrite would I be if I didn't want to hear anyone's views but my own. I'm not trying to swallow "the blue pill" here...
Take a look at the articles that really got me thinking about posting this blog entry:
Film School Rejects: 6 Things the Film Industry Doesn't Want You To Know About
Cracked.com's 5 Hollywood Secrets That Explain Why So Many Movies Suck
It's been a while since I've actually blogged and there are a couple things that have been on my mind lately. Like many out there, I use social networks not only as a platform to promote my work and stay in touch with friends, colleagues, and fans but also as a way of expressing myself and letting people know what I'm about (eg. interests in music, entertainment, fashion sense or lack of fashion sense, etc). I don't make apologies about being who I am and people are free to read or not read what I have to say. I won't argue that my personal beliefs and opinions on things are probably different from most out there and that some will have a problem with/be offended by something that I say and do from time to time.
With that said, I do try to pick and choose when and how I post a viewpoint as I don't want to be a page filled with nothing but doom and gloom. Cause that's no fun. BUT, there are some things that do get my blood to the boiling point. Things that pose the question of what kind of a human being would I be if I DIDN'T say something and remained silent. And something that really gets my blood boiling is seeing someone who isn't, in one way or another, part of the "cool kids club" getting trampled on. Examples of this would be Hollywood/major record label conglomerates constantly trying to take out the independents and our means for getting our work out there for their own selfish and greedy reasons, politicians making laws that benefit themselves while trampling on the rights of the common people, private farmers losing their businesses/farms to the likes of Monsanto, cookie-cutter suburbia wanting to "make and example out of" the kids in black who listen to heavy metal so they accuse them of a horrific crime despite the extreme lack of evidence (which is exactly what happened to the West Memphis 3) while trying to scare their own kids into growing up to be those same cookie-cutter "fine upstanding citizens," and well I'm sure you get the point by now. I think that and hypocrisy are the two things that will make me go off on a rant and here's why:
One thing I do and always will make a crusade for is the independent artist, the rental stores, the movie theaters, and even services now like Netfilx (as they allow the independent artist yet another outlet to show their work). I make a crusade for freedom of self and artistic expression and being free of some studio giant trying to run things for you as the you the artist gets screwed and they prosper. I make a crusade for the artist to retain the rights to their work and to present it as they want and to be the ones to prosper from the work's success, whatever that prosperity may be. I believe that people should not be persecuted for their life choices (so long as those life choices don't hurt, violate, endanger, or infringe upon the rights and lives of others). In that, I believe in "live and let live." I think private farms should be left alone and it should be a person's choice of what they consume. Being someone who is in the indie entertainment world, I get to see alot first hand of how those who are not at the cool kids table are (metaphorically speaking) getting shoved into lockers and given swirlies by the bullies and cool kids (really, it's like high school all over again for many). It also gives me an awareness of how so many are unaware of what really goes on. How many don't pull the curtain back and look beyond what the corporate media feeds them. How many just accept things as the written gospel because their favorite politician, Hollywood actor, major label artist, or mainstream news source says it? When I'm in a world/industry where I see what goes on behind all the glitz and glamour, where I see the little guy getting screwed so the conglomerate giant can protect their own interests. When I see this because I chose to look beyond the matrix we are given to mask what really goes on? How can I just remain silent? How can I just sit by and watch people get screwed when all they are trying to do is live their lives? People may not want to hear what I and others have to say in order to protect their perception of reality. And that's ok. Feel free to tune me out and replace my words with the gibberish used to mask the adult's voices in the Charlie Brown cartoons. But I am going to say what I have to say to those who wish to listen. And if you feel I'm somehow misinformed on something or disagree? Feel free to speak up. I have no problem with healthy debate as I feel that through debate, one can often learn to see a view from another angle and maybe even learn more about their own viewpoint. And I won't get mad if I'm proven wrong at something. I'm always up for encouraging others to think outside the box, question things, and make the effort to look for answers and step away from the superficial side of things so what kind of a hypocrite would I be if I didn't want to hear anyone's views but my own. I'm not trying to swallow "the blue pill" here...
Take a look at the articles that really got me thinking about posting this blog entry:
Film School Rejects: 6 Things the Film Industry Doesn't Want You To Know About
Cracked.com's 5 Hollywood Secrets That Explain Why So Many Movies Suck
