I saw Vengeance twice because it hit me in a similar way. This essay perfectly shows the power of story. Or in this case, story about your interaction with a story. Weaved together with your own insights. Awesome read!
Wow. Just wow. This is what I've been telling people since 2014, all in a tight nutshell. The stories exist, the characters exist. You only have to open yourself to them. Sharing this in "Of Interest" in my Journal tomorrow and using your quote about King. Thanks, Johnny B.
Thank you for your curation of the salient pieces of this.
This feels like it has a similar vibration to Fahrenheit 451 in some ways, but almost in an opposite way. Life is fleeting, let it pass, you don't need to prove it existed. Enjoy it as it's happening.
"We’ve become so hollow as people that what we seek most isn’t to live, but to have lived." <-- favorite quote right there.
I LOVE THIS article. I loved that movie for exactly the same reasons and your analysis made me fall in love with all over again. And with you, as this is my first read of yours, well truthfully second as your guest share on the iconclast writer had me at 1,000 true fans which has been a marketing northstar for me through several non writerly ventures as well. Glad to have found you! Thank you for sharing!
Nice! This was a niche movie, and I'm not sure I've found anyone yet who's seen it -- certainly not before encountering the article. It's one of my favorites.
If you like the 1000 True Fans stuff, watch for another post on Author Stack (same place as the Iconoclast post) on 1/30. It's all about True Fans.
Yet another thought-provoking piece of writing from you: thanks. I liked the lines about how we are all translators of stories which already exist: although it sounded like I might really have to thank Stephen King for that one. Either way, I love how your pieces set the mind churning. The thought of things existing in cyberspace forever is very scary, and definitely a modern phenomenon - perhaps a first world issue? Anyway, I think that the need to permanently record something and make one’s mark somewhere has always been present; it’s just now available to more people because of technology. We don’t have to wait to be recognised by a newspaper editor, book publisher or art gallery owner. The Internet has opened up publishing to everyone. Well, those with internet access, and so we’re all at it. The results have undoubtedly been both good and bad. But then that’s true of all published art, or expression. There is also the point about the tree falling over in the forest that nobody witnesses: the little plants and bugs that will have been crushed by the tree falling over certainly noticed! In the same way, if you’re not famous beyond your own small circle, you still will have impacted their lives just by the fact of existing. What would Andy Warhol’s 15 minutes matter compared to perhaps the years amongst your own circle? I’m inclined to think that one’s existence is enough. - And that’s it, But then, that’s me in an optimistic mood, which thinking and contemplating does to me. Thanks for giving me the opportunity !
I completely agree - people sometimes make their biggest difference just by "being there" and not by any grand gesture that the rest of the world can easily point to.
I also agree that the need to leave our mark has always been there, but the difference in the modern age is that we can now leave what FEELS like our mark so easily and abundantly that it's become an obsession. Pursuing a few big and worthy projects that will make a difference or say "I was here" is different from feeling the need to Instagram every meal. I also think there's nobility in a conscious decision NOT to leave a mark sometimes, which is the one thing I managed not to spoil in my post but that I'd argue is one of the movie's biggest lessons. If you feel a burning, existentially-threatening need to document something for the sake of your own existence but then decide not to do so because it's better to just let things be ... that's something that's gotten harder and harder and harder, but that may have more real value to other people or the world than documenting ever could.
Which brings us back to the “if the tree falls in the forest but…” analogy. Instagramming your latest meal is ridiculous. Do they also insta their latest poo which results from it, to make the post complete, I (don’t) wonder. But yes, a refusal to engage in the manic, pseudo competitive world of documenting one’s existence is certainly the more authentic way to live life.
Wow, Johnny. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. They’re going to stay with me for a long while. And I’m going to watch that movie! Interestingly, I’m not so much an Ashton fan for his acting work but I could listen to him talk about life and our experiences of it for hours. He has depth I wouldn’t have assumed based on the movies I’ve seen of his... and doesn’t that say something about me and my assumptions. I followed his Peloton series where he interviewed people and was glued to my Peloton screen with the thoughts he articulated.
I'll have to look that up! Like you, I had my assumptions and thought that Kelso on That 70s Show and Dude Where's My Car were all he had in him, so I was pleasantly shocked at how much I loved him in Vengeance. The real kudos go to BJ Novak, though. If I ever meet him (and I could absolutely see it happening), I'm going to be the one guy who compliments him on something other than The Office. :)
Thanks for giving some love to this post. It feels underexposed to me because I don't have enough momentum on Substack yet, so I'm really happy when people read and like it.
I saw Vengeance twice because it hit me in a similar way. This essay perfectly shows the power of story. Or in this case, story about your interaction with a story. Weaved together with your own insights. Awesome read!
Thank you, Bud!
Everyone is afraid of being that tree falling in the forest.
Wow. Just wow. This is what I've been telling people since 2014, all in a tight nutshell. The stories exist, the characters exist. You only have to open yourself to them. Sharing this in "Of Interest" in my Journal tomorrow and using your quote about King. Thanks, Johnny B.
Very much my pleasure. Thanks for sharing.
Great writing thank you - this really made me stop and think
You’re most welcome.
Wow … just wow
Sometimes Hollywood still surprises you.
Thank you for your curation of the salient pieces of this.
This feels like it has a similar vibration to Fahrenheit 451 in some ways, but almost in an opposite way. Life is fleeting, let it pass, you don't need to prove it existed. Enjoy it as it's happening.
"We’ve become so hollow as people that what we seek most isn’t to live, but to have lived." <-- favorite quote right there.
Thanks! I hope people keep finding this one because I really like it. If you haven't seen the movie, I highly recommend it. One of my favorites!
I LOVE THIS article. I loved that movie for exactly the same reasons and your analysis made me fall in love with all over again. And with you, as this is my first read of yours, well truthfully second as your guest share on the iconclast writer had me at 1,000 true fans which has been a marketing northstar for me through several non writerly ventures as well. Glad to have found you! Thank you for sharing!
Nice! This was a niche movie, and I'm not sure I've found anyone yet who's seen it -- certainly not before encountering the article. It's one of my favorites.
If you like the 1000 True Fans stuff, watch for another post on Author Stack (same place as the Iconoclast post) on 1/30. It's all about True Fans.
Thank you! I’ll def keep an eye out. I was so surprised how nobody’s seen or heard of this movie either, it’s absolutely brilliant.
Life is what happens while we are busy making other plans.-John Lennon
Yet another thought-provoking piece of writing from you: thanks. I liked the lines about how we are all translators of stories which already exist: although it sounded like I might really have to thank Stephen King for that one. Either way, I love how your pieces set the mind churning. The thought of things existing in cyberspace forever is very scary, and definitely a modern phenomenon - perhaps a first world issue? Anyway, I think that the need to permanently record something and make one’s mark somewhere has always been present; it’s just now available to more people because of technology. We don’t have to wait to be recognised by a newspaper editor, book publisher or art gallery owner. The Internet has opened up publishing to everyone. Well, those with internet access, and so we’re all at it. The results have undoubtedly been both good and bad. But then that’s true of all published art, or expression. There is also the point about the tree falling over in the forest that nobody witnesses: the little plants and bugs that will have been crushed by the tree falling over certainly noticed! In the same way, if you’re not famous beyond your own small circle, you still will have impacted their lives just by the fact of existing. What would Andy Warhol’s 15 minutes matter compared to perhaps the years amongst your own circle? I’m inclined to think that one’s existence is enough. - And that’s it, But then, that’s me in an optimistic mood, which thinking and contemplating does to me. Thanks for giving me the opportunity !
I completely agree - people sometimes make their biggest difference just by "being there" and not by any grand gesture that the rest of the world can easily point to.
I also agree that the need to leave our mark has always been there, but the difference in the modern age is that we can now leave what FEELS like our mark so easily and abundantly that it's become an obsession. Pursuing a few big and worthy projects that will make a difference or say "I was here" is different from feeling the need to Instagram every meal. I also think there's nobility in a conscious decision NOT to leave a mark sometimes, which is the one thing I managed not to spoil in my post but that I'd argue is one of the movie's biggest lessons. If you feel a burning, existentially-threatening need to document something for the sake of your own existence but then decide not to do so because it's better to just let things be ... that's something that's gotten harder and harder and harder, but that may have more real value to other people or the world than documenting ever could.
Which brings us back to the “if the tree falls in the forest but…” analogy. Instagramming your latest meal is ridiculous. Do they also insta their latest poo which results from it, to make the post complete, I (don’t) wonder. But yes, a refusal to engage in the manic, pseudo competitive world of documenting one’s existence is certainly the more authentic way to live life.
Wow, Johnny. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. They’re going to stay with me for a long while. And I’m going to watch that movie! Interestingly, I’m not so much an Ashton fan for his acting work but I could listen to him talk about life and our experiences of it for hours. He has depth I wouldn’t have assumed based on the movies I’ve seen of his... and doesn’t that say something about me and my assumptions. I followed his Peloton series where he interviewed people and was glued to my Peloton screen with the thoughts he articulated.
I'll have to look that up! Like you, I had my assumptions and thought that Kelso on That 70s Show and Dude Where's My Car were all he had in him, so I was pleasantly shocked at how much I loved him in Vengeance. The real kudos go to BJ Novak, though. If I ever meet him (and I could absolutely see it happening), I'm going to be the one guy who compliments him on something other than The Office. :)
Thanks for giving some love to this post. It feels underexposed to me because I don't have enough momentum on Substack yet, so I'm really happy when people read and like it.