Mayking it

In the 1960s, Elaine May did not have a high school diploma. When she discovered that California colleges required a diploma for admission, she hitchhiked with 7 dollars across the country to Chicago, because she learned that the University of Chicago would take students without a diploma. It appears she never fully enrolled in classes, but would show up anyway, "auditing" until she made some connections. That launched her stage and screen career, and she ultimately gave us treats like A New Leaf, The Birdcage (writer), and some other films I haven't seen but that people like (and some they don't). 

It's not always the story. A poll of Hollywood creators would probably return with at least a plurality coming from an industry background. Dad was a director or a sound editor, mom was a costume designer, they grew up in Burbank and went to USC. That sort of thing. But despite the legs up and the nepotism, there are still hundreds and hundreds of stories of people who have "made it" that had to take a risk. Maybe risk everything. (Of course, there are thousands and thousands of stories of people who haven't "made it" who also risked everything and returned to their neck of the woods like a prize fighter on a losing streak.) 


I'm not sure I buy into the risk-reward model: the larger the risk the larger the reward. There is obvious truth in it sometimes. But, take an NBA player. When you are 6'8" and scary athletic, how big of a risk is it to dedicate your adolescence to AAU and then pick whichever college you think is going to provide the best ramp to the league? Of course there is some risk: you probably won't make it; you won't get that seven figure contract. And then you'll have to pick up the pieces and figure out what's next. But we don't think of it as risk in the same way we think of moving all our liquid assets into shares of a plucky start-up; or as moving across the country with no prospects and only dreams. 

I guess I'm trying to talk myself into the idea that a person can still "make it" while not giving up everything. Then again, can I create authentically without a breadth of experience? Then again again, how many possible Elaine Mays are hostesses at a diner in a flyover state? 


And this is all to say, I'm thinking about risk. The whens, the ifs, the whys. Am I settling, always? 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Promising Young Woman

Pr omising Young Woman is uncomfortable. It wants to be. It's jab after jab at the predatory culture we've allowed to happen, in which "nice guys" can take advantage of girls who may not be sober enough to "deny consent." But it's a left hook at the institutions that have empowered these promising young men to act with impunity, and it's an uppercut to our expectations.  I watched the blooming romance between Bo Burnham and Carey Mulligan and thought, oh that's nice, it's turning into a rom com. There was always going to be renewed conflict in which Mulligan's Cassie gets pulled back into her dark pursuit of vigilante justice for her friend who killed herself after being raped in med school.  But the movie's climactic scene doesn't play out like I'm anticipating. Cassie, dressed like a mid-century nurse (interesting commentary there) has her friend's assailant handcuffed to the bed at his bachelor party. She is about to ca...
Read more

20,000 Leagues and whatnot

There's this weird thing in life where we wish everything was exciting. We wish everything was about discovery and the feelings associated with something new and fantastic.  Think of it like this. If I were exploring thermal vents and found a bizarre looking species of fish that hovers around them in the deep ocean, I might get pretty excited. I'm already 20,000 leagues under the sea in a submersible. Hollywood as fuck. But not only that, I discover a new species. Wow! So what next? Well, I have to catch one. Collect a sample. I have to go back up to the boat. I have to float back across the ocean to the shore, through probably angry waters. I have to go to my laboratory. I have to where a white coat and goggles and gloves. I have to take very good care of my sample. I have to put parts of it under a microscope and get data to put into a computer to compare with other similar species to see the differences. I have to read lots of scientific names and whatnot. I have to write a ...
Read more

Dialogue journal 1

Both characters trying to win the conversation: Bri held up his Kyrrin and looked at it carefully. This particular carving seemed to be in a stiff wind. The artist did well with the coloring, too—gray, black, and crimson gradiated throughout the figure. He held it close to see if the artist had left their signature on its base. Yes. There it was. A tree with a door in its trunk. Curious. He’d never seen the symbol before. “Are you taking your turn, or have you just removed that piece from the board?” asked his brother. “I’m happy to accept the latter.” E’Li was always so formal, so serious. Even when he was ribbing Bri it was done with an air of formality. Where the fath had it come from? Their mother was long dead; Bri had no recollection of her manner, which meant E’Li had no recollection either. They were twins, and Bri was the elder. Their father, on the other hand, was a dockman. E’Rydyn paid little heed to formality in all its shapes. A hard day’s work, a stiff drink, a smoke...
Read more