…Other than having a hell of a lot of difficulty dealing with the physical aspects of aging, this:
It takes a village of small moments to create the emotions of ‘Everything Everywhere’
And this:
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” editor Paul Rogers tells The Envelope that the most important thing he wanted was to have audiences “care about all these characters.” Judging by the film’s 11 Oscar nominations, including one for Rogers, it seems as though the film’s viewers cared about them very much.
Directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, known as Daniels, the film is an emotionally complex family drama wrapped inside a kick-ass sci-fi epic. At its core, Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh), a mother and Laundromat owner, finds herself up against her daughter, Joy (Stephanie Hsu) in more ways than she could imagine.
The three passages above are from an article by Daron James in yesterday’s L.A. Times. Yes, I know I went into total retirement mode over a year before the article was published, but my reaction to it is, in essence, the reaction I’ve had to most TV and film entertainment for a very long time. That reaction being, “Huh?”
I didn’t get the movie, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and I understand what James says about it even less. To me, the film is a meaningless, boring, unoriginal Loony Toons cartoon knockoff that uses human actors instead of 2D cartoon characters and conveys – well, to me it conveys nothing.
Nothing human or emotionally real (or even emotionally relatable) in any way.
I’m not saying I’m right and James is wrong. I’m simply saying that James is writing what he experienced, but my experience was so different, as it is with much of what I try to watch, that I accept (and have accepted albeit silently since the turn of the 21st century) that I have no understanding of what current entertainment media are trying to do and therefore no right to try to “teach” or “enlighten” anyone join in the fun.
I’m saying all this here and now because I’m constantly asked why most of what I write these days isn’t about the entertainment business but my daily life. (Much of which, by the way, I don’t understand either but nevertheless can still enjoy on my own terms.) I feel that I owe those who’ve followed me on the interwebs or been entertained by the shows I’ve written as much insight into the world as I can continue to give.
Now, though, I realize there’s more going on in this little post. My life not only has been about writing and teaching but also doing all I can to learn all I can, and among the many things I still have way more to learn are the whys, hows, and wherefores about the creativity all around me.
In other words, if anyone out there can give me a clue or two about how to stop missing all the points I’m clearly missing, please get back to me with a comment or an email, or a text and let me know.
My eternal gratitude awaits!
LYMI,
LB