Talent is wasted on the Talented

Alright, so my last post yielded one comment, and though I understand the opinion, I have to say I feel a bit sensitive about it. No one likes to be told to shut the fuck up--though that's not exactly what was said. And hell, I feel that way sometimes when I'm around someone who's going on and on and fuckin' ON! It's like get to the damn point already! So that said, I'll do my best to keep it brief, yet interesting, and say what I gotta say. Cool? Cool.

Now, let's get to my point. Lemme preface my statements by saying that I am of the performance/entertainment background. So you can take all of what I'm about to say with the requisite grain of salt, though it won't make it any less true.

What I know of myself as an actor/writer is that I'm a purist. I believe that the most important thing in entertainment is the talent. To me, no amount of show flashery can ever take its place. Since brevity is the new key here, I'll have to elaborate later. Now, I love movies, I love theatre, I love music, so anything that encompasses part or all of those things is usually beloved by me. As a matter of fact, one of the reasons why I'm so secure about moving back to Atlanta, is because there's a nice artistic community alive and well there. Granted, it's not New York (let's face it, nothing is) but at least it's not a hillbilly sitting on his porch picking his teeth and drinking moonshine from a mason jar, cleaning his shotgun and being hailed as the poet laureate of Dirt Patch. Ah, that's entertainment! Although there's nothing wrong with drinking corn liquor from a mason jar. How do you think I come up with my unbelievably long posts?

Ok, I'm getting to the point. Damn, I feel like a bitch on the clock. Lately I've been feeling really, deeply, and profoundly disappointed with the state of entertainment in this country. I used to wait with sweaty anticipation for Friday night to come. Not cause I had a hot date, I was kind of a loser in high school when it came to that, but cause that was the release date for new movies! And there was always an assurance that something good was gonna be playing. I would spend money on the ridiculously inflated ticket prices and then the same was true for the overly priced concessions. Then I'd retreat to the sanctity of that blackened auditorium with the semi-comfortable (but often not) seats with cigarette burns and broken arms, nestle quietly in, and wait eagerly for the show to begin. And I was transported. And it was the same when I heard a song I loved. I was ten years old when Man in the Mirror came out. And I remember sitting on the side of my bed listening to the lyrics and being blown away. That was the first time I realized that a song could mean something more than a rhythm to dance to. It could change the way you think. It could change the world.

But today, art has been offered up at the altar of gimmicks. I saw a magazine cover with Lady Gaga and I had a physical and violent reaction to it. I don't want this blog to devolve into an entertainment fixture, that's not why I started it and truth be told there's enough of those out here in cyberspace already. But I do have to ask, what the fuck is up with everyone drooling over and jerking off to her? Am I the only one who thinks she's crap? And now with the VMA's fast approaching, I have to ask myself--Is there any real reason to care? There was a time when I lived, I mean LIVED for the VMA's. They were almost on par with the Oscars for me (which everyone who knows me knows on that particular day of the year, don't call me and as a matter of fact DON'T FUCKING TALK TO ME AT ALL until it's over. I'm an Oscar Nazi that way). But now, it's just been reduced to a laser show geared toward giving the audience massive seizures.

Being famous nowadays, and really from the beginning of time, has nothing to do with being talented. And it feels like that's in overdrive in today's society. And the purist in me resents that. There's a real dearth of quality entertainment out there for adults who don't give a damn about the Disney Channel offspring. I hate being pumped up to believe in the next big thing--the next big actor, the next big movie, the next big singer, whatever, only to be completely and utterly disappointed. Mediocrity has become the new standard and it's so fucking annoying. I'm just tired of it. I know many of you who are in this "business" will defend the gimmick makers and all that jazz, and I know they have a job to do. Sell a product, create a demand and shove it down our throats. I just wish the shit were of better stock instead of the flaming pile of dogshit that it is. It's like waking up Christmas morning expecting to find a tree adorned with gifts galore, only to find a drunk Santa Claus passed out naked next to your mother, with cookie crumbs around his mouth and an empty bottle of Jack Daniels at his feet. Merry Christmas bitches.

So I tried to keep it short. Don't know if I succeeded. Deal with it. Till next time, lovers.