However, sometimes, we as humans have a tendency to want something so bad, and see things in one way that we become blind or focused on things that make us lose who we are and what we think we want. Those of you know me, know that I am a film and media critic and I love sharing things I ....well, love. Sometimes I have a tendency to like films or TV shows or music, or books, or comics, or whatever other forms of media are out there. Sometimes I see things and understand new outlooks on life through media. It's my way of learning and reacting in this world. Sometimes I love films that some people thing are dumb or weird, but in a way, I can find them brilliant. There is always one film I talk about that I love, no matter how many times I've seen it, it hits me hard every single time.
I am a Wes Anderson fan. Sometimes his films can have a tendency to be pretentious, and though I think that about some of his work, there's more of it that I love than I dislike. My favorite Wes Anderson film is The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. I love Bill Murray, and there are some other great actors that are usually in all of Wes Anderson's films. Angelica Houston plays Steve's wife, Willem Defoe plays Steve's biggest fan, who gets jealous when Owen Wilson's character, Ned, comes into play because Ned might actually be Steve's biological son he never knew he had. Jeff Goldblum plays Steve's rival. I'll explain before I move on with this blog.
Steve Zissou, Bill Murray's character, is a famed French Oceanographer filmmaker, like Jock Cousteau who has made many incredible documentaries about the strange and wild creatures from the ocean. The very beginning of the film starts at a screening of Steve's latest documentary, where his crew is attacked, and his best friend and co-director of all of their films is eaten and killed by a shark with spots that look like a leopard's spots. However, nobody else witnessed the shark, and think that Steve suffered so much trauma that they think he imagined it. Steve is very convinced that what he saw was real, and after the screening of the film, everyone thinks that Steve is losing his edge and mind, so he asks and tries to come up with enough money to fix his boat, which is amazing by the way, I will add a video of Steve showing his boat to the audience. It's got all of the amazing touches that makes Wes Anderson Wes Anderson.
So, Steve has a really hard time coming up with the money to fix his boat and produce the film, especially now that everyone thinks he's a phony. He does act like one, but his wife, some crew members, his maybe-maybe not son, Ned, and some unpaid interns that still want to go out for one more mission to see if what Steve saw was real, and tagged with a radar to be tracked down. Steve wants to kill it, but they say he can't have the money if he's going to kill it, and he promises to just hurt it, and then asks about how much dynamite he can have, obviously to kill the shark.
Steve gets his wife and his crew together, invites his maybe son, Ned, and a reporter trying to expose Steve as a fraud, who Steve has a thing for because she's pretty. However, as they set out on their journey, Steve's obsession, this goal to go and kill this shark starts taking over, and it causes his wife to leave, his interns, not getting full credit for deserting him, and a financial planner who gets kidnapped by some modern-day pirates who live in an old hotel resort. Steve loses just about everything, but this is where the movie gets so incredible.
Steve basically says, screw the mission. He goes to find his wife, and her boyfriend, lol, and talks to them about giving up the mission and heading home to retirement. However, when his wife and boyfriend join back up, Steve's wife's parents give them some money to fix up the boat. They have some of their interns return to finish what they started, Steve, who has a hard time connecting with anyone, connects with Ned. They go to the dilapidated hotel resort to get their loan official back from the pirates, and the crew is all back together, but something magical happens.
As the team start to head home, a blinker on a radar screen starts flashing and beeping. It's the shark that ate Steve's best friend. The whole crew gets into the small submarine they have on the bottom of the boat, and they go out and find the shark. As they see it, they realize that Steve isn't crazy, and then the question comes up, do you still want to blow it up, and Steve says no, we are all out of dynamite anyway, and they all marvel at how strange and beautiful this creature really is. Everyone puts their hands on Steve's back and shoulders as he starts to cry.
The film is edited and shown, and Steve is back on top of his game, along with the crew.
I remember sitting in the theater as the credits rolled, as everyone else in the theater left quickly. I overheard a lot of people saying, that it was stupid and made no sense, and that it was a waste of time and money, and just full of nonsense, but I sat there through the credits until the theater lights came up with a smile on my face. I learned an amazing lesson from this film that everyone else in that theater hated.
Sometimes in life, we want things, we desire things, and people are so obsessed with their goals that they often drive their family, friends and basically anyone else away from them because an obsession can become so unhealthy. What amazed me about this film was that it had the weird creatures that are totally fake, but done in a way that makes sense. They were supposed to be Steve's unique perceptions of the life around him. However, his obsession to obtain this goal drives away his wife, his friends and crew, and even Ned who tries to stand up for Steve, even when Steve is being a jerk to everyone. Steve puts his whole crew at risk, and some of them are very badly hurt. Sometimes we don't see ourselves the same way others see us, and that truth can hurt.
When Steve hits rock bottom, he goes to his wife and apologizes, and even becomes friends with his rival, and wife's boyfriend, lol. They rescue their monitory lawyer from the pirates, Steve chases off other pirates to save his crew, he starts realizing that the real things in life that matter, family, friends, colleagues, and crew, and when his priorities are restored to their proper order, the shark, or his obsession just so happens to come about, but the thing is, he realizes his obsession is unhealthy, and when the shark appears, his goals and priorities have changed, and turn him into a better man. I love that movie so much. Wes Anderson is one of those directors who you get, or you don't, or you think they are pretentious, or brilliant, or whatever. All of his films have amazing moments of clarity, and for that time spent understanding things, you can walk away with something or an outlook that can change your entire perception on life.
I think everyone has some kind of unhealthy obsession about something. We are humans, we tend to do that sometimes. For me, sometimes going into a movie or watching a show or doing whatever can sneak up on me, or anyone for that matter, and change their outlook on life. I was so happy that Elliot was able to come stay for Christmas and New Years, and I really wish he still lived closer. Yesterday, I woke up at about ten in the morning. Since Elliot is under the age of 15, I had to fly with him home to Kansas. I was so bummed out about him having to go home that I couldn't sleep last night. I woke Elliot up at 4:15 in the morning, caught a flight to Denver, to Wichita, to Dallas, and back to Salt Lake City, for me. I still haven't slept, which you can bet I will be doing in about ten minutes from now. It's been a really long two days, but I shared the whole story of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou because as we were flying to Wichita, Elliot was excited because he loves his little half brother and half sister, and we went out and bought Christmas presents for them and for his mom and step-dad.
I've been so fixated on wanting Elliot to move back to Utah to be with me, that I realized that Elliot has this whole other life that as much as I want to be apart of all of it, I'm not. I think it would be amazing if he could move back to be close to me because I love him more than any other person on this planet, and to see that he also has people he loves and make up part of his world, I felt a little selfish wanting him to be here for me. No parent, or at least no good parents, want to be far away from the children they bring into this world, but seeing how excited Elliot was to give his gifts to his brother and sister, and him telling me all about how awesome his school teacher is, (Which, by the way, I email back and forth with often, and I know parents like to brag, but she always says that Elliot is one of the brightest and smartest kids she's had in twenty years, and she told me that Elliot is so funny, and she asks him how he got to be so funny, and like weird and interesting things, he tells her that it's because of me.), she said that Elliot treats everyone with kindness, even if they are mean to him sometimes. I realize that I don't exactly have to have Elliot here in person with me all of the time to be a big influence for him. She told me that she asked how he got to be such an nice and kind person, and he told her it's because he has the best dad in the world that tries to treat everyone that way, no matter what. I didn't realize that I was influencing my son who lives 1,000 miles away by trying my hardest to make people laugh, feel good, and be happy. I am teary-eyed because I don't think of myself that way. It's very humbling to learn something like that, but I'll tell you what, if it is me inspiring Elliot to be kind, and loving, and flat out hysterical and witty, I'll own it, but only because it was passed on through my dad. My dad and I don't see eye to eye on things all of the time, and I am pretty sure he knows exactly how weird and strange I can be, but he also sees it helping others, and if there is one thing my dad is a pro at, it's helping others.
As we enter this new year, and hope and pray, or whatever you do to find favor with the universe, let us try to find new ways to be kind and find out what our real priorities are, focus on them, and I bet that 2021 won't suck as bad as 2020 did. I would also like to point out that even though 2020 sucked, and was what everyone is calling a dumpster fire, I would encourage you to try and find ten things that were good and inspiring to you in 2020. If we look for ways to be better people, and look for things we have already done for others, I promise that 2021 is going to be a good year. Look for the good, and you find the good. Look for the bad, and bad things happen.
I won't mention ten things from 2020 that I loved or liked, but one thing has made me very happy. I started this blog, and I honestly didn't think I would keep it up past twenty blog posts, and then let it collect internet dust, and fade away, but even though I don't write blog posts as often as I would like, I get so excited to write them when something hits me to share. I hope that I don't come across as pretentious. I hope that I come through as a friend that loves his fellow men and women, and loves sharing things that make him happy so that maybe some of you readers out there can learn something new, or be reminded of.
I love all of you, even if you don't read my whole blog posts. I've been thinking of changing up some things with the blog, but I love writing, and if only one of you readers out there like my blogs, and help make the world seem like a less crappy place than we sometimes do, it's worth all of the time and energy. I don't write to be popular. I write to share what makes me happy, and right now, all of you make me happy, and I can't wait to see how awesome we can make 2021.
Happy New Year!
Uncky Nate
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