I just saw "Six Degrees of Separation". It made me think.

[UdoKier]

Somehow, I missed it when it came out, but I watched it last night.

At first I thought I wouldn't like it, what with it being a bit hard to believe that these Manhattan sophisticates would swallow this whole desperate, nervous, awkward name-dropping routine by Will Smith, but the story was, in the end, compelling, especially the moment when Stockard Channing laments the fact that they have been taking real, human experiences shared with another person and turning them into nothing more than anecdotes over cocktails.

the REASON this movie crystallized this idea in my mind was that Will Smith's character, despite being a hustler, a nobody from the wrong side of the tracks, wanted something better, and it wasn't just that he wanted to take people to the cleaners.

He used his extraordinary charm and wit to create persona that would win people over. But he didn't just try to con them. He really gave of himself. Went out of his way to see that everybody experience their time with him to the fullest. He asked very little in return for what he gave, really. He told stories that were not always his own, but he felt them as though they were, using imagination to try to forge real connections with people.

Through the course of the film, you start to see that the socialites he's wooing are the con men, and that he's the most real person in the bunch. But he manages to chip through their phony facades in a very personal way, and make contact with the real person within.

We may not be as phony as the Manhattan bons vivants in the film, but we all wear facades. So I guess my point is that, instead of reciting talking points or just venting outrage all the time, I want to make sure that my emphasis is more on making that connection.

It brought into focus something that has been slowly dawning on me over the last few months - I'm squandering my life, too much of it anyway, on hand-wringing over injustice and politics.

I'm fortunate enough to have a few great friends and some aquaintances here in the bay area - wine country, actually, who are quite fascinating people. Vintners, in addition to being retired doctors and teachers. They had me over for Thanksgiving, where I got to meet all kinds of nice people, and yet after a few drinks of their wine, I blathered on about how awful Bush and the war are. In fact, at one point I got so overbearing that the hostess politely suggested that I "go outside to help Bob with the BBQ".

This is the Bay Area, for chrissakes. I was preaching to the choir! I had an opportunity to share positive experiences and ideas with people and I squandered it with gloomy talk of politics! I really had become something of a "Debbie Downer" Even one of my best friends, going all the way back to high school, doesn't want to talk to me as much. None of these people are right-wingers. They just haven't let themselves fall head over heels into this obsession with what is going on with our country.


Don't get me wrong. I'm glad I was awakened after 9-11 and the Iraq invasion. I will never look at this country in quite the same way again. But dammit, I need some balance. I want to bring positive, enriching things to a conversation, to make people have a good time. I want to do things with my life that inspire others, not just make them ponder.

Starting up a new exercise routine after being very lax for years was a good start. Setting limits on the amount of time I spend posting here would be another. Actually making time to check off more of the goals on my whiteboard is yet another. I think I will be a much more valuable asset to the progressive movement if I'm a well-balanced, happy, fit person, with more money, time and wisdom to contribute, rather than just some fat slob at a keyboard.

The next time I get together with my friends up in the wine country, I'm going to make a point of looking past the wealth and good taste that intimidated me the last time, and really listen to what they say. And I intend to make a point of contributing something positive to the evening myself. Hell, I've been around. I've lived overseas, I've done all kinds of things. But I've spent the last 3 years ranting about Bushco here.

I love DU. I'll be around, but there is so much more to life than this. I need more than an echo chamber. America is a wreck, but dammit, that doesn't mean we don't deserve to live good, fulfilling lives, and I don't know about you, but I'm going to redouble my efforts to do so.

[KoKo]

1. That's an interesting post....wish you'd posted in GD Forum.

I think alot of folks are kind of seeing what you say lately. Four years of gloom and frustration takes it's toll.

And, I think you make a good observation that taking back some of one's life and trying to reconnect with folks who aren't as overwhelmed by what we here know about the "Bush Crime Family" might be worthwhile at this point.

:thumbsup:

[UdoKier]

4. I did. But I left out part of what I wanted to say...

And I thought it might be more Loungeworthy. kinda borderline stuff, eh?

[hfojvt]

2. is there an echo in here?

my life is as fulfilling as it can be, under the circumstances.
I think I usually find your posts interesting and inspiring so I am not sure how that did not go over at the party. I am also not sure that I like the idea of people focusing on living good and fulfilling lives on the deck of the Titanic. Is that really a better thing than trying to warn of the frigging iceberg ahead?

I am reminded of a favorite quote from "Fahrenheit 451" which I cannot quote verbatim. The fireman is complaining that he made the people unhappy, and someone told him that they need to be unhappy because there is a war going on and people are getting killed. So they should not be allowed to escape into their soap operas, they should be agitated to the point where they will do something about it.

I saw 6 degrees about six years ago. It was quite interesting. I even enjoyed Will's "thesis". I thought it was kinda odd how he vanished at the end, that the woman was unable to find him. It was interesting how a stranger is welcomed if he claims to be the son of someone famous.

[UdoKier]

5. I know what you mean.

"I am also not sure that I like the idea of people focusing on living good and fulfilling lives on the deck of the Titanic. Is that really a better thing than trying to warn of the frigging iceberg ahead?"

Problem is, this train wreck we are in is a slo-mo one, and most people are not feeling and fully comprehending its impact at all. There are plenty of us trying to wake people up, but as long as even liberals call us "conspiracy theorists", what's the point?

As for Will disappearing at the end, I thought it made the story that much more poignant, and accentuated Channing's desire to get to know this guy. I liked the ending.

[sundog]

3. man, I watched it like 3 weeks ago

and spent 2 weeks off of du after :P

I love that movie.

To me, the whole thing is about people living vicariously through art. They are filling the holes of their own existence by living through other peoples' lives. They do this both through art & quaint stories about the Will Smith character. They view life through a glass window.

It about the disparity between simply watching others' experience & creating your own. This ties in with the reference to imagination.

The only time the separation between art & life is broken is when the Stockard Channing character slaps the hand of god.

Chaos & control.

Best line: "How much of your life can you account for?" He has no idea what she is talking about.

Deep stuff. Yeah, I can kinda guess where your head's at right now. :)