"VALENTINES DAY"- How to be in the Business but stop and smell the roses

Last evening I saw the Rom Com (romantic comedy) of the year, "Valentines Day". I went with my fun new friend Ben, also a creative sprite like me. The two of us together are like the hip modern day version of Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney without all the behind the scenes E-true Hollywood story overdose drama. It's obnoxious how much you would want to dress us up and watch us sing and dance to musical versions of children's books. We were like a Sesame Street wet dream. Not the point of the story whatsoever. Point is that while the tweens in back of me were drooling over Taylor Lautner, the cougars over McDreamy, couples were cozying up together, did I take a mental trip down memory lane over relationships past present and future, cry into my popcorn. HELL NO.

I spent the whole time dissecting the film and seeing its weak plot points, looking at the lighting and costuming, seeing where I fit in the movie, and how I could re-write it better. I think as actors we need to take a look at where we realistically fit in the industry, and as writers we need to witness good writing as well as bad to learn.

I came to the conclusion that yours truly could play one of those high school kids or the office assistant, and that the best performance was by far by Taylor Swift (joking). Whilst the movie actually did a good job giving equal focus to the different plot points, some of the dialogue was so ridiculous and sappy that even the most post break-up pajama wearing, Ben and Jerry's eating girl would roll her eyes with disdain.

While I think analyzing art (and this movie was not art, believe me) is a useful tool, I think that it is symbolic of the fact that as artists, we can't fully enjoy a live show, a movie or a book without passing judgement over the product and analyzing it in our brain. I think this sometimes hampers our enjoyment of the actual experience because we spend more time picking it apart than allowing one's self to enjoy what we are watching or reading. (Although I do have to say, the trifecta of Patrick Dempsey, Bradley Cooper and Eric Dane I most certainly enjoyed)

So my fellow sprites, I leave you with this. Next time you see a live show, read a book, or watch a movie, observe all you want, but don't forget to stop and smell the roses , or tell the Tori Burch wearing tweens behind you to zip it :)

Happy Sunday
xoxoxox
Haylster
Creative Sprite:)