Top 10 // Stop and Think
BY DANI FAITH LEONARD
On Valentines Day I saw a homeless man sitting outside of Starbucks. I felt very giving and took him inside for coffee and lemon loaf (which is a whopping 490 calories, but I doubt he was watching his waistline). As we were putting in our milk and Splenda, he asked me what I do for a living. I told him I work in film. “Holy shit! You work in film? I have a screenplay. Several, actually.” I was like, yeah, okay buddy. Then he took his screenplays out of his can-filled garbage bag.
When I walked away I thought, wow! This homeless dude has completed screenplays that he carries around with him and I have four unfinished ones sitting on my laptop. Imagine what I could accomplish if I didn’t procrastinate so much and watch Hoarders, Intervention and every other show on A&E? (I also realized that apparently, this “homeless” man has a computer to write on with Final Draft, and access to a printer.)
Here are 10 other things to stop and think about:
10 - Surprised that the meat at Taco Bell isn’t really meat? Please ponder Papa John’s cheese, White Castle pulled pork and Kentucky Fried Pigeon Chicken.
9 - If we are aware that ignorance is not really bliss, how come so many people use that saying?
8 - If people are writing good scripts, why do the terrible ones get produced? How many pointless action vampire adventures is it going to take for someone to realize that we’re not retarded and we won’t sit through the same movie over and over again?
7 - If you are a person who complains a lot about the shit movies out there, why don’t you just get out and make your own...oh. Yeah, you’re right.
6 - Why did Seinfeld have such a big apartment? He rarely did stand-up shows. He really just hung out at the diner and shot the breeze with Kramer and George at home most of the time. His kitchen was huge!
5 - Why does anybody still wear Crocs™?
4 - Why would anybody wear Crocs™ with socks?
3 - Why didn’t Dr. Suess write anything about Crocs™ with socks?
2 - Why are people so shocked that a filmmaker like Kevin Smith would want to control the release of his film? Doesn’t it make perfect sense that if someone is passionate about their work they want to have control over how it is marketed and sold? And, why does this anger people? (PS - I hope this somehow changes the distribution model for the better so the creative process and distribution can be more congruous. Imagine if the viewer felt like the creative team was personally inviting them to see their film and the creative team felt connected to the viewer?)
1 - Why are we only aware of the political injustices in other countries once there are riots in the streets?
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