I thought I should share some artwork I really like.
I'm lying. I don't "think" I should share it. I just want to because creative people make the world go 'round, and too often it's the boring folks who take all the credit.
So here's one for the creative folks!
Few things frustrate, anger, and scare me more than when a person has the ability to speak intelligently while saying really stupid stuff. It makes those eager to agree with him feel as though they have a really intellectual argument on their side. It's a trick, of course. But it's a powerful one.
It's not just about religion. It's about all kinds of silver tongues with all kinds of agendas. It's about spreading ignorance but disguising it as insight. About spreading paranoia and tribalism but pretending they are "enlightenment".
Case in point, a starving, poor, brutalized third-world country Muslim WANTS to believe that there's something villainous about the freedoms a happy, white American enjoys. Know why? Because some part of him wants that freedom too... and he can't have it. There's some small part of him (part of all of us) that wishes nobody else could either. It's called BEING HUMAN. This Muslim man is practically begging for a reason to justify his insecurities. All it takes is a little push from an ideology that promises the poor man 72 virgins. That tells him that his suffering and shitty life have not been in vain. That there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Promise a broken man all of these things, and you've got yourself another disciple.
Meanwhile, somewhere else in America... a blue collar white man whose once-nice neighborhood is now over run with crime (most of which is black) is just begging for a reason to justify his hatred of the black man. He thinks he's the only one who's tired of it. He thinks everybody else has lost their balls, afraid to say the obvious truth because it's not PC. He thinks everybody knows the black man is inferior but that they are afraid to say it. This man is dying for a leader. A silver tongued radio host who will tell him he's always right and that the minority is always wrong. That every bad thing he has ever done was perfectly natural and understandable. Beautiful parts of capitalism and looking out for one's own.... but that every bad thing the minority has ever done wrong is worth getting upset about. Un-American and a clear threat to the blue collar man's way of life. And, sadly enough, there is always a silver tongued celebrity who is more than eager to take this legion of willing believers under his wing in order to make a few bucks.
And yet... on another part of the country, A 12th generation Christian woman living in the bible belt has been dying since September 11th to say what she really feels. She thinks the towel heads should all be shot, and that the glory of the One True God should be made known before it's "too late". That the blasphemous homosexuals, the liberal hippies, and the filthy Muslims and Jews have destroyed this once great country. She thinks that tolerance has gone too far. That these days, just about anything is seen as being acceptable. She thinks Christianity, the country's one true religion, has come under attack. She's slightly hesitant to voice these concerns, as they aren't quite PC in this day and age. But should a female GOP candidate with similar views speak up first, then this lady will more than happily line up behind her. She only needs a push from a silver tongued leader ready to take advantage of her all-too-willing devotion and she's as good as gone. And, of course, there are many people who are more than willing to take up this "righteous" cause.
It's a crazy power some people have. The power to make all of your followers turn off their ability to think for themselves and to make them enjoy the sweet, promising taste of bullshit. To tell them they are right and everybody else is wrong.
I could make so much money off of people if only I didn't have a conscience. We all could. If only we didn't have that part of us that knows the difference between right and wrong. If only I would give in to my tribal, petty, selfish desires and cash in on the eager ignorance of myself and those around me. Because trust me, it's EVERYWHERE. And it wants to be lied to.
We could all do it if we really wanted to. If we really turned our empathy off entirely. It's possible. The people out there are all too willing.
But that thing called "integrity" pulls most people back. Something just wouldn't be right about preying on the weak. It would be, if nothing else, a moral breach of taste.
Then again... there are plenty of people who never seem to have that moral crisis...
So I've been playing the new Zelda. And I'm thinking 2 things:
1) This is INCREDIBLE.
2) The Call of Duty generation is gonna hate it.
My only gripe is that the dialogue is tedious and annoying. But the rest is so creative, innovative, and cinematic that I think this might just be the most fun I've ever had playing one of these games. It's paced really well and other than a (kind of) slow start, I haven't seen one boring spot.
Zelda skeleton
But again, we live in a time where people are obsessed with graphics, have shorter attention spans than ever, have zero tolerance for main characters who aren't mysterious badasses, and who want the ability to ignore the story and kill the quest giver if they really want to. So, I'm torn between thinking Zelda should change a little to appease that crowd and meet somewhere in the middle... and with thinking "Damn right, Nintendo. Do not budge for these people." Part of me is annoyed at how childish Nintendo can be. The other part is so happy Nintendo isn't jaded, excessive, and cynical like every other entertainment company is lately.
So, I'm writing about a video game right now because in a way, it relates to the theme of everything I write about lately. Case in point: I played a bunch of Skyrim and enjoyed it but felt empty and as though not one character had a hint of personality and not one thing I did had a single effect on anything. I played Zelda and missed the freedom of Skyrim and the ability to do whatever whenever, but felt like I'd actually been given a pretty cool storyline with creative environments that I'd be thinking about forever.
Skyrim skeleton
And there it is. Once again. Douchery vs. Integrity. Excess vs. Control. Explosions vs. Heart. The balance is often somewhere in between.
But like Ben Baker in "The Long, Slow Death of a Twenty-Something", I'm glad Nintendo knows that sometimes, being a man means... "you stay". Even when it's not a popular thing to do.
A double lesson. A history recap that dwells in both theology and in the world's weather patterns (because they're related, don't ya know?)!
Here we go:
In zones of Asia Minor, where earthquakes are frequent and where old pagan temples would regularly come crashing down, Christians during that time would warn people that the temples were falling because God was mad and that they should convert now before it was "too late".
In Krakatoa in the later part of the 1800s, Muslims claimed that a horrible volcanic explosion was the will of God, warning people to join Islam before it was "too late". Islamic numbers rose immediately.
The archbishop of Canterbury and others claimed that the Asian tsunami in 2005 was God sending yet another violent message.
An Israeli rabbi claimed that the flooding of New Orleans in 2006 was God's way of punishing Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip.
And, of course, just a short while ago, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell both agreed that God allowed America to be attacked on September 11th as punishment to all of us Americans for tolerating homosexuals.
So... you know. That's kind of where our world is at. You can keep quiet and tiptoe and be careful not to disturb Uncle RightWing if you like. Me? I'm gonna speak my mind because these wackos have gone far enough.
Reading Hitchens makes me smarter. And kind of angrier, too.
In one town in 2001, a guy named Larry works as a waiter and every night he watches as black people complain about their food in an attempt to not have to pay for it. He never once sees a white person do this. Larry deduces that the stereotype about black people being sneaky and always wanting hand outs must exist for a reason.
In 2002, Larry is in college and happens to run to the campus library over Winter Break, when almost all of the students have gone home or on their trips. He passes the computer lab, and to his surprise, sees that it is absolutely full of students: All of them asian or indian. He deduces that the stereotypes of those ethnicities having a better work ethic than the white man must have some degree of truth to them.
In 2005, Larry is a traveling concrete worker. He and his co-workers pull into a small, backwoods town called Fenwick, West Virginia where the locals (all white) stare them down and threaten to cut their throats. They are especially fixed onto the black construction worker in the truck. Larry deduces that the stereotype of stupid, violent white rednecks must exist for a reason.
Meanwhile, when staying at his hotel in the mountains, Larry wanders around to the back of the property out of boredom, where he finds an enormous river. The river is full of gypsies known as "The Rainbow People". They have long, braided hair. The hotel employees warn him to stay away from them, as they are known for their thieving and even occasionally for their raping and kidnapping. They are all of them white. Larry concludes that maybe all stereotypes can apply to all skin colors, given the environment and economic situations.
In 2006, Larry is working concrete in Texas when three of his elders decide to take him to Mexico for a couple of days. Two are mexican themselves and the third is a white man. In Mexico, he is taken (to his surprise) to a whore house inside a bizarre gated community. Ignoring the passes of the madame and sitting in the bar/lobby drinking cokes, he watches each of his buddies disappear into the back with their own girls. When the women ask why he doesn't follow, he says it's because he has a girlfriend. "It's okay. She not know what you do", they say. Larry steps out of the whore house, thinking he'll just walk around outside to kill time, but is stopped by an armed guard, who says that it's too dangerous for white people to wander outside. Larry returns to the bar, where he drinks his coke and deduces that the stereotype about human beings (of all colors) being total scumbags must have come from somewhere.
6 years later... it's 2012.
Larry, now 30 years old, still has to listen as people always oversimplify each other. One says the blacks are the problem. Another says it's the white man. Larry listens to the Rush Limbaughs and the Al Sharptons and the Jesse Jacksons. To the left wingers who blame whitey for everything and to the right wingers who say they aren't racist but who very clearly are.
Larry notices a new stereotype. This one, however, is not one of those stereotypes that has exceptions to the rule. So, it's actually less of a stereotype and more of a "fact".
Larry notices that any racist person of any skin color who pretends that one group of people is better or worse than any other group is 100% full of shit.
Well, I don't mind saying that my head is spinning.
In the past week I had a few different people all ask "Why don't you start a blog?". I'm not sure what made them say this, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought it could really help. I had to try and so here it is. A blog.
My name is Larry Longstreth. I'm 30 years old. I've got an animated pilot in production, a live-action feature film on store shelves across the country, a second feature (this one, a documentary) in post production and set to be sent to distributors any day now, an animated web-series we're trying like hell to keep alive via Kickstarter, a feature film script being passed around out west for potential sale, and a small, low budget, horror film that I'm currently seeking investors for. Things are good. Things are in motion. I'm absolutely broke, but the future seems brighter every day and every day as my concerns that maybe it's all been for nothing slowly dissipates. I've gotta keep the faith, of course. Sometimes I have hard days, but for the most part, we're getting there. I'm getting closer and closer to where I wanna be.
Larry in "Twenty-Something"
Now, I originally intended to spend all summer working and meeting with investors in order to fund a $200,000 film called "Brothers Grimm: Pest Removal". (This is the part where annoying people who haven't read your script tell you the idea has been done before) I had sent the final draft to a producer friend of mine out west and he told me "Don't make this. We think there's a chance we could sell it instead." What am I gonna say to that but "Go for it"? So, Grimm has been passed around a little and there's a hint of interest but who knows where it will go, if anywhere. Until whatever happens happens, I can't sit on my ass. So, I finished up another script in order to keep on filmmaking. This one a much smaller-scale, localized horror film called "The Murders of Brandywine Theater".
"Brandywine" is about a ventriloquist who's puppet may or may not be coming to life and murdering the people who bully him. The film exists in a vacuum (meaning, it feels as though it's cut off from the real world) like, say, "Little Shop of Horrors", so it's easy to keep the budget low and the cast and crew small. Actor Dian Bachar ("Southpark", "Baseketball") has verbally agreed to star but there's nothing signed yet. I went through all the great and annoying trouble last year to start up a little business called "Eddy Spaghetti Productions", and I just recently finalized the investor and pitch package for "Brandywine". I hate asking for money. Despise it. But, I wasn't born rich so it's just a part of life. The investor hunt has begun. The good news is that my feature film "The Long, Slow Death of a Twenty-Something" had, of January 1st (only 3 months after release), grossed $28,000. Since "Brandywine" is only gonna cost $15,000 to make, I'd say we're in a pretty good position to raise the money.
Dian Bachar
Meanwhile, there is, of course, our MMORPG-based cartoon series "Four Tanks and a Healer". Now, the Kickstarter page has been a ton of work. (see it HERE: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fourtanks/four-tanks-and-a-healer-0 ) I've done everything I can think of and more. I've practically begged people to help spread the word and I've contacted every website I can think of. Still, it's only at like $2,600 of the $45,000 it needs to become a show. Man, talk about a pain in the ass. I believe in "Four Tanks" (which is co-owned by 4Reelz, LLC out in LA) and that's the reason I haven't given up on it. It's unbelievably depressing how hard this has been. First, we shopped it around to places like G4 and other networks and even had some real interest! Then, we hunted for investors to make it a web-series and after only about 2 weeks of hunting, we decided to go with a pledge site like Kickstarter. The problem is this: How in the hell do we get it SEEN by people? Once somebody with any sort of fan following or name power plugs it, we're sure it'll light a fire... but HOW? I do not know. But I won't stop trying.
A scene from "Four Tanks"
I won't bore everybody with tons of semantics about everything we're up to, but we've also got a post-apocalyptic cartoon in production called "Captain Wilcox vs The End of the World", and a cross-country comedy documentary about how messed up Americans are called "Before the World Goes Boom". At the bottom of this page, I'll be sure to share the links to all of our works.
Hope you enjoy, and I promise the next blog will be less of a commercial for our stuff!
