Do You Ever Feel Like You're Fooling Everyone?

The movie I love this week (and now, and forever) is Elizabethtown.

Nevermind that this film is written by one of my favorite screenwriters (Cameron Crowe of Jerry Maguire & Almost Famous fame....though he has plenty of other masterpieces to pick and choose from), and nevermind that I love both Kirsten Dunst and Orlando Bloom (though that is a big draw), this film has the unfailing ability to make me happy at any moment in time.

As a former film snob (my undergrad was in film production), I have come to appreciate the ability to acknowledge that I like certain films without justification. Elizabethtown is, by far, not Crowe's best work, and yet, it makes me smile. And isn't that the base of it all?

Film is entertainment. And what a great many things that word "entertainment" encompasses. But at its core entertainment is something that makes us feel something. Makes an audience relate to some aspect of the human condition, whether that be romance or grief or tragedy or all of the above and thensome.

In my case, any time a film makes me feel any of these emotions or all of the above, I lump it into the category of "inspiring." And not in the "inspirational film" way...like Tuesdays with Morrie or Pay It Forward...but in the way that experiences are genuinely moving.

And it's hard to be genuinely moving in the modern age. It's so much easier to fake compassion, empathy. But no matter what it comes across as forced. It cannot compare to scenes like this one:

You Failed

Elizabethtown

— MOVIECLIPS.com

I know it's not for everyone, and it hardly has the impact of the "You had me at hello" scene from Jerry Maguire. But when a film can make me feel as though there are worse things than failing (which, in essence, is the worst thing that could possibly happen to you), then, hey...who am I to knock it?

Because at the end of the day, I like stories about epic shortcomings that cause the utter downfall of the main character. Because that's how I think most people feel on a daily basis. ("God, I have to get up and do this nothing again? To what? Go home and do nothing?") But there are times that move us all...and it's those moments in between: the "flurry of almost-romance," the missing of exit 60Bs, the near misses of life that result in fiascos. These things provide grounding. They afford us the opportunity of reflection.

And no one reflects better on life lessons we should have learned than Cameron Crowe.

Impossible to forget but hard to remember,

Iconically Leni

Luck or Perseverance

"Luck (n): the force that seems to operate for good or ill in a person's life, as in shaping circumstances, events, or opportunities"

"Perseverance (n): steady, persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement."
(definitions courtesy of dictionary.com)

As a young woman, I often attested any great successes or failures I had to the force known as "luck." This may have something to do with my Irish heritage and the misleading phrase "luck of Irish." However, as I matured I realized: the assumption that all the things I have accomplished in my life are due to mere shifts of wind and chance is actually quite insulting.

Anything that has ever gotten me anywhere has been due to sheer willpower and perseverance. This is not to say that I have not found myself in circumstances that were due to pure chance (see: my 7th birthday when I won a raffle at McDonalds for a brand new bicycle. Oh how those pink handlebars gleamed with victory). However, I pride myself on the fact that I have a general stick-to-itiveness. The "if at first you don't succeed, try try again" philosophy.

Examining the successes in my life lends further creedance to perseverance. When I wanted to be a gymnast, I devised an at-home regiment of conditioning and stretching that provided me with the opportunity to move up several levels in a single year. When stage fright prevented me from pursuing acting, I took acting classes and auditioned for short films (and...surprise surprise...I got the roles!). When grad school beckoned, I spent hours devising my portfolio, reviewing it with mentors past and present.

So I suggest a toast to the underdog, perseverance--often overlooked in our instant culture.

As for my failures, we'll chalk all of those up to bad luck.

Leni.