Passionate Realism Pep Talk

Frustration on so many different levels fueled the creation of Passionate Realism, which is what makes it the most like any other movement you’ve ever read or heard about. Frustration alone, however, can not sustain any movement or idea. What good is the reaction without action?

That question is actually central to the passionate realist movement because for much of my lifetime, the dominant attitude among people my age was “who cares?” The attitude was especially abhorent because it wasn’t only destructive on a personal level, but it was maliciously leveled at anyone who did, in fact, care about something. What was worse was that the more one cared, the worse the criticism. The ability to care about something is the ability to nurture it. Nurturing should not be just an ability, but it should also be a responsibility. Whether it is a parent nurturing a child, a politician nurturing a society, or an artist nurturing his or her art, the ability to nurture should bring the responsibility to do so along with it.

In the nineties, “irreverent” was probably the most overused mention of praise you could give someone. Somehow, irreverence came to consume everything, and that may have been what ruined art and entertainment. People become so obsessed with not taking anything or anyone seriously, that they stopped taking themselves seriously, abandoning their responsibilities to nurture their crafts, and we paid the price by having to watch awful movies and television. Never caring about anything leads to irrelevance because one who cares about nothing becomes useless, not only to society, but mostly to himself. After all, half-hearted irreverence is not worth anyone’s notice. One has to at least care about the craft into which he or she will funnel their irreverence. Even if one doesn’t possess the ability to write the most hilariously scathing satire of the twenty-first century, that does not mean that one shouldn’t attempt to make the create the funniest work they possibly can. It most definitely does not mean that one should give up altogether, saying “who cares?”– It means that at the end of the day, the artist should make an assessment of his or her work asking “what could I have done better?” Irreverence can be a welcome respite, but absolute irreverence can lead only to irrelevance.

Times are changing though. It’s as if the entire world is waking from a coma, and it’s become a better place for it. Whether you’re a celebrity using your status to speak out against the war in Iraq, a pop musician attempting to create lasting pop music, a filmmaker who can take yourself seriously long enough to put together a great movie (Finding Nemo, anyone?), you’re down with the passionate realist cause. Nurture your skills; nurture your gifts. Build them into things you can be proud of. Yes, there are people who will never tire of the destructive habit of saying “who cares” but when all is said and done, what will they have to show for their attitudes and what will you have to show for yours?

I know that when all is said and done, I personally intend to have created some of the funniest television shows ever to be broadcast. That’s a promise.
- posted by Earnest @ 10:20 AM