what's my motivation

This is similar to the phenomenon described in the last post.

When I told people that I'd be taking a quick trip to Toronto a few weeks ago, some people (but not all) asked why.

I said I was going to see a movie.

Some (but not all) asked what movie.

The only one who asked what the movie was about was the guy at immigration on the way back home. I assume he was assessing how I handled the question, in order to make sure that my attempted entry into the USA was for a benign purpose.

No one asked why I was driving over 1,000 miles round trip to see a movie.

That was kind of a relief, as I'm not sure I had a rational answer.

But it still astounds me.

I read books and go to movies (at least in part) to help me understand the human animal. Including myself. Characters in books and movies are often more interesting than real people. Or maybe it's more that the people who write these books and make these movies (the ones that appeal to me, that is) are also trying to understand people, and they share their findings in their creative output. So the characters are easier to "crack" than real people.

One of my favorite things in one of my favorite movies is how the angels in Wings of Desire could listen to people's thoughts. Books and movies let us do that with the characters. Yes, the characters aren't real. In true art, they're realer than real.

But it's too bad that it's so hard to communicate with real people. Maybe it's just me. Or maybe it's just the people I come into contact with. I don't know.

Song of the week: Five Years, by the Schramms

-- 9501

* * * * *

A couple of hours later....

Yesterday, when I realized I'd be at my father's house all day and all night today, I packed a box of papers at my apartment to go through here.

Did I get to it? Just a little. But winding down for the day just now, I reached into the box and pulled out two Roger Ebert essays from September 5 and 6 2002, both written from the Toronto Film Festival.

Here's the first paragraph of the first article:

"After Cannes, the Toronto Film Festival is the most important in the world. Last year's festival was ripped in two on Sept. 11. I walked out of a screening, heard the news, and the world had changed. Now comes the 27th annual festival, opening today. Are movies important in the new world we occupy? Yes, I think they are, because they are the most powerful artistic device for creating empathy -- for helping us understand the lives of others."

I'd been thinking how undeveloped the first part of this post is. I love the coincidence of Roger making my point for me! (Too bad this makes it harder to throw away such articles without reading them.)

Empathy. Yeah, that's the ticket!

-- 9501

* * * * *

The next morning....

And the high EQ -- empathy quotient -- in the his previous films is a big part of what motivated me to drive to Toronto for the world premiere of Alan Zweig's latest film, Lovable.

-- 9501