"Ambition Is Not a Point Of View"
I take a lot of walks around my neighborhood and lately I've been listening to nothing but Marc Maron podcasts. He's very good at having conversations with vastly different celebrities and artists. A few he had on recently that stuck with me are:
Ariana Grande
James Mangold
Brady Corbett
All of them, of course were recently nominated for Oscars.
I was quite impressed with the conversations, as Maron has a distinct talent of getting his guests to talk deeply about their work and the meaning behind it, as well as the frustrations of the business side of art.
If you want to get into the nuts and bolts of filmmaking, the Mangold discussion is great. He's quite experienced and learned, obviously, and is also quite charming.
In his discussion with Corbett, it was fascinating to hear the writer/director talk about being a freelance, independent filmmaker, not making much money but dedicated to his art. He's also pretty charming and smart.
In the Grande discussion, it was fascinating to hear how Grande never really had a plan - all she wanted was to sing and write songs and make music - the success was merely a byproduct of her artistic goals. Maron was surprised when she claimed there was no long-term career goal or path she set out on. Instead, she got really excited talking about the process of making music, unlike a lot of her contemporaries (some of whom have risen and faded already) where the goal was always to "be successful." And that's why maybe their careers had stalled or not done as well as expected.
And that's when Maron said the quote, "ambition is not a point of view."
And Grande was like, "EXACTLY."
In the Corbett discussion, they were talking about the "too many cooks" syndrome in modern filmmaking and music, where you have 18 producers and 16 writers, and when you have a finished product that might be watchable or listenable, but what happens is the art is just...flat. The singular point of view of the artist has ben watered down, it's had to bow down at the alter of commerce and popularity.
And it made me think, THAT'S why so much modern music is boring to me - it's flat. There is no real point of view. It's an algorithm. It's a computer fixing the drum beat so it's perfect, or fixing the pitch on one note of a vocal...so that it becomes so perfect that there is no life left in it.
I remember listening to Sabrina Carpenter's "Espresso" for the first time and bopping my head to it...nice little song, catchy, but it didn't stay with me. Then I saw her perform it live, where her vocals weren't auto-tune to the nth degree, and the band behind here was tight but just a little messy, and the song just CAME ALIVE. It worked. Because there was human artistry behind it, not a bunch of nameless producers working the console to make it as clean and sterile as possible.
Some of my favorite moments in music and film are accidents. At the beginning of the song "Roxanne" by The Police, Sting famously accidently leans against an open piano and his butt plays an off-key note - and he laughs. Well, they were rolling so they just kept right on playing. And that mistake is in the song - and it makes it singular. It makes it memorable.
You couldn't do that today.
As Corbett kept implying - a movie needs a singular point of view. Hell, all art needs it. You need a Capitan of the ship who will sink or swim with the final artistic expression.
Wanting to be a successful artist is not enough. You need a voice, something you have to say, something unique to yourself that will satiate as an artist even when that art might not connect with others. It has to be about the art and not the success that may or may not come with it.
Ambition is not a point of view.
****
any thoughts?
8 Replies
It has ALWAYS been my position, since my first Art/Design job in 1983, that Art/Design by 'committee' is misguided and fraught with compromise.
I do understand very well that the business side of the equation needs to control margins and messaging, but for REAL art there should be no guardrails... anything else is not really Art, but Decoration or Content.
I had a revelation when I was young, my early 20s, that I could work hard and be successful and make a lot of money and then I could do the things I wanted to do. Or I could skip all that and just go ahead and do what I want to do. I skipped all that and did what I wanted to do. It worked out for me but a lot of people are still scratching their heads. They just don't get it.
This may be similar to what Ms. Grande was expressing. My guess is that she meets at least one person every day who offers to make her so successful that she can stop making music.
I suspect that communication between people who think this way and people who don't is impossible.
yeah, I was talking to my GF about it, and she said:
"Art is not about commerce, it's about making your art because if you don't, you'll die."
I've started listening to these podcasts. After they get going they are quite good.
It is fascinating listening to Mangold talk about Dylan and the expectations placed on him, then think of the movie and the expectations placed on it in some of the reviews I've read.
I've started listening to these podcasts. After they get going they are quite good.
It is fascinating listening to Mangold talk about Dylan and the expectations placed on him, then think of the movie and the expectations placed on it in some of the reviews I've read.
Lol yeah, Maron rambles a bit on his pod before the guest interviews begin. I've learned to enjoy his little rants.
seems like this belongs in the truisms thread.
Lol yeah, Maron rambles a bit on his pod before the guest interviews begin. I've learned to enjoy his little rants.
I have a 15-second policy when listening to an unfamiliar podcast. They have 15 seconds to engage me or they're gone. Maron took 3 minutes to mention his guest and 5 ****ing minutes to get going -- a new record for my patience. I'm glad you recommended it or I would have been long gone
In the Grande discussion, it was fascinating to hear how Grande never really had a plan - all she wanted was to sing and write songs and make music - the success was merely a byproduct of her artistic goals. Maron was surprised when she claimed there was no long-term career goal or path she set out on. Instead, she got really excited talking about the process of making music, unlike a lot of her contemporaries (some of whom have risen and faded already) where the goal was always to "be successfu
Macy Gray shares similar thoughts around 11 minutes into this interview.