by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
The great movie Shiva Baby is something that I would have loved, loved, loved 25 years ago. I would have gone to see it in the theatre with my then girlfriend, had a a really interesting conversation afterwards and maybe watched a few clips of it years later on YouTube.
My, have things changed.
In reality, I watched maybe, at most 20 minutes of it on Netflix — just about the time of the inciting incident — and turned it off. I knew exactly everything that was going to happen (even though I would like it,) and moved on to the next thing. I just don’t understand myself, sometimes.
Why am I this way? Why is it so difficult for me to watch anything or read anything that I, personally, didn’t create? Some of it, I think, comes from getting older and some of it is working on a novel for so long.
I know the beats of stories so well, that I just don’t feel like wasting my time with something — especially if it’s “awkward humor,” like Shina Baby. I just hate awkward humor to the point that I can’t watch it.
And, yet, I really, really need to expose myself to other people’s art so I can have a better understanding of modern sensibilities. I can’t just be stuck in my creative mentality of 20 years ago for the rest of my life.
I say that, and then that’s exactly what I do.
Ugh.
