Learning Life's Lessons...even from the really bad movies, like....

NELLE...

I'm a Jodie Foster fan (sort of) and appreciate her risk taking in her movie making.

Some have become classics, others are the biggest 5 finger gaggers ever made.

One that was for me, in between, was NELLE...

the story of a backwoods woman who lived in seclusion and was "discovered" by the scientists and researchers.

It was in my opinion a bad movie, but not so bad I demanded my money back...as I've done with a few.

There is a scene in NELLE that I find relevant.

Nelle is in the courtroom, and a decision has to be made about what to do with her, what should the court decide her future would be.

On the one side were people who wanted to study Nelle, put her under the microscope, and keep her locked up in their institute.

The other option was to set her free, like some wild animal...

So, Nelle made the speech...

In that speech she stated that her world was a small one...and that most people lived in a big world.

She preferred the small one, the one that she had mastered.

She didn't object to people coming into her world, people she knew and wanted there...but she did object to the idea of her going into the big world.

Most of us are faced with a similar choice. We can go into the big world, or we can stay in our own little world, one that we have mastered, or at least have a handle on...and be happy.

Some people NEED to soar...to fly HIGH into the crowds...

while others prefer to fly low...beneath the radar screens of the big life.

And I guess it is an Individual's choice...once they know all the options...to either live comfortably in their little world, or to feel the discomfort of the big world and to try to take some peace into it.

I know of people on the Internet that you will NEVER know about, people that earn six figure incomes from their little corner of cyberspace.

They like to 'FLY LOW and COLLECT THE DOUGH' and it is good advice...for them.

They sell various things, from Vitamins to Books. THEY are not on the Internet, only their products. They are like Nelle in her own little world.

I guess it comes down to that old tired SQUARE ONE QUESTION again, What do you want?

But sometimes KNOWING the options gives you the ability to make an infomed decision.

WE want to stimulate thinking at sowpub. WE want to learn new things, new ideas, new concepts.

WE may be a small back woods web site, far off the beaten path, where only a few friends traverse to be a part of the WE.

That is up to Dien Rice, sowpub is his website. He gets to decide for HIMSELF what he wants this to become. Dien has to make the decisions.

WE all have to make that decision. What we want from our Internet and Real Life experiences.

Some may choose to fly high, to soar with the Eagles, to ascend the high mountain of achievement...while others may prefer a quiet pic-nic lunch in the valley...watching the Eagles soar above.

There is no right. No wrong. There is only choices to make.

But like Nelle in the movie, once the hysteria was over, once the common sense kicked in, once she had eloquently elucidated her captives...

she made her choice.

And being happy in a smaller life is neither good or bad, only as thinking makes it so.

I don't buy into the hype of the gurus. I don't lust for things in my life, but I have no problem if you do, as long as you don't impose your opinions on me.

As long as I'm not forced or coerced into your beliefs.

I get to choose, the same as you all.

It is the FUNDAMENTAL lesson that Square One Workshops teach...

CHOICE...

Your life is never about what someone else wants it to be...it is about what you want it to be...and you get to choose.

I'm amazed at how many people don't get that. You'd be amazed at how many people don't get it.

How many people BELIEVE they are trapped in their lives. They don't see a way out. They can't fathom the concept of choice/responsibility...

but prefer to blame, to accuse, to whine and to live their life thinking that somehow they got screwed.

Who here hasn't? Anyone not been betrayed? Anyone not have a friend that hurt them? That turned out not to be a friend at all?

I'd say we all have had that experience. And it is the HOW we choose to deal with it that counts.

It doesn't matter. If you want to whine, go right ahead, it is OK. It is right for you.

It is your life.

I don't have to listen though do I? That is my choice.

Square One Workshops is about accepting the responsibilty of your own life. Once that is done, the rest of it falls pretty much into place.

Acorns fall in untrampled woods and grow to tall oak trees...unseen, untouched, uncut by human hands.

Woods are chopped and shopping centers grow and spread across the countryside.

The little life...the big life...I'm not sure it matters...except to the person making the choices.

But I reserve the right to be wrong, and if you think so, don't hesitate to tell me...

Gordon Alexander

Gordon - great post. Definitely something to think about as we watch the presidential campaigns tell us how well THEY can run OUR lives!

Synchronistically, I saw a bumper sticker today that fits this post:

STOP GLOBAL WHINING!

Regards, Bob

The VERY BEST bad movie I ever saw is "Assault of the Killer Bimbos".

I know. The title REALLY makes it sound bad. But I was really surprised by this movie. I had nothing else to do that night and stumbled into an Edwards Theater in Westminster, CA. I'd seen everything else on the bill so I thought "What the heck..."

While the premise was a bit iffy... "2 strippers witness the death of a gangster and think they are going to get tagged for his murder so the "run" to somewhere in Mexico by stealing the dead gangster's car..." You get the idea.

What really surprised me was I was expecting a student film like "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes", but the camera work was excellent. The acting was passable, the direction, the stunts, the sound were all done very professionally.

Overall for a B movie, I'd give "Assault of the Killer Bimbos" an A-. Granted, against some of the classics it is still a B movie, but this diamond in the rough was a lot better than what I ever expected. And certainly better than some of the movies that have been hyped with high budget ad campaigns.

So, I guess the lesson is, sometimes you get more than what you paid for or have reason to expect.

regarding his "B" horror movies.

I'm still scared about global warming, and what happens when the BLOB gets loose again...

Where's Steve McQueen of today, Leonardo? I don't think so...

But, your point is well taken:

> So, I guess the lesson is, sometimes you get
> more than what you paid for or have reason
> to expect.

I think that might be a good lesson.

It is rare. But a pleasant surprise.

I'm thinking of creating a NEW PROMOTION; sort of Anti-Hype...

DON'T EXPECT MUCH FROM THIS REPORT...

3 things you WON'T learn on page five...

The 4 rules that are meaningless...

and make it low cost...so they don't expect much, make it a throw away price...and wallop them over the head with good acting/directing/filmography...

OK, I'm back to reality NOW...

Thanks Steven, I'll put that on my to watch list.

I lived for a few years in Hollywood. Loved it. Had an apartment across from Capital Records for a while and then one where I could look off my balcony and see the Hollywood sign.

Hollywood is all about Hype, but this one movie completely took me by surprise this summer, I had NO desire to see it, but did so to appease the most glorious eight year old and the most glorious three year old on the planet....

In fact, the movie speaks a lot to what Dien is working to accomplish here at SowPub, to make
a difference in a sometimes overly jaded world....

"Just forget it. There's a one in a million chance we will EVER get
out of this place!" Thus speaks the voice of conventional wisdom.

"Then we still have a chance" speaks inspiration from the depth of
one soul.

The speaking soul is Ginger: a most surprising hero in the form of
the lead Chicken in the movie "Chicken Run". Ginger had a vision.
Every chicken in her coop would be freed. Safe from the possibility
of slaughter. Not have to be worried about producing mass
quantities of eggs. Not have to stay within the realms of their
fenced in, dirt floored existence. Her vision was for the entire
community. Not just herself. Every chicken.

Her goal appeared impossible. Larger than life. Her previous
attempts were valiant. At times inspired. Nonetheless, they
remained unsuccessful. Stacks of errors in seas of trials. To the
average thinker the conventional wisdom rang true.

Thankfully, Ginger held fast to her vision. Just as many
inspirational leaders before her she drew people to her cause. Her
fellow "cellmates" aligned themselves with her cause by using their
giftedness. Together, they crafted a future that at one time
seemed nothing more than a pipedream of an "unreasonable"
leader.

Robert Anson Heinlein, author of Stranger in a Strange Land
reminds us of Ginger's lesson in stating "The reasonable man
adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in
trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress
depends on the unreasonable man." Continuing to approach the
world from the perspective of an unreasonable person requires
having the courage to go against the flow of convention.

Ginger could simply think no other way than directly from her soul. Not at all from a cookie cutter.

For Ginger, as long as there was any flicker of hope no matter how
dim, there was still a reason to continue to seek the solution. Even
with the odds at a million to one, the one was still there calling
her name.

Inspirational wisdom brought out the collective genius in the
chicken coop. Conventional wisdom sought to squelch it.

What brand of wisdom do you listen to most often? Are you
allowing yourself to settle for second rate repeatedly? Or are
you hearing the call of inspirational wisdom?

Is your answer a resounding "Yes!"?

Ginger, like French Playwright Jean Anouilh, knew what it meant
"To say yes, you have to sweat and roll up your sleeves and
plunge both hands into life up to the elbows. It's easy to say no,
even if it means dying."

Say Yes. Its a one in a million chance. Yes!

Ahhhh, gotta love that Ginger!

> Where's Steve McQueen of today, Leonardo? I
> don't think so...

*****Me Neither! Excellent question, one I will ponder. Personally, I am rather impressed with Heath Ledger, who played Gabriel in "The Patriot".

Oh, and about those adorable kids, here is one of them....she is still talking about Ginger....




Where Emma's Mommy Works.....

the backstory, if you will...

Because SHE believed, he did too, at least in her.

But I don't have an 8 year old excuse, it was the second feature at the drive in, and being the cheapska...uh...thrifty guy that I am...

I couldn't pass up a bargain...I even stayed awake for the escape...

but I had a hard time with breakfast the next morning.

Thanks for sharing, and Emma too!

Gordon Alexander

Gordon;

Great Post!!!! I thought I was the only one that demanded money when a movie was really really bad! :)

Eddy