I’m creeped out.\u00c2\u00a0 I just finished watching "Mildred Pierce" on HBO and it reminded me of someone I know in the music business.\u00c2\u00a0 More than one, in fact.\u00c2\u00a0 People who know where they want to go and will do anything to get there.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re loyal only to themselves.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re playing a game.\u00c2\u00a0 With people instead of cards.\u00c2\u00a0 And everyone knows if you want to win at cards you’ve got to see the future, you’ve got to plan for contingencies, you’ve got to be a couple of steps ahead of everybody else.\u00c2\u00a0 Playing it close to the vest while you execute your moves in secret, when no one is watching.<\/p>\n
I wasn’t brought up that way.<\/p>\n
I’d love to tell you this edition of "Mildred Pierce" demands your time.\u00c2\u00a0 But that’s just the problem, time.\u00c2\u00a0 Given so much time, Todd Haynes stretches the story out at such a languorous pace that it saps out the life.\u00c2\u00a0 And believe me, it’s all about life. Marriage, divorce, opportunities, sacrifice…\u00c2\u00a0 And there’s no manual, only a code.\u00c2\u00a0 Which most of us get from our parents. But the goal is to do them one better, which leaves us in uncharted territory, how do we make our decisions?<\/p>\n
Great art resonates.\u00c2\u00a0 And that’s what’s wrong with entertainment today, it doesn’t.<\/p>\n
Great art is all about feel.\u00c2\u00a0 Capturing lightning in a bottle.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not about perfection, trying to satiate an audience, but getting it right for yourself.\u00c2\u00a0 And when you do, the whole world resonates.<\/p>\n
Once upon a time, movies were about story.<\/p>\n
Once upon a time, music was about music.<\/p>\n
But today it’s not.\u00c2\u00a0 Today it’s about money.\u00c2\u00a0 What does it take to make it?\u00c2\u00a0 When Veda accuses her agent of making a deal in his own interest, it proved to me that nothing’s changed.\u00c2\u00a0 If you think the label and the agent, even your manager, is on your side, you’ve got another thing coming.\u00c2\u00a0 We live in an era of self-interest.\u00c2\u00a0 How am I going to get as rich as Lloyd Blankfein if I worry about you?<\/p>\n
And the bankers are worse than the music executives.\u00c2\u00a0 They bankrupt people and shrug their shoulders, saying it’s just business.\u00c2\u00a0 Isn’t that what’s wrong with America, it’s just business?<\/p>\n
Business gets to trump the individual in politics.\u00c2\u00a0 Not only in lobbying power, but in speech and cash according to the Supreme Court.\u00c2\u00a0 Business has no compassion, it’s all about the bottom line.<\/p>\n
Trust.\u00c2\u00a0 Friends.\u00c2\u00a0 Family.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re the core of our society.\u00c2\u00a0 Otherwise you’re alone, a renegade with money, but little else.<\/p>\n
But in today’s world the media tells us money can buy not only love, but happiness.<\/p>\n
But this is untrue.<\/p>\n
I dedicated five hours of my life to this iteration of "Mildred Pierce".\u00c2\u00a0 But it was worth it.\u00c2\u00a0 For the final scenes.\u00c2\u00a0 Of betrayal and connection.<\/p>\n
To hell with the corporations.\u00c2\u00a0 To hell with the self-dealing executives.\u00c2\u00a0 We’ve got each other.\u00c2\u00a0 And those who recognize this are truly on the road to wealth and happiness.<\/p>\n
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I’m creeped out.\u00c2\u00a0 I just finished watching "Mildred Pierce" on HBO and it reminded me of someone I know in the music business.\u00c2\u00a0 More than one, in fact.\u00c2\u00a0 People who know where they want to go and will do anything to get there.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re loyal only to themselves.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re playing a game.\u00c2\u00a0 With people instead […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-television"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s96vPs-winning","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4051"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4052,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4051\/revisions\/4052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}