8 Lessons Only Hollywood Can Teach Us
There is a lot that Hollywood has given us. From great artists to great memories. But all this is the upper layer, what the majority focuses on. And let’s be honest here, most often, the majority gives priority and unnecessary attention to something totally unimportant.
Hey, I am not talking just about the extravagant hype surrounding some edition of a flop movie that was meant to be a blockbuster. When I put majority and most often in the same sentence, that means that it is more or less the most believed reality.
We are doing it since the dawn of the Cinema, we have only paid attention to the entrance of the protagonist, how he looks, how cheezy he sounds, how he saves the girl, what music is used while that happens, what kind of lifestyle he lives and above all, how he despite everything, manages to find the luck. It was such a successful formula once that everyone started applying it. Even some franchises are still making a living out of this.
But while all that was happening, we were oblivious of the fact that there on the other side of the screen lies the sheer hard work and vision of the movie makers. And they are human beings who have a purpose, a purpose to deliver something greater than entertainment to their audience. In the pursuit of entertainment, we have generalized the meaning of it so much that we ended up undermining the true creativity of scriptwriters, storytellers, editors, and directors.
If we still don’t appreciate the work they did, it will be an injustice not just to them but to the art in general. As rightly said:
Many reiterate the dialogues, only a few have the eyes to see and the mind to understand what’s between them.
To be honest, it is hard to narrow down the list since the existence of Hollywood is before any of us was born. In focusing on what was the line, we never bothered to understand what was between them. So, here is a list of a few dialogues which offer valuable life lessons.
“Great men are not born great, they grow great.”
Marlon Brando | THE GODFATHER 1972
Greatness is not something you get but something you learn, you cultivate. And there are many aspects of greatness, from Inspiring by your words and actions to leading yourself and others in times of adversity. If you haven’t guessed it by now, it is not in the capability of your genes to acquire them and carry them forward.
Leadership is not a characteristic you get in heredity. Nobody came to this planet with a guarantee of being great. Anyone who became great takes time to grow, just like a tree.
“You’ll have bad times, but it’ll always wake you up to the good stuff you weren’t paying attention to.”
Sean Maguire| GOOD WILL HUNTING 1997
Imagine riding a sinusoidal wave. You start with a crest, you go on to see the peak, you see the fall, you find yourself in the trough, you keep going, you finish one cycle, you start another, you repeat.
Congratulations! If you understood this, you just understood what’s life is.
Yes. Life is a sine wave. You are the rider. You will see good and bad, ups and downs. But it’s only when you finish it, when you get over the wave you realize that it was a cycle and with every rise, you will appreciate the good stuff.
“You can not listen and talk at the same time. It’s a fact of life. When are talking, you are not listening.”
Rocky Balboa | CREED 2015
Let’s all agree together. We all have done that. In the mission of proving ourselves right, which frankly we never are because right and wrong are relative, we do not listen. You can find numerous reasons, the prime one being the ego which leads us to defend whatever is that we believe in and the sheer ignorance of its existence.
Understand it like this, your brain has only a finite amount of concentration. Either it will be spent focusing on whatever the fuck you are saying, or listening. You can’t expect to hit both bull’s eyes.
“If you want something, go get it. Period.”
THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS (2006)
When you’ll die and reflect on your life in retrospection, you might want to express your curiosity about how simple it was. In life, most things are indeed simple. If you want something, just go get it. Just like that.
Nike understood something similar before coming up with a tagline and million-dollar advertisements that will inspire a good amount of seekers. ‘Just Do It’, you would not find anything simpler than this. Here is a fun fact. This universe works on energy. Your energy, what you put while getting something or trying, nature sees it all and it gives you exactly what you worked for (not what you wished for). And you got to go the distance yourself.
“The things you own end up owning you.”
Tyler Durden | FIGHT CLUB (1999)
I think no words can explain it better than the words of the man himself.
“We are by-products of a lifestyle obsession”
You are not the house you live in, the Amazon products you purchase, the car you drive, the outfit you wear, the job you do, the money you earn, the lifestyle you live. Your identity isn’t and should never be bounded to the things that surround you. If you live this life of ‘owning whatever you can get hold over’ for long, you will end up not being the consumer but being the product yourself.
“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”
LORD OF THE RINGS (2003)
Will you pay me $5 if I ask you that I’ll give you a valuable lesson? Most probably not, right?
Now, How about 5minutes? You give me 5 minutes of your day and I’ll give you a valuable lesson? Sounds like a deal isn’t it. This time, the trade seems doable.
What changed? See, right there. If you honestly opted for the second option, then you are making the conscious decision of giving up time. We do this because we have for long taken time as an eternal resource. The truth is it isn’t. You have limited time, and all you have to decide is how to use the time that is provided to you. Remember the greatest minds on the planets have something common with us. We all have the same 24 hours a day.
BONUS:
“Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown”
Nick Fury | Spiderman Far from Home 2019
Let me leave it up to you. What do you think? What are your deep insights from this?
