Creative Muse

Not trying to brag or anything, but in 2^nd grade I was the kid who came up with the obstacle courses on the playground, so I was would like to think I am a creative person. Creatively, many things inspire me; Lots of movies and actors and television shows all compile in my brain to form my artistic thoughts and creative notions.  Some of these “muses” include Cameron Crowe, The movies The Princess Bride and Reality Bites.

If you have ever seen someone holding a boom box over their head, or heard someone coin the phrases “Show me the money,” “You complete me,” or (my personal favorite) “You had me at hello,” you can thank Cameron Crowe.  The Rolling Stones reporter turned director is one of my all time favorite filmmakers.  This is mainly because of the movie Almost Famous.  Set in 1973, this semi autobiographic tale of Crowe’s adolescence, is a tale about a young man following a on the rise rock band on tour and the free spirited characters he encounters on his journey.  The coming of age story tied in with rocking 70s tunes makes it an instant classic in my book.  The way Crowe uses music to emphasize a mood or moment is what makes his movie great.  His use of Tension and Release also makes his movies exciting.  In Almost Famous, the band is flying on private plane to one of their shows.  They get into an electrical storm and it seems the band is about to spiral to their death.  Everyone begins to freak out and secret start flying left and right.  The tension builds and builds until finally the drummer of the band utters his one line in the entire movie “I’m Gay!” as the turbulence subsides and the plane evacuates the electrical storm safely, releasing the tension.   The majority of Crowe’s movies have a musical basis, which in my opinion makes them even more spectacular.  For example, the 1992 film Singles, written and directed by Crowe, is focused around the 90’s Seattle Grunge scene and even includes a cameo by the band Pearl Jam.  Cameron Crowe is like god to me.

My all time, favorite movie would have to be the ageless Rob Reiner film, The Princess Bride.  As stated by the Grandfather character in the movie “Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles,” this movie has it all.  My love for this movie sparked in the Summer of 1999 when my family and I were up at the house on Lake Chautauqua in NY.  It rained most of the summer and we had only one VHS, The Princess Bride.  My cousins and I must have watched it at least twice a day.  Since then I have seen it another half billion times.  As much as I hate to admit it I can probably recite the movie from start to finish from memory, I love it THAT much.  The Princess Bride is a story about a Grandfather reading a book to his ill grandson.  The book is a tale of Wesley trying to rescue his true love Buttercup from the evil Prince Humperdink.  The plot twists and turns and the couple encounter an eclectic ensemble of characters. The sets and scenery and quotable quality of this movie is what attracts me to it.  It is almost like anything can happen and think that is the best way to be creative.  I like to keep an open mind and to let anything be possible.  Text and Subtext are displayed in the movie in the very beginning when Buttercup bosses Wesley around and every time she asks him to do something he responses with “As you wish,” but what he really means to say is “I love you.”  This story is one for a person of any age; it’s a classic. 

Ironically, a movie about a recent college graduate that is making a documentary is one of my creative inspirations.  Reality Bites, directed by Ben Stiller, is a quick witted, articulately written film discussing the issues of Generation X-er’s and their battles with living in the real world.  I admire this movie for its dialogue and the banter between the main characters.  If you haven’t already realized I love quoting movies, and this is a very quotable movie.  Often I catch myself quoting certain lines from the movie, such as “He’s the reason cliff notes were invented” when I am talking about someone who is really dense.  Also another one of my favorites is when the character played by Ethan Hawke defines “irony” as “when the actual meaning is the complete opposite from the literal meaning.” I am not the most articulate person so I enjoy movies like this that have such an expressive way of speaking.  Also, the Contrast/Affinity between the characters Troy and Michael is an entertaining aspect of the film.  Michael is this well-established and put together businessman who knows what he wants and is ambitious.  Troy on the other hand is the textbook example of a freeloader.  He has been fired from 12 jobs and has no clue what he wants to do with his life.  Troy thinks Michael is a Yuppie and Michael thinks Troy is a slacker.  They each represent an extreme personality of Generation X.

In conclusion, I pull from a variety of films and directors to get ideas to mold and shape my creativity.