Lately, I’ve seen a number of really good movies disguised as movies you shouldn’t give a second watch. The latest one was Tropic Thunder. I really don’t know why I waited so long to see this movie. It was funny, silly, offensive, and overflowing with WTF moments. Everything I’d expect from a movie  with Stiller, Black, Downey, Cruise, and that guy who sounds like Tom Arnold.

What made this a good movie was the “meta’ nature of it (I’m starting to talk like my old professors now, somebody slap me). You have these actors, playing actors, playing part in a movie. Only the movie in the movie becomes reality, forcing them to play their roles in the movie to survive reality… Further beyond that you have these actors playing actors who are in some ways caricatures of themselves and Hollywood as a whole.

You’ve got the actor who can play these incredibly memorable roles, who can get soooo deep into a character that he risks losing himself (remind you of anyone?). The character makes you wonder just how much is going on behind the cool, calm and collected person that we see when the cameras are clicking. In Downey’s case, we’ve seen a bit of what can go on behind the scenes so to speak.

You’ve got the (insert genre here) star who can’t seem to escape playing the same character over and over and over again, despite whatever talent they may have (don’t think I forgot about you Wesley Snipes). This character type (is that even accurate to say when we’re talking about people’s lives?) isn’t male dominated, the female version is the hot actress whose only direction for her role is “just make sure you look sexy with everything you do”. In fact that’s probably the unspoken direction 95% of Hollywood actresses have to take.

You’ve got the comedian who continues to bank on his trademark, but is never quite sure of his talent or worth beyond what he’s known for, struggling in a variety of ways as a result. I saw that portrayal and I couldn’t help but wonder if Chris Farley went through something similar before his passing, or even if Jack Black has struggled in that way for his whole career. Near the end he might have given the most honest performance in the movie.

Then you have Tom Cruise… I don’t even know where to begin with this guy. There are very few Cruise movies that I find tolerable, and so I do not hold him in high regard as an actor. In fact I can probably count on one hand the number of movies that I would watch. But MAN when he needs to,  that guy can act. It was a solid 4 minutes before I knew it was him.

I really wonder how much thought these individuals put into their roles and on what level were they operating mentally during shooting. Or maybe they all just got the call from Ben Stiller and said “sure why not, I’m game”.

All in all I think this movie was more than everyone initially expected, and more than it expected of itself. It can be seen as a worthwhile and smartly executed film if you accept the fact that it will be over the top at times in its caricature of reality. After all, isn’t that what Hollywood is all about?

There is a type of situation that exists in the professional world, a sort of… do and die, or don’t and die. I call it The Professional Catch 22, named because avoiding the shaft is about as easy as taking cannon balls to the skull. You might survive it, but you’ll always be looking at life sideways from that point forward.

Picture this scenario. You’re working somewhere, long past your expiration date. You’ve been there a long time, and you really don’t like it. Sure it keeps food on the table, but you would rather spend your time elsewhere. One day you see listing for a job. A job that you can do, want to do, and should do.

ONE PROBLEM.

“All applications require three professional references to be accepted for review.”

Awesome. You want that job, but if you have to put down references from the the last few years of employment, how are you going to get it? If your employer wanted you gone, you’d be fired already. So why would they give you the most favorable review, if it meant you’d leave for something you felt was better? If you end up not getting the new job, now it’s painfully obvious you don’t want to be working there anymore, so do they keep you or fire you? Furthermore, why would the new potential employer take you on after hearing from you during an in-depth interview all the reasons your current employer sucks the big one? If they see any similarities between themselves and the old employer, they won’t like hearing that.

The Professional Catch 22

Can you name a few more?

The ambitious man is not a rare occurrence. He’s actually quite common and pretty easy to spot. You’ll find him in bars, restaurants, and BevMo’s across the world shortly after quitting time. You can find him in the twilight and early morning hours jogging the streets, and lifting heavy in the gym. He doesn’t live at the bars and liquor stores mind you, but they do know him when he walks in the door. He’s not homeless, but the gym is one of his favorite places to be.

Why is he there? Because he’s had one of those days. The kind that chips away away at the core of your being. He was probably spending his day hiding himself. Not physically, just his shine. Somewhere along the way he learned that survival was best achieved by dampening the light that shines bright from inside. The light that shows everyone around him just how special he is. Everyone has it; man, woman, young, old. Now you might be saying, “That’s stupid. Having others know how good you are can only be beneficial to you and your career.” You saw The Lion King right? How’d being that naive work out for young Simba? Lost a father didn’t he? I know you’ll say that everything worked out in the end, but unfortunately life isn’t a Disney movie. Things don’t get wrapped up in 120 minutes, sometimes you don’t find your way back home, and sometimes you don’t get to see karma come full circle. I don’t mean to be a downer but that is me being realistic.

Well you might be wondering “Okay so why doesn’t this guy just go home and shine there. It’s safe at home.” Yea maybe. Sometimes at home Mr. Ambitious is known as Mr. Not Enough.  He isn’t energetic enough. He isn’t affectionate enough. He isn’t sensitive enough. He isn’t home enough. The bacon he brings to the table isn’t enough. He isn’t in shape enough. He doesn’t go out and have fun enough. He’s Mr. Not Enough.

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Many people struggle with this sort of question. We aren’t really sure ourselves but we come up with half-serious jokes with our friends; we give thoughtful sounding answers in serious conversation. Corporations make money advertising to us about when it might be time, and we laugh because it seems comical for someone to imagine say, riding a dolphin in the middle of the ocean and laughing hysterically.

But is it all that funny? Is it hilarious when you’re living it?

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This isn’t a tech blog, but I can be a pretty big technology fan. Okay okay-nerd.  I can be a pretty big technology nerd. Because of that I thought I should talk a little about this whole Google vs China thing and what it’s doing to the world.

It’s quickly begun to look like a David vs Goliath sort of situation, except they’re both Goliath and the average internet users, manufacturing workers, and R&D people who will get trampled on the ground are David. It’s not a good look.

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This is someone who I respect based on his writing alone. I’ve only been tooling around his blog for a relatively short time, and I know nothing about his life. But I want to meet him.

He’s got some rather  nice insight into life and he writes in a very matter-of-fact way, without resorting to what I call an “extreme marketing” approach (you know the in-your-face guy who is mildly insulting while telling you that you want to listen to him but you’ve been too much of a limp noodle to do so? THAT’S NOT STEVE).

He is funny though. And he’s direct. He’s got a pretty good thing going and I look forward to learning a little something from, and about, him.