Great | 974

Lukasz Laniecki
Jul 20, 2017 · 5 min read

My Author Journey, Wednesday, July 19, 2017

# 974 (countdown)

Should a diary tell your activities, your observations or your emotions of the day? Or a blend of those things? Or none of them? Should it be more about the questions that run through your head on a given day? Or your attempt at answering them?

Is it enough if we write things down daily? Anything? Can we choose freely? Who gets to decide whether we can call it a diary or not?

I guess since it’s our diary we get to write what we find suitable.

Today I was looking at Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh (on the Internet — Van Gogh Museum) and it got me thinking. When I was a little kid I’d been told it’s inappropriate (‘wrong’ is probably a better word) to dislike things which were done by great masters.

Like when you look at an artwork of a rookie person you can always say what you think. I like this piece, I don’t like that piece (or simply, I don’t get it).

It’s like we can tell what we think but when the majority of people reveres this person’s work we are supposed to see and feel the same. It’s like telling kids what they should look for in a poem — a common practice in schools. Because obviously it’s there (and everyone should be able to see it), and if you can’t see it (if you still can’t see it after you’ve been taught) you’re either too stupid or too ignorant.

No wonder everyone marvels at the same paintings.

If enough people said he / she was a great artist (if a certain piece achieved a critical acclaim), we can no longer have our opinion. From now on it is assumed that it’s great. Like you cannot say “meh” when you see or hear it. You will be reminded how great of an artist this person was etc, and that you should like it. Like People come here from all over the world to marvel at it and you say it’s noting/ all you have to say is “meh”? Maybe I should talk to your parents.

It’s like school. I feel sorry for all those people travelling thousands of kilometres / miles to “marvel” at things they are supposed to be marvelled by. Not having their own opinion. Seeing or experiencing nothing but being all in awe. Not being allowed to have their own opinion. Remembering only the Sunflowers and telling their friends only about the Sunflowers.

I don’t like his Sunflowers but I love his self-portrait (the one made of dashes). I don’t marvel at those Sunflowers as I’m supposed to.

Movies.

Richard Pryor: Icon (on Netflix). I’ve finished it. A decent PBS documentary at least. One of the greatest American comics of all time, one of the first black men ever on television, and his impact on comedy and this generation’s top comedians.

Speaking of opinions. I like to read the negative reviews people leave after seeing a movie or reading a book I liked. Here is what I found on Richard Pryor: Icon (opinion posted on IMDb):

Among the Most Useless Documentaries Ever Created

I’m giving this a three just because it’s about Richard Pryor. Beside that redeeming fact, this documentary has little in it that makes it worth watching. I’m a huge standup comedy fan and an even bigger fan of Pryor, but this was painful to watch. PBS was like that guy in the business meeting just repeats what other people are saying so no one notices he’s not really contributing. PBS had nothing.

Footage of Pryor’s standup and appearances on talk shows, etc. This is expected in any documentary but it adds nothing for fans of Pryor. There’s no new footage. It’s all been seen a thousand times, and of course PBS censors the language, so what’s the point? All of this can be seen online anyway, and without their nonsense sprinkled on top of it.

Interviews with comedians and people who knew Pryor. This is all padding. No one has anything new or interesting to say about Pryor. No new information, no new stories. Nothing. Yes, he was the greatest standup. He was disturbed. He was funny. Those things are all true and no one needs Tracy Morgan to relay that message.

In short, making this was a waste of time, and if you’ve ever donated money to PBS, you should feel bad, because you’re partially responsible.

Another thing about opinions. This person didn’t factor in that someone might not be this huge Richard Pryor’s fan and he / she might know nothing or very little about him. And for those people this documentary was informative.

This reviewer (like many other reviewers) sees things only from his / her own perspective. Each new movie about Richard Pryor needs to tell a story he / she doesn’t know yet (otherwise it’s a waste of time). Each movie producer needs to take into account that this guy / gal is Richard Pryor’s fan and already knows a lot (just like other Richard Pryor’s fans).

For me it was new. Almost everything in that movie was new. Information, footage, stories. Everything. None of it was seen or heard by me even once, let alone a thousand times.

In short, making this wasn’t a waste of time. Writing a review like that (and not adding that it is only one fan’s perspective which can be of value only to other fans), on the other hand, was.

This movie has just one review on IMDb and it’s a bad review. Nonetheless I liked this movie. Good to know if you put things out as an artist or writer (creative) and received those first bad reviews.

Progress on my second book. Zero editing.

My today’s answer on Quora:

Answer to Will my kids hate me if I divorce their narcissistic father? How can I get them to understand my decision?

Music for this writing session: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Alexandre Desplat and Jean-Yves Thibaudet from Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (on spotify, on repeat).

A watermelon on that photo.

Diary of an artist

Documenting my creative process

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Lukasz Laniecki

Written by

Thinker | Writer | Artist | 100% Positivity | Zero Excuses My books 📚 http://amzn.to/2qdiu6c

Diary of an artist

Documenting my creative process

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