Ordinary is The Enemy
In the Amazon Prime Original Series, The Last Tycoon an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s unfinished novel of the same name, after the screening of an unremarkable film, Producer Monroe Stahr makes this provocative observation.
“Ordinary is the enemy. You just watched two hours of ordinary, didn’t you feel cheated?” — Monroe Stahr
This remark is valuable not only as a commentary on the purpose of film, but also what it means for our daily lives.
Context
The Last Tycoon revolves around the golden age of film in the depression era. The studio, Brady-American, is hoping for a success in their latest feature The Bells of Boston. The screening however, reveals the flaws all too well.
This elicits the remark from Monroe, reminding us of the purpose of films, the reason we enjoy stories and why we must fight everyday against the unremarkable elements of our own lives.
Being mundane is easy, it requires no effect to create. Stilted language and the monotone are the default for most of us. We exist within an ordinary world doing ordinary things by practice and routine. To become something more, to free ourselves of the bondage to the everyday requires a cost most are unwilling to pay.
