Face to Face

Everyone I know, including me, has a love-hate relationship with someone or something. We kind of wish we could get rid of it, but it won't go away, and we have to appreciate it to a certain extent, but always are sure to complain about it whenever we get the chance.

For me, that thing is.... commercials.

Let's forget for a moment the fact that I am an actor, and therefore love commercials because they are huge amounts of money for the tiniest amount of work, but hate them because I did not learn iambic pentameter to sell Vagisil. I personally love commercials when they are funny or artistic; when I can see the work someone put into the design or idea behind it. But of course, I hate them because they are too loud, there are too many of them, and most of them just suck.

I recently have seen a couple commercials that have actually frightened me. And they weren't for a horror movie, they frightened me in a deeper way, making me fear for the future of human beings.

Nope, not sarcasm this time. I'm really super serial right now.

The first I saw about 2 months ago. It was for a phone company that was advertising their new phone that was supposed to rival the iPhone, and the premise of the commercial was that three skiers were stuck on a lift. They all instantly whipped out their devices and went browsing through the music, video, and text capabilities or their magical whatever-it-was.

Now, this may seem a harmless situation, but what creeped me out is whether or not these people knew each other, could they really not stand 2 minutes of just, oh I don't know, TALKING to each other? If they're not on the go, must they spend every waking moment checking their online lives, which, let's face it, don't really matter in the long run?

Some of my favorite memories as a kid were skiing with my parents, but more than that, when the lift was big enough to hold four people, I loved being cuddled up with my family, talking about the day, laughing as my dad made up various songs about how his balls were freezing (yes we're a very cultured and mature bunch of people) and just being together for a few minutes, floating above the snow in the sunshine. I don't know what I would do if those memories were replaced by ones of me checking facebook and missing the scenery and chance to be a Brookner in our natural element; with each other.

The other commercial bothered me for the same reason. Advertising same kind of product, with a little ditty about 'checking Youtube on a horse, making your boring job better, ignoring your dad', etc. It showed people ignoring the world around them, whether at a job, on a camping trip with your dad, or RIDING A HORSE ON THE BEACH. Yeah. Because riding a horse on the beach with a beautiful woman behind you is so boring that you need Youtube to make it bearable.

I really wanted to scream WAKE THE FUCK UP!!!!!! at the commercial. I realize this is a disproportionate response, but I was just so frustrated that not only would this not bother a lot of people, but this would APPEAL to them??

I love riding horses, and I LOVE camping trips with my family. Once again, memories that are precious to me are completely trivialized in this commercial, and it seems as if the advertisers are laughing at people that actually interact with other in REAL life and REAL time.

I know everything on the internet can seem really important, it is such an integral part of our lives. I'm guilty of spending way too much time on it, I know this, and I'm guilty of texting during vacations and times when I should be 100% focused on what's in front of me. But I know when enough is enough, and when to relate to the people I'm with.

Don't let it get to the point when you can't even talk to someone face to face anymore. Use the tools we've created, don't let them control you and your life.

Because you could be missing it. And you can't press refresh on moments like that.

Plugged In

Another installment from my old Myspace blog which I feel deserves some attention:

I've been noticing the world around me a lot more lately. And it's really interesting, if sometimes heartbreaking.

Flying home from Aspen, the man next to me was either trying to sleep or was asleep the whole flight. One moment, I happened to look over at him, just in time to see a tear suddenly fall out of his gently closed eye. He immedeately opened it, or woke up, and wiped it away.
Why was he crying? Was it just something irritating his eye? Was he thinking about a past love? A failure? Dreading whatever it was he was flying to? Sadness, nostalgia, anger, fear, love, happiness, so many possibilities for why this man shed one solitary tear on a flight to New York. I spent the rest of the flight thinking about it, and also thinking about why, when he opened his eyes, did I look away pretending not to see? I think it was out of respect, for whatever the moment or thought was that moved him so much, I didn't want him to feel embarrased about it. I don't know if he saw me looking or not, but I still felt a small connection with him.

Later that day, after my flight had landed, I had driven back to the apartment, and as I was pulling my luggage through the courtyard of my complex, I saw the prostitute who frequents my building. She was rather desperately following a man, who, in a reply to some question she had asked (you can figure it out) said "No, I do NOT want that at all."
As she was following him, our eyes met for a brief moment, and I thought I could almost see the scared little girl inside her that was appalled at what she had become. She had the drawn, thin look of a drug addict, and if she was pretty once, it had all been lost to her lifestyle. I've seen her before and had pity on her, or was disgusted. But for this one second, I saw something in her that was human, that was a mirror of something in me, and felt a connection.

I know these people probably don't remember the moments I'm talking about, the probably don't even remember seeing me at all. I don't care whether they felt a connection, I did. And it kind of woke me up to the fact that everyone is an individual human being. It's not just a mass of people. Everyone has individual thoughts, feelings, everyone has a heart and a brain, has gone through countless experiences.
Someone mentioned this observation to me... what seems like a lifetime ago. He was fascinated that I was another human being with a beating heart and a soul, and that we were connecting. I agreed halfheartedly, but now I finally realize what he was talking about. I wish I could tell him that.

Moral: I'm going to try and keep this idea in mind, and not think of people as a group, or any kind of generalization. I will try to be more plugged into the present, so I can have more moments like this, because they make me feel more alive.

And every moment I feel alive is another moment I'm glad I am.