Snowbound in Hell: Big Stan K. and the Subversion of Expectations

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“There’s ALWAYS a gremlin on the wing of the plane!”

It is the dilemma the innovator must face when starting out, whether that person is a musician, painter, sculptor or (Heaven forbid) a writer:

The chorus of disapproval from the paternalistic and patronizing Pod People that call themselves your parents, coach or guidance counselor is a tsunami: “What you’re doing is crazy. Sit back, relax and do what we tell you, what we have willfully accepted. You’re better off. Why waste your money applying to a good school? An actor? Do you want to starve? What are you, afraid to get your hands dirty?” And so on.

But to you that route is death.

Meanwhile, there are things you desperately need to say, but no one wants to listen.

In fact, they actively try and shut you up: “What are you doing?!? It’s so weird! Stop it!”

But because it is your “family,” you want their love and respect, and it’s tearing you up inside.

And that’s the same dilemma William Shatner faces in the 1964 episode of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone, “A Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.”

This episode is head and shoulders above the usual simplistic moral that ends the average episode of TZ for the two parallel truths it presents metaphorically:

A) There’s ALWAYS a gremlin on the wing of the plane; and

B) The rest of the passengers do not want to hear about it.

But unlike most of us, Shatner fought against the pressures squeezing him…

Let’s see if we can learn from his example!

LIE #24: Free Your Mind and Your Analyst Will Follow: a review of Cronenberg’s “A Dangerous Method”

A Dangerous Method (2011; David Cronenberg) is another superlative film from this most singular of directors, one that tackles subjects familiar to the filmmaker’s fans (mad doctors; body-horror; the mind-body split; the body in rebellion; the pain in our heads that never goes away; sexuality and repression; misdirected creativity; and so on), but presented in a thoughtful and precise manner showing Cronenberg’s maturation as an artist and human being.

Cronenberg’s still blowing up heads; just in a new, more intellectually rigorous manner.