I wish I was here for the time when TIFF was subdued. Subtle. Now I spend ten days suffering from screaming girls, obsessed fans, and gushing stalkers. No offense to the people who embody these traits...
Actually, yes offense! It may be that no one particularly reads this, or that I just watched the film "God Bless America" last night (trust me, you'll get the reference soon enough), but screw making sure people are not upset by my words. This is my time to rant.
I am bored of people fawning over the rich for reasons outside my understanding. I try to understand what makes people gush. Is it the fortune? The good looks? The... nope. I can't think of another reason. I won't hold myself on a pedestal and claim I don't get a little jump in my stomach when I lay eyes on a particularly naturally enhanced looking human being (but I do that year round, and not just for film stars). I can get star struck like the rest, but I will give myself decency and not imagine a life in which we're pals, that seeing the famous from across a red aisle gives me any superiority to those who stay home and could care less. I will not waste my precious moments of life trolloping around town in order to catch a glance of $150 of a $750 haircut.
And this is not a comment on the $750 haircut; they hold talent in some shape or form and I will defend them for that. This Rant is about my incomprehension to the fact that in a Festival dedicated to FILMMAKING, I hear nothing all week from the masses about actual filmmaking. I challenge the newspapers to create one line of TIFF related comments about films, and not the crazy world of superstars and red carpets. Let's have at least one column in a Toronto daily that rates filmography, not fashion style. Who cares where Pitt or Gosling ate lunch yesterday? Were their films any good? Are they worth a look, when they come out nationally in 2 WEEKS? Are they giving Q & As to their long awaiting fans, and what did they have to say about their films?
The moments of the Festival I cherish are those that occur organically and create a fun story to tell later in life. Imagine sitting over a beer and listening to your friend lead you down a path of excited speech and exaggerated hand gestures only to hear that after the four hours of waiting in a big crowd, the climax of the tale is that So-And-So waved in their general direction. I'd have rather sat in a theatre and watched a quality film instead.
And that's what I choose to do with the Festival. I will concede and say that to each his own; if a glance from someone who will never know who you are is all you need in life, then by all means soak it up for the next 8 days. I choose different. I choose to spend my days sitting in theaters with like minded people. With the directors, and cinematographer, and producers who give those people life. Plus, while you waited in a crowd aching for a glimmer of starlight, I watched while one actor walked on stage late for a Q & A, while zipping up his fly. Nothing better than a little bathroom humour.
In short, don't waste it. TIFF is about amazing filmmaking from around the word that you wouldn't get a chance to see otherwise. Embrace the culture of intelligence and surround yourself with talent.
Or actually, don't. You stand in crowds. I'll sit with the stars.
**NOTE: Re: Subject Line. See Sarcasm Comment From Previous Postings
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