Eva Farid

Woody Allen

A life’s work of psychotherapy

            What moves us to create? What is that motor which sets our lives in motion? What makes an artist, a scientist, a pioneer? I am not alone in asking these questions, great philosophers and thinkers alike have spent their lives trying to discover the origins of this raison d’etre, this death impulse, this necessary neurosis which moves us to act, to necessarily move forward or die. I cannot pretend to know the answer to these existential questions but I am convinced that there is something, call it a God or a conscious, energy or an order, there is something which ties life to action and a neurosis which is formed by the sometimes unconscious realization of this truth. Woody Allen exposes his neurosis through his art, not because as a person he resembles his characters for in fact he claims to be quite the opposite, but by constantly creating, by becoming a kind of Nietzscheian super hombre and surrendering entirely to his work.

            Born December 1, 1935, Woody Allen began his career at 15 as a writer for The Colgate Comedy Hour, he then began performing his own comedic dialogues during the early 60’s and by the mid 60’s he was writing and directing his own films. Since his debut as a director he has written and directed 49 movies which means he has basically directed one film for each year of his professional life. This, in and of itself, is incredibly impressive but the quality of his work makes it extraordinary. He has been critically acclaimed throughout his career, first for Annie Hall in 1977, for Manhattan in 1979, for Hannah and her Sisters in 1986, and then more recently for Midnight in Paris two years ago in 2011. All four of these films are wonderful but even his least popular movies have sparks of comedic, paranoid and neurotic genius. Some say he’s a one trick dog but I wonder if its better to superficially know many tricks or to know, live, breath and become, just one entirely. There is a world of difference in details and his movies are filled with them, after all what’s humor, or anything else for that matter, without detail.

Not unlike his other work, his most recent film, To Rome with Love, is a love note to a beautiful city. Granted the still takes of the city at the beginning are something he’s used in almost all his movies, (Midnight in Paris, Manhattan, Vicky Cristina Barcelona to name a few) but the takes are gorgeous. He shows us how to love the world he exposes us to as him, how to feel his nostalgic romantic humor which cuts through the exaggerated ridiculousness of life. Woody Allen, in my opinion needs to create, needs to keep going, his movies are an almost desperate attempt to capture the beauty of life, a love note that hopes to remain immortal.     

            

Since according to the personality test I took online I'm supposed to be a journalist I looked under media and was interested in discovering the answer behind these three questions:
1) What is the subliminal messages in children's movies
2) What is the involvement of mass media in political campaigns?
3) Scripted vs. Unscripted television.
I believe that the subliminal messages in children's movies is impertinent and often not very subliminal at all. However I also believe that its impossible to escape the subliminal, everything that is created is created by a person, a person that moves within an inescapable culture full of repression and tabu's. People who create inevitably but unconsciously illustrate the world they live in no one can escape there perspective and perspective is formed, molded created by society and culture. 
True as I might believe this to be I also think some people go to far, I mean, whats up with the hidden penises in "The Little Mermaid" and "The Lion King"?
That's just deliberate jackassery, its a made up word but i think it gets my point across. 
The second question is one I've speculated on various times after watching movies the most recent one being Argo. It wasn't a bad movie, but did it deserve to win an Oscar? No. I don't really pay attention to those awards anyways, the bigger something becomes the more corrupt it is, there's no way around it, but I understand why it received the award. America needs heroes again, dreamers, brave men and hard workers, the moment it fails to produce them it will collapse as an empire and its not very far from falling.  
In an argument against scripted and non scripted television I'd have to say it depends on how good you are. Of course I'm thinking only of series, some of which work with a vague plot summary and improvise with one another, those with good chemistry are fresh fun and often more honest than fully scripted shows but if the actor has no true understanding of his character or situation then its best he or she stay on script. It also depends on the writing, some shows, like "Arrested Development" are brilliantly written and the genius lies in the details, the nuances, all of which would be lost if it were unscripted. Now if unscripted refers to reality TV then I think it sucks  

I think I was traumatized as a little girl when it comes to school work. Research papers, homework, essays, you name it I'll hate it. My relationship with papers is very much like Charlie Brown's in "Book Report", a song from "Your a Good man Charlie Brown. In it he rationalizes his procrastination, his thought process behind that whole song is eerily identical to mine and because of it i will quote:
"If I start writing now
When I'm not really rested
It could upset my thinking
which is no good at all
I'll get a fresh start tomorrow
and it's not due till Wednesday
so I'll have all of Tuesday
unless something should happen
why does this always happen
i should be outside playing
getting fresh air and sunshine
i work best under pressure
and there'll be lots of pressure
if i wait till tomorrow
i should start writing now
but if i start writing now
when I'm not really rested 
it could upset my thinking
which is
no good at all"
Yup, its a cyclical argument that gets me nowhere except late, I cant help it though. Its not that i don't like reading, or writing for that matter, and I'm genuinely interested in some subjects but the whole formality of "assignments" let alone research papers makes me choke up, makes me feel like its something bad even though i might actually enjoy it, even if I've done research on it on my own. Its weird and if I wanted to act as my own psychoanalyst id have to say that apart my incredible sloth it could be the suffocating pressure my father put on me to excel. Nothing short of perfect was expected, if not then I wasn't trying hard enough. I guess after a while I figured out it was easier not to try, perfection is an impossible thing to conquer but mediocrity, mediocrity is effortless. 
I guess if I were to conduct my own study on my own grounds I'd research depression in Puerto Rico. Granted there's a big genetic aspect to it but we inherit tendencies from genes, tendencies that metastacise throughout our lives into character traits molded by our different traumas and life experiences. It is then to be expected that people living in similar environments develop similar character traits made different only by our natural tendencies and the way they allow us to react to those things that happen. The suicide rate in Puerto Rico is alarming, I'd like to find out why. My theory is a lack of national identity which implicitly leaks onto everything else in life. I guess I'd like to research that.    

Recently some religious activists marched to El Capitolio in protest of the change to the Ley 54 which was to include homosexual partners. The law is meant to protect sexually involved couples from abusing one another physically and verbally and by adding a clause to include homosexual some religious activists believed it was a step to promote gay marriage. I have a lot of angry things to say about these "religious activists". 

The title of this blog post is how every episode of Magnum P.I started. For those of you unfamiliar with this show its about a private detective working in Hawaii for a millionaire who never makes an appearance. This blog post made me think of it right away because it makes you believe in a "paradise", one which is unveiled throughout the show as greed and corruption oose through its cracks.
 Puerto Rico is a similar "paradise" full luxurious resorts and casino's, a paradise for those who's bank accounts are willing and able. Its disgusting how our beaches are polluted with dirty pampers, empty beer bottles, used condoms and infected syringes, its abominable the way construction continues to happen so close to the shoreline, who gives these people permission to build anyways. I can count at least 3 buildings recently constructed basically on the beach in Condado which have been empty for at least 5 years. I mean at this point its just insulting, not only did they build illegally but how the hell are they paying the bank back if no one is living there. Its an obvious money laundering shenanigan and nobody does or says anything.
I guess thats what it all comes down to, nobody's bothered enough to do anything here. We live by that awful motto: "such is life", well I refuse to accept that. We live drugged in conformism and its depressing. The all encompassing mediocrity lulls you, sinks you into a gray limbo where you are trained to expect the bare minimum. I could argue that its because we're still basically a colony living like a 30 year old man in his mothers basement but that's old news. Nothing works here, the buses take forever, government offices open whenever they feel like it, public education is a joke and more than half of our economy is moved by drug money. The list goes on and on and the more I think of it the more anxious I get to get out. 
I wont leave without feeling though, there is indeed something magical about this island despite its many, many, many shortcomings it will always have a warm spot in my heart. 
To give a concrete example of one of my biggest complaints (that being the horrid public education system) one need only to open the newspaper and see how much money was found under Fajardo's mattress. 

I've always wanted to go to Ireland and not for the obvious Dublin punk pub experience but for the sights. I know it sounds like a cliche but after all they're l cliches because everyone feels them. I have no idea where this calling comes from,  I have no family history in Ireland and from what I've heard there's really nothing to do in the country side.
 Nothing to do, no distractions, a pause in time, maybe that' s what calls to me the most. I want a deep breath of fresh crisp air in a place with beautiful green cliffs that fall into oceans of abyss, I want to smell the earth after hard rains and hear the wind wailing through the hills. I want to see the sun fall from the sky, dive into the ocean and play with its silhouette then slowly sink into a peaceful sleep as the stars come out to play. I imagine them, the stars I mean, breaking through a thick black cloth brightly, jovially penetrating the darkness. Ireland, a place of fairies and leprechauns where Gothic undertones make the land something beautifully sorrowful, a place where I imagine the idea, the dream of magic to be still very much alive. 
To be completely honest i have no idea what Ireland is like, the most I've seen of its country side was in "Whitnel and I" where two friends retreat to a cottage to get away from city life and have a horrible time in the process. However, the idea of my Ireland remains unfazed and one of these days I will go and lay by the cliffs and listen to the ocean battle with the land. I've been to Spain, France, Egypt and Portugal as well as various Caribbean islands and U.S states and Ireland still calls to me. Who knows what it is but I don't doubt its something, after all James Joyce was Irish. 

Its so strange knowing you. Its almost as if you've lived inside my head forever, like you feel similarly to me in a very primal and instinctive way. i feel I've done this all before and it scares me. You joked you were  my imaginary friend metastasize into a man and now I cant stop wondering about it. Have I gone insane? Is this all in my head? I feel a strange pull in my gut when i think of you, one i don't want to surrender to but one i cant fight. I'm afraid of what we'll do to each other, like our affair will be a violent torment, a dangerous thing to indulge.
 It's so strange knowing you. Where did you come from? I think, I think, I think... I think I'm scared to stop thinking, scared of what I'll do if i do, I've hurt you before and I've never before met you. You, you to the look behind your eyes, I recognize you. I'm scared of what that might mean,of loosing myself in you if i let go.
 I've been here before, with you in your room, in the same room some other time I don't remember but I feel the temperature and recognize the smell our bodies make when we're together, the feel of your skin on mine and I know, I know I've been here before.  

I grew up on Disney movies, I was guilty of wanting to be a beautiful, curvy, rich princess, loved and admired by all. However, as I grew older and slowly submerged myself in adolescence my aspirations changed, I wanted to be in control. I guess I never actively thought about Disney movies and how they might have affected my perspective on life but i began to notoriously over think things. The documentary brought me back to Disney, and exposed a couple of things I hadn't thought of, among these the implicit chauvinism in both The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. I was very impressed with how they analysed both movies. The "Little Mermaid" for example, who rebelled against her father with the use of her voice, who claimed her independence and spoke her mind had to sacrifice that very thing which made her a strong woman in order to pursue the man of her dreams. I hadn't thought of the importance of the voice, as a child i just assumed that Ursula was simply jealous but looking back she asks for Ariel's voice, not her looks. 
The "Beauty and the Beast" interpretation also spoke to me. It made me reconsider the way I feel about people to an extent for like the little girl in the documentary i too believed that there is a hidden good in everyone that comes out with kindness. I had fond albeit vague memories of that movie, I found it comforting that every beast could be tamed but its a dangerous thing to believe, some things are just unacceptable and allowing them stunts future change. 

This masterpiece, directed by Mike Nichols and written by Ernst Lehman, transports us into the lives of a married couple and the detailed, intricate mind games which they play with one another. The tension and violence is palpable, a persistent tone that consumes the viewer with exquisite dialogue and brilliant dramatic interpretations by both Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The movie develops almost entirely in the same set in one single shot following the couple and their unsuspecting guests throughout one very long night.
 Elizabeth Taylor performs as Martha, daughter of the head of the university in which her husband George (Richard Burton) works. Together they get home after a party hosted by Martha's father and immediately the implicit tension between the two begins to unravel. There is a power play between them as Martha verbally abuses George in a passive aggressive manner and ridicules him when he becomes irritated. She tells George she's invited a young new professor and his wife for a night cap and George, previously oblivious to Martha's invitation, is furious. 
Both are fairly inebriated when their unsuspecting guests arrive. They are a recently married young couple named Nick and Honey played by George Segal and Sandy Dennis. The moment they arrive at Martha and George's home they become pawns in their sick and twisted game. The story develops itself deeper into the psychological war between both Martha and George and we are slowly revealed the reason behind their ire. Martha is ultimately disappointed in George and his lack of "ambition" as well as his impotence which has made it impossible for them to have children. None of these "problems" are exclusive to our protagonists, in fact, one could argue their presence at the heart of most marriages since in a word both can be summed up as disappointment. 
I saw this movie for the first time when I was 16 years old and felt deeply disturbed. It framed and materialized a truth which I might have been too afraid to admit to myself at that age; life is a game. Not a game of checkers but a game of chess, a never ending, never escaping, exhausting and all encompassing game which ends in death. Interpersonal relationships, which inevitably extend unto everything that is life, are a playing field and your success in life and love depends on how well you move your pieces. We are the generals of our lives and the moment we encounter another person there is an implicit war between the two. Granted this is a very pessimistic way of looking at life but like B.F. Skinner said in Beyond Freedom and Dignity "war is created in the minds of men, there is something suicidal in man, a death instinct". The love that exists between Martha and George could not exist without the hate they feel as well. It is that "death instinct" which moves us to play, to create, to live and to love.