The Editor Known as Mr. Deathrealm. Author of BLUE DEVIL ISLAND, THE NIGHTMARE FRONTIER, THE LEBO COVEN, DARK SHADOWS: DREAMS OF THE DARK (with Elizabeth Massie), BALAK, YOUNG BLOOD (with Mat & Myron Smith), et. al. Feed at your own risk.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Relative Obscurity...
...is infinitely preferable to the idiocy of Kanye West, CFM.*
With all due respect, I think West is overlooking the input he's received through other forms of media. To remain "pure to write his own masterpiece" would require isolation from any kind of input. Didn't ancient civilizations pass down stories through story telling and not in writing? I guess he's saying he wants to have completely original ideas. In contrast, I read an interview with Guillermo Del Toro in "Wired" magazine. I think he said he heard there are only 10 truly original stories in existence. That doesn't seem to bother him or impede his creativity.
This is all about West's ego, not honesty in storytelling, IMO. With many years of editing behind me, it's fair to say that, in my experience, most who want to "be intellectually honest," with perspectives "unpolluted by outside influences," et. al. are simply too lazy to do the work necessary to achieve competence at a given endeavor. It's almost impossible to imagine an individual becoming successful in a particular field without having extensive knowledge (or even being aware of) the many facets of that field. You end up inventing the wheel over and over again. And you get the rude awakening that, what you thought was some specific bit of brilliance from your own brain is a trite truism that's been not only discovered but explored to the point of exhaustion by countless others.
2 comments:
With all due respect, I think West is overlooking the input he's received through other forms of media. To remain "pure to write his own masterpiece" would require isolation from any kind of input. Didn't ancient civilizations pass down stories through story telling and not in writing? I guess he's saying he wants to have completely original ideas. In contrast, I read an interview with Guillermo Del Toro in "Wired" magazine. I think he said he heard there are only 10 truly original stories in existence. That doesn't seem to bother him or impede his creativity.
This is all about West's ego, not honesty in storytelling, IMO. With many years of editing behind me, it's fair to say that, in my experience, most who want to "be intellectually honest," with perspectives "unpolluted by outside influences," et. al. are simply too lazy to do the work necessary to achieve competence at a given endeavor. It's almost impossible to imagine an individual becoming successful in a particular field without having extensive knowledge (or even being aware of) the many facets of that field. You end up inventing the wheel over and over again. And you get the rude awakening that, what you thought was some specific bit of brilliance from your own brain is a trite truism that's been not only discovered but explored to the point of exhaustion by countless others.
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