Father Figures

Episode Forty-Five: Father Figures.
In which Squidman stands by his principals.
 

1 comment:

  1. "My Father The Genius," 2002, by Lucia Small. I had met Lucia when we worked post production on another filmmaker's independent non-fiction project in Boston, in the late 90's. By the time she had made "My Father," I was back in Vermont, working at The Savoy, and she came to present her film at the GMFF.

    We met for coffee, and I told her about my brother's devastating criticism of my comics when he was terminally ill, and how emotionally crippled it had left me. She was clear: her film had similarly affected her relationships with her family, but, as an artist, it was the film she had to make. The truth one must tell takes precedence.

    That afternoon with coffee, a relatively innocuous meeting years ago, has remained. She didn't say anything to me that a dozen other friends have also said, but for whatever reason, her words have stuck where their words have not; she has been life-changing to me in her way.

    So what I take from that is the idea that one never knows how one's impact will manifest. You may as well give a shit, and try.

    Watching "My Father The Genius" this time around, my children now becoming teenagers, I relate to the father issues in the film differently than I did back in 2002. Feelings of impotence, inagency, disconnect, are far more familiar to me today. I couldn't resist the pun in the title here: father figures are important / the idea of "father" figures in life's calculations.

    Guy is holding a handheld Super 8 camera.

    ReplyDelete

About

Search This Blog

Tell