A Simple Life

 

Disclaimer: This has absolutely NOTHING to do with Paris Hilton or Nicole Richie.

At 8pm last night I deactivated my Facebook account. As the final moment drew closer, I was in anguish. Have you heard about the scene in the new film 127 Hours by Danny Boyle (out in November 2010), based on the true story of Aron Ralston, where the mountaineer’s arm gets stuck under a boulder, and he cuts it off to save his life? Yeah, that’s how I felt as the time to click the ‘deactivate’ button approached, and I realised that it was going to be a relief to get it over with. Especially because I was silly enough to let the tension build up for a good 36 hours beforehand. I took a long, hard look at myself then, and saw how pathetic it was of me to feel so connected to a website. It shouldn’t control my life, yet it does. Or, no, it did. At 8pm I vanished from Facebook, and at that very instant I felt more free than I have done in years.

Originally the plan was to get straight into my final film essay once I’d abandoned Facebook, but then one of my friends offered to come round to my place to watch a movie, and of course I felt like I deserved that, so I agreed. Funnily enough, we ended up watching Into the Wild (one of my favourite movies). So if I’d been feeling a bit sad about amputating a good 50% of my online presence, that feeling changed over the course of the evening, into that of shame; shame at thinking that what I’d done was something extraordinary, when this guy, Christopher McCandless, aka Alexander Supertramp, gave up everything to live a more simple life. Every time I watch that movie I feel so inspired to go and do the same thing; just give away my money, burn my ID papers, strap on some good tramping boots and a backpack and just go for it. I’ve always had a desire in me, deep down, to do just that, and watching that movie brings those feelings to the surface, making me want to leave on the spot. I’m not the biggest fan of society, I’ll tell you that. To quote the amazing Lord Byron: “I only go out to get me a fresh appetite for being alone.”

Of course, today I was expecting to be madly wanting to check my Facebook profile, but so far whenever the thought even just pops into my head I think about all the things I want to achieve in the near future (especially passing my exams, which demands a fair bit of studying beforehand on my part), and the knowledge that Facebook would distract me from achieving those goals makes me a little furious and strengthens my determination to place all thought of Facebook in a tiny, dark space at the back of my mind and throw away the key. (Wow. Long sentence.) The only thing I’m struggling with is finding other ways to procrastinate when I need 5 minutes to consider what more I’m going to say in my essay. So, as you can see, the lack of Facebook is doing me nothing but good.

Being Saturday, I also have a wine glass and a bottle of wine (Chardonnay, today) standing next to my laptop, on call to be opened after 5pm (I’m practicing self-control – so far this week I have failed miserably every day). Not that there’s anything wrong with drinking – to quote my man Lord Byron again: “Man, being reasonable, must get drunk; the best of life is but intoxication.” (My only concern is the cost of it.) Also, to justify writing essays under the influence of alcohol, here are a few well-chosen words, from the great Ernest Hemingway: "Write drunk; edit sober." Wise man.

I must say I really am enjoying the Facebook-free day I’ve had so far. It’s forcing me to look elsewhere when I want something “fun” to do, thus causing me to think creatively once more. And lo and behold, there’s another blog entry being written. Not to mention that I’ve written a lot more on my essay. Feeling just a little cut off from the rest of the world feels, in a single word, great.

“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods;
There is a rapture on the lonely shore;
There is society where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar;
I love not man the less, but Nature more…”

- Lord Byron

Opting out

 

A couple of days ago I was asked by the editor of the local newspaper in my home town back in Norway to participate as a blogger on their new website due to be launched in a couple of weeks’ time, and I’m absolutely thrilled to say that I agreed to do it. I’m not yet sure exactly what it involves, all I know is that I’ll be sharing the task with 7 other people, each posting once every 8 weeks. Another blog to maintain, excellent. That ought to get my creative juices flowing.

Speaking of, I have a theory that Facebook kills my creativity. Lately I’ve been trying to study for my exams, so naturally I have spent a good 18 hours every day procrastinating on Facebook. And in less than two weeks my exams will be over, so I’ll go back to spending on average 8-10 hours a day on Facebook again. This has got to stop. So today I made an executive decision to deactivate my Facebook account for an uncertain period of time – all I know is that I will not activate it again until after my exams are over. If I’m past the sweaty palms and fevered dreams stage due to my abstinence from Facebook at this point, I will consider extending my absence indefinitely, to see if this will increase my attention to various creative projects I have started but not made any progress on lately.

This desire to be creative (and thus, to do something to make it happen) has been greatly spurred on over the last few days by the drama surrounding the production of The Hobbit, with the latest reports saying that Warner Brothers have decided to move the production offshore. Apparently they want to shoot it in a studio in England, where they shot Harry Potter. I am simply outraged by this development. Ever since I first heard that The Hobbit was going to be made into a film I’ve had mixed feelings about it, because ever since I first read the book, I’ve wanted to be involved in the making of the film version (preferably I would be the one making it). So at first I was against Sir Peter Jackson directing it. Then they announced that Guillermo del Toro would be the director, and I decided that I’d rather have PJ direct to keep things consistent with the mood and feeling of the LotR trilogy. Then GDT dropped out, and the whole thing was stuck in limbo for a while. It hadn’t been greenlit, the studio was bankrupt, there was no director – the problems seemed to be neverending, and the film destined not to be made. Then, just as we heard words of progress, some Australian douchebag union decided to royally fuck things up. There was a boycott of the film, demonstrations, marches, secret meetings, press statements, verbal abuse, anxiety, still no green light – and all of a sudden came the press release from the studios that the film had been greenlit, PJ would direct, and shooting would commence in February 2011. But wait… There was nothing about where it would be shot.

The fight instantly on between a handful of countries all wanting not just a slice of the cake but the whole goddamn thing, The Hobbit seemed set to be pried from the shores of Aotearoa. Tax breaks, cheap labour, no Australian unions – England, Scotland, Canada and several Eastern European countries all put their offers on the table, and Warner Brothers took the bait. According to the newspapers today, representatives are coming down to New Zealand next week to arrange the moving of the production offshore. After all this time, New Zealand is set to lose one of the bound to be biggest franchises of the next decade.

One of the main reasons I decided to study in Wellington was that The Hobbit was supposed to be made in Wellington during my stay here (originally there were reports that shooting would commence in March this year, but we all know that never happened), and now that is no longer the case, and the long-term effects of this move is likely to more or less shut down the smaller film industry in Wellington, I see no future for me here. Maybe I should transfer to London? I hear they make some films over there…