Sunday 16 August 2009

Scary Carrey

I’ve never really looked too deeply into Jim Carrey films. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve tended to like his brand of silliness over the years - some reasonably sophisticated, some so lightweight you can almost visualise cogs churning as a chimp puts its finger to the typewriter for the first draft. But fairly recently I fell upon ‘Yes Man’, a film about a man that vows to answer “yes” to every opportunity, embracing all that’s thrown at him along the way. Carrey plays the lead character with typical comic panache. But taking a step back, I found the concept quite scary – scary what could be achieved if we really did say ‘yes’ to a bit more of life. And, of course, just plain scary, scary, scary. I know I’m mentally light years away from diving head first into a sea of yeses but if I can summon up the gumption to dip my toe in just a little more, who knows what treasures I may fall upon.

4 comments:

  1. Haven't seen the film but suspect it is reminiscent of the concept behind The Diceman, a novel by Luke Rhinehart. Instead of saying yes to everything, one lives one's life by a throw of the dice. It is a very freeing way to live. I don't throw the die as much now, but as an ex-pat living in Australia I can vouch for its capacity to change one's life. Ultimately of course, one is responsible for one's decisions. Life can be scary or an adventure. It's up to us.

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  2. Yep, I know the book well. I'm sure the approach can be very liberating if you put yourself in the game, so to speak. But that's the problem for most of us, I guess - putting ourselves on the starting line...

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  3. Ah, but the starting line is how you draw it. Playing the die *safely* (now that I'm mature and responsible)I would list 10 things; 3 things I absolutely loathe doing, 3 things I like doing but don't take the time to do, a couple of boring chores and a couple of indulgences. Tossing the die does kick start things. Normally I might waffle about and waste time with shoulds and maybes and indecision. Toss the die and I'm galvanized.

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