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.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
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.
ReplyDeleteYep, 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...
ReplyDeleteAh, 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.
ReplyDeleteThat's very true.
ReplyDelete