Was Russell Crowe an art director?

Lets’ face it. Russell Crowe is a bad ass. When I go to see a Russell Crowe movie my expectations are as high as they get. And the 2½ plays that I acted in… in college… in the small theatre… on the old part of campus… basically gives me critiquing rights of any actor any place at any time, right?

Now that you are aware of my credentials let me make one thing ridiculously clear, I don’t know Russell Crowe (big surprise) have never met him, never seen his parenting skills or had a conversation with the man but for some reason (and for the sake of this article) I know one thing for sure… he’s an ass. A real cocky, temper-tantrum throwing, my way or the highway, jerk.

I think we can all agree that “a-holes” are in the eye of the beholder so to give you an idea of who I am, I tend to be the nice guy that avoids confrontation, gets along with almost everyone and navigates tricky water strategically through the path of least resistance. I’m sure you all know one of me, and you either love me or you mistake my style as a reflection of the size, shape and thickness of my spine. Regardless, in the spirit of non-disclosure, that is the point of view that I am coming from.

Okay, who cares right? What ‘s my point? My point is… would you work with Crowe?

Not gawk at him, get an autograph and brag to your friends about who you’re working with. I mean, be vulnerable, brainstorm with, critic and be critiqued by Mr. Russell Crowe?

You see, I’m a creative director at an ad agency and I’d like to think that my job can be similar to that of a movie director. It makes sense when you think about it. I find and direct great talent to do what they do best. In my case, it’s to be creative, write, invent and create great ad campaigns. Plus, I’m a frustrated actor and Leo so deep down inside my ego needs to believe that I am some sort of star or celebrity, hence the Hollywood director correlation. Okay, let’s move on… here’s the complicated layer to my job, which I will for obvious reasons relate straight back to the movie director (in this case Ridley Scott) and Mr. Crowe relationship, the finished product is the thing that is judged by everyone: the critics, the box office, the “academy.” Do the critics care how much of an ass Crowe was on the set of Gladiator? Do the box office dollars mind the four months of attitude brought to the set each of day of filming? Of course not. But, how did the crew feel? Specifically how did the lighting guy feel when he walked across the set at the wrong time, in an effort to make sure he was just doing his best, only to be made a mockery of by… oh wait, that was Christian Bale… tomato- tomahto. The question is… is this premadonna attitude worth dragging 500 other people through a torturous work environment?

I guess in the movie business, it is. Ridley Scott has hired Crowe, time and time again since Gladiator and produced one great film after another so who am I to say he did anything wrong. Maybe it’s worth it to the 500+ people involved to be a part of this torture, in an effort to be a part of a great finished product.

But, what about Tom Hanks and George Clooney? These guys have a great reputation on set. From everything that I’ve heard (and I am the resident expert, remember the plays in college?) people actually have fun working with Clooney and Hanks is supposedly a total gentleman.

One thing is for sure, I'll will be critiqued by my final product, too. The process doesn’t matter to clients, consumers, potential clients and award shows. They just need the ideas to be great. And to work.

So what would you do in my shoes? Really? What would you do?

If you say I should hire Crowe, make kick ass "movies" and weather the outbursts at the lighting guy twice a week, tell me about it.

If you think that life is too short to work with “a-holes” and you don’t have to be a cocky, temper-tantrum throwing, my way or the highway, jerk to have a great portfolio- then send it to me. I’m hiring.

It’s the next Great Depression. Isn’t it great?

A year and a half ago I bought a top-o-the-line Volkswagen Touareg, and I was pissed about it. This car could do nothing right. Know what I hated? I hated that it thought it was smarter than me. It’s bad enough that I allowed the thing to shift for me, but this car “dinged” at me when I didn’t have my seatbelt on, then it dinged at me when I was low on gas, it even dinged at me when I needed to add air in the tires. I hated it. Why did I shell out all the cash for a “luxury” vehicle anyway? I wasn’t a happier person with this car. It didn’t make my life any easier. I sure didn’t feel successful driving it. That was two years ago. Fast-forward in time to yesterday a thought shocked me while I was driving, “I like this car, now. It’s comfortable, it’s a smooth ride, it’s got seat warmers for Pete sake, what’s not to like about that?” And at that moment I realized, I’m changing. My attitude about my stuff is permanently changing. My addiction to stuff is changing.

Here’s where it all started. Last Sunday, I went to the park with my son. He’s a toddler now and he absolutely loves going to the park. Now, granted I am a recent dad so some of my experiences are definitely seen through new eyes. But, I also think that this is a “new world” and this has a lot to do with a new attitude that I have. You know what I mean, by “new world” right? This new-bad economy–unemployment–war–debt–General Motors-Fanny Mae-stock market-healthcare-global warming-world? Okay, lets get back to the park and my attitude. First off, Caleb (my son) had a blast. He spent most of his time climbing, sliding and staring at new faces. I also had fun. Of course watching him enjoying life on earth was a joy but I also saw something that really opened my eyes. It was an empty 2-liter bottle of Safeway Select Grape soda sitting next to the trashcan. For anyone else and probably for me at any other time, this would have just been trash but, this time it shifted my paradigm. It cause me to look around for a moment and actually see what was happening around me, people were having fun. I saw a couple barbequing hot dogs on a tiny Smokey Joe, four people sharing a blanket and playing cards, two friends in lawn chairs enjoying the weather. I too, was totally enjoying myself just taking it all in. This ordinary piece of recyclable trash, this bottle of soda reminded me of when I was a kid and how we would go to the park with generic soda, bring peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a blanket and just play. The last 10 years of my life has had none of this. I’ve been too busy shopping, spending and consuming.

I belive this economy is a good thing. It’s giving us a reality check. Our lives were spinning out of control with a blind addiction to collecting stuff. When we did take time to go to a park to have fun, it was a park with an entry fee, expensive food and a $5 dollar fee to park in the “closer” parking lot. And we were miserable. The expensive food sucked, the “close” lot wasn’t close enough and the bathrooms at the park… in these shoes? I don’t think so.

Good for us, for being yanked off of our miserable pedestal, brought back down to earth where fun is free, food is fuel and we appreciate life.
I think this new world is the best thing that could’ve happened to all of us. We needed it.

Think about it. Are you less happy right now than when you were shopping at Banana Republic every weekend and complaining about the freshness of your sushi? Or maybe, just maybe you’re appreciating little things like a roof over your head, TV night on the couch and if you happen to be one very fortunate man like myself, sitting on a bench at the park with your son on a sunny 72 degree afternoon staring at a nostalgic piece of recyclable trash. Isn’t it great?