Give me my walking papers to the life I wanted to have: The very belated Lemonade review.
A couple of months ago while watching some tv program I stumbled on a very curious interview about a man who had done some horrible things to a little girl. As time went by, the girl healed as much as she could and went on with her life.
What struck me was one of his answers. He was asked if he understood what he did to her.
"I killed what she could have been".
That line shook me to my core.
Now fast forward to a week or two after that. Changing channels I stumble upon the documentary Lemonade, which I had seen a while ago. Damn, I thought, I didn't write about this movie at WAS! How could I?
So here is my very belated but still very - and I mean very - important documentary that ALL ADVERTISING PEOPLE SHOULD SEE. Yeah, that's right. I don't care if you're a receptionist or a CEO. You need to see this movie.
Yeah you can skip Art & Copy with no problem - you will not learn a thing about the business more than stroking your ego a bit - but you cannot, and I repeat, cannot miss this movie. I can already picture you guys out there thinking that I'm exaggerating. Well, you're wrong. Let me tell you why.
Can you remember what you wanted to do when you were at College? Can you think back and tell me what you daydreamed about doing in the future? Oh well maybe you can tell me all the times that you find yourself doing some stupid revision or pissed of at a client or a fellow ad person... and you think about what you would love to do instead of being there. We've all been there. We've thought about doing something great, something awesome - and usually, it seldom is related to anything about advertising.
Maybe you want to paint. Maybe you want to be a teacher. Maybe you want to open up your own cool beer place. There are so many things you would like to do but... you're working at an ad agency.
Look. This post is really not for people who are starting out. Or maybe, this post is not for people who love the long hours, the stress, the good days and the bad days and most of all for those who really think that this work means something more than just making a promotion about X brand. There ARE some people out there who really love their job, kudos to them, enjoy it. Then, there are the ones that did enjoy their career for a while but then... it dawned on us.
Advertising killed what we could have become.
Harsh. I know. This is why Lemonade is so important for you to watch. It is a film about people who got fired from their jobs and how they took what is a really scary moment in their lives... and made it the best moment of their lives. They were given their walking papers to another life. A life that they wanted, full of quality time for them and their families. A better career. The best thing that could have happened to them was actually getting fired because they were able to do what the rest of us are just thinking: what they REALLY wanted to do.
Today is February 22, 2011 and I'm still working on retiring from advertising. I still get up, get dressed and go and do a gazillion ads a week. When I started my own business, I thought that I could get enough money so I would be able to do something else and slowly let go of the beast called ads. It has been years and I still try with no avail. I'm still stuck here, watching the ads go by and my wishes of not doing it anymore with them.
The thing that angers me is that I remembered my mission while catching the last minutes of the movie. As I sat there and listened to people describe how it feels not to do this anymore, the pain was great. I longed for that feeling, where I did whatever I really want to do and not have to do ads, revisions, stupid full page ads... ever again.
What would I love to do? Well, if blogging actually made money, I would be a happy camper just writing for you guys all day long. Ok so back to reality, maybe I could open up a small hotel by the beach. Maybe I can invest in a cool restaurant idea and open up a shop of something yummy. Maybe someone sees that I really like to write, offers up a decent gig at a magazine and I can quit my ad life for good...
Lemonade does that to you. It inspires you to be the person that advertising is killing. To make you think, to make you remember all those wishes and dreams, all the weird things you even wanted to be when you were a young and not so wise kid. I cannot believe that ALL of us wanted to do this. I certainly did not. I wanted to write. I wanted to paint. I wanted to be a photographer. Now I can't even picture myself going to an art store and buying a canvas and some paint.
This business is killing me... but Lemonade reminded me that I can fight back.
Wish me luck.
What struck me was one of his answers. He was asked if he understood what he did to her.
"I killed what she could have been".
That line shook me to my core.
Now fast forward to a week or two after that. Changing channels I stumble upon the documentary Lemonade, which I had seen a while ago. Damn, I thought, I didn't write about this movie at WAS! How could I?
So here is my very belated but still very - and I mean very - important documentary that ALL ADVERTISING PEOPLE SHOULD SEE. Yeah, that's right. I don't care if you're a receptionist or a CEO. You need to see this movie.
Yeah you can skip Art & Copy with no problem - you will not learn a thing about the business more than stroking your ego a bit - but you cannot, and I repeat, cannot miss this movie. I can already picture you guys out there thinking that I'm exaggerating. Well, you're wrong. Let me tell you why.
Can you remember what you wanted to do when you were at College? Can you think back and tell me what you daydreamed about doing in the future? Oh well maybe you can tell me all the times that you find yourself doing some stupid revision or pissed of at a client or a fellow ad person... and you think about what you would love to do instead of being there. We've all been there. We've thought about doing something great, something awesome - and usually, it seldom is related to anything about advertising.
Maybe you want to paint. Maybe you want to be a teacher. Maybe you want to open up your own cool beer place. There are so many things you would like to do but... you're working at an ad agency.
Look. This post is really not for people who are starting out. Or maybe, this post is not for people who love the long hours, the stress, the good days and the bad days and most of all for those who really think that this work means something more than just making a promotion about X brand. There ARE some people out there who really love their job, kudos to them, enjoy it. Then, there are the ones that did enjoy their career for a while but then... it dawned on us.
Advertising killed what we could have become.
Harsh. I know. This is why Lemonade is so important for you to watch. It is a film about people who got fired from their jobs and how they took what is a really scary moment in their lives... and made it the best moment of their lives. They were given their walking papers to another life. A life that they wanted, full of quality time for them and their families. A better career. The best thing that could have happened to them was actually getting fired because they were able to do what the rest of us are just thinking: what they REALLY wanted to do.
Today is February 22, 2011 and I'm still working on retiring from advertising. I still get up, get dressed and go and do a gazillion ads a week. When I started my own business, I thought that I could get enough money so I would be able to do something else and slowly let go of the beast called ads. It has been years and I still try with no avail. I'm still stuck here, watching the ads go by and my wishes of not doing it anymore with them.
The thing that angers me is that I remembered my mission while catching the last minutes of the movie. As I sat there and listened to people describe how it feels not to do this anymore, the pain was great. I longed for that feeling, where I did whatever I really want to do and not have to do ads, revisions, stupid full page ads... ever again.
What would I love to do? Well, if blogging actually made money, I would be a happy camper just writing for you guys all day long. Ok so back to reality, maybe I could open up a small hotel by the beach. Maybe I can invest in a cool restaurant idea and open up a shop of something yummy. Maybe someone sees that I really like to write, offers up a decent gig at a magazine and I can quit my ad life for good...
Lemonade does that to you. It inspires you to be the person that advertising is killing. To make you think, to make you remember all those wishes and dreams, all the weird things you even wanted to be when you were a young and not so wise kid. I cannot believe that ALL of us wanted to do this. I certainly did not. I wanted to write. I wanted to paint. I wanted to be a photographer. Now I can't even picture myself going to an art store and buying a canvas and some paint.
This business is killing me... but Lemonade reminded me that I can fight back.
Wish me luck.
