It’s our last couple of days in Los Angeles! My “area of interest” for this class was all about memory, how Hollywood recalls and profits on the nostalgic. During the last three weeks, I’ve been studying and remembering the past so it’s only fitting, in my last blog post, that I do the same. Excuse me as I get fairly sentimental, which honestly isn’t too out of character for me.
What I’ve realized in the last three weeks is that we’re all striving, in one way or another, for the “I made it” moment. I was taking an Uber this morning and the driver asked me what I was doing in Los Angeles. After a fairly long conversation about Colorado College’s alternative schedule and my general indecision on my post-graduate plans, he concluded with “Well, I hope you make it big!”
I’d never really thought about my life that way, as a story told through the milestones, the “I made it” moments. But life is defined by the turning points, especially in Hollywood. In Los Angeles, a person’s success is often defined by the “before” and “after” moment. But I’d like to think it’s more gradual than that. Life doesn’t need to be compartmentalized into an arbitrary designation of “the moment when.” Los Angeles is full of success stories, but it is also full of people struggling to perfect their art. In my mind, the latter isn’t any less valid than the former.
We went out to lunch earlier this week with voice actor Dee Bradley Baker. Browsing through Baker’s prolific career, there is no doubt that he’s been successful. I asked him when he felt like “he made it,” the ultimate search for the struggling actor. His response: “When I could pay the bills.” And maybe the “I made it” moment is as simple as that. Not all success is as visible as walking across a stage and receiving a diploma or even hearing your voice on television for the first time. Maybe to live truly successfully is not only to relish in the big but also celebrate in the little.
Friday night, we went to see the 1946 film noir, The Blue Dahlia. The founders of the festival spoke prior to the screening. They emphasized feeling just as proud of the festival now, with sold out crowds, as they did on their very first night, 20 years ago. Those two men were fortunate enough to experience their “I made it” moment every year. As they stood in front of the crowd, you could feel the camaraderie they had established through their mutual love of film. This is the “I made it.” This is success.
And I think that’s what Dylan and Clay have been trying to emphasize to us all along. Although it’s helpful to network up, be introduced to the CC alumni with the professional titles and the prolific careers, it is also helpful to network across. Because although we may reach the big “I made it,” it’s now that we can start perfecting the art that will get us there. And to have this opportunity, this privilege, is “I made it” enough for me.
