the list of 9 for september 21, 2009:
NINE THINGS I WAS WRONG ABOUT
Like many people, I've been affected by this "I'm right, you're wrong" attitude which haspermeated American culture an an intense level for the last few years. I'm not here to put theblame on any political party, Internet message board or news outlet, but I do think we could alldo with a dose of humility. Starting with me. I'm aware that I may come across to some as aknow-it-all. I love to gain knowledge, and I love to share it. Not everybody appreciates this,though, even when I turn out to be right about something - and yes, I do think that I have apretty good sense of knowing what's going to work and what isn't. Still, below are nine randomthings about which I was dead wrong. What have you been wrong about?
- MY FATHER'S WIFE. My parents divorced when I was justfour. My mother remarried soon. My father played the field for several years. As a child, Iadmired pretty much all the women he dated, except for one, and that was the one he married. Well,27 years later, they're still happy together, and I can now see that my stepmother is a good egg,just the right match for my dad. But when I was twelve I sure didn't see it that way.
- TITANIC. I worked on an interactive documentary about thesinking of the Titanic way back in 1992-93. So when James Cameron's fictionalized accountof the tragedy was released in 1997, I was among the first to see it. Sitting in that theater, Ifound the film so bad that I literally said to myself "This is a horrible movie" during the scenein which Leonardo DiCaprio was teaching Kate Winslet how to spit. I was positive that the rest ofthe audience agreed with me, and I felt, walking out of the cinema, that Titanic wouldbomb. As we all know, it went on to become the highest-grossing motion picture of all time. Woops!
- TWITTER. Let's face it: most new business ideas on theInternet fizzle. And when Twitter, the "microblogging" site, first came out, I didn't think itwould catch on at all. Who would bother writing 140-character updates about their life all daylong? Who would bother reading those updates? Well, millions upon millions of people, as it turnsout. (But not me: I still don't have a Twitter account.)
- PROGRESSIVE ROCK. I've been talking a lot about things Ididn't think would work. More will come shortly, but here's something I thought was good, when itwasn't: progressive rock. Oh, I know, bands like Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, early Genesis and allstill have their fans, and I retain a certain nostalgia for listening to this heavy, pretentiousmusic when I was a teenager. But what a waste of being young and arty in the 1980s, ignoringThe Smiths, The Cure and R.E.M. at their creative peaks and buying boring old Yes albums instead!
- THE DEATH PENALTY. It's hard to sum up just why I believed in the death penalty in the first place. I suppose I had a cynical attitude that the fewer people there were on this planet, the better. It was only when I learned that it cost more to put someone to death in this country than it did to put them in jail for life that I changed my opinion. Then the actual moral issues about killing a killer came to play, and now I can honestly say I'm morally opposed to this.
- PEE-WEE HERMAN. In this case, it wasn't that I thoughtPaul Reubens' manchild persona would be a miss with audiences or critics. But in 1985, when thefilm Pee-wee's Big Adventure was a monster hit, I couldn't stand this man andthought his popularity was a sign of the impending Stupidocalypse. Years later, I finally watchedhis Saturday morning TV show and saw the 1985 movie and agreed that he was very clever indeed.
- EMILY DESCHANEL'S CAREER. This one appears to be such aminor dispute as not to warrant being listed, except for one reason: In 2002, this actress, who atthe time was a relative unknown (but sure had a known relative, sister Zooey), auditioned to be inmy film Claustrophobia. I felt that her reading was half-hearted and so I did not give hera part. Despite her family connections, I didn't see her acting career going anywhere. But by 2005, shewas starring in her own hit TV series, Bones. It's hard to say what might have happened tomy movie had I cast her. Would I have made any more sales? I can only shrug.
- THE 2000 AND 2004 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. I honestlydidn't think the majority of Americans would elect George W. Bush in 2000. (And of course themajority didn't elect him, but because it comes down to state-by-state totals, the 500-oddballots he won in Florida landed him the job.) And I sure didn't think that, in 2004, the majorityof Americans would re-elect him. Boy, did I blow it on that one. One could argue that we all did.
- MY OWN WIFE. I first dated the woman who would become mywife for a few weeks in 2002. To say that things didn't work out would be an understatement. Therewas, in fact, a period of at least eight months when we didn't speak to each other, and I assumedwe would never cross paths again. Then in 2003 she contacted me, wanting to be friends. One thingled to another and two years later we were married. Since then I've been the happiest I've everbeen. So this is one instance where I really am glad I was wrong.
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