How nice is it to be employed?!
money as affirmation, the geekiest donut, and a non-linear manslut masterpiece
¿What you heard?
“How nice is it to be employed?!” Nadine exclaimed during orientation for Artists at Work (AAW).
AAW funds artists just to do their art, rescuing us from the status quo economic tragedy of having to 1099 around on other people’s projects to get any sort of an income.
Yet, while my tax status has changed (I’ve got a W2 now!), my work hasn’t.
The entire experience so far has been a big thumbs up or heart or whatever other like emoji on a concept that’s been stirring about my brainium more and more since graduating – money isn’t just survival. It’s an affirmation that our art has worth.
What you doin’?!
If you recognize this donut, you’re a geek. An animation geek. But don’t worry— so am I.
My goal across my 18 months of W2 income with AAW is to create a fully-realized pilot episode for Gullah Binyah, the semi-documentary children’s travel show about Blackness I’m developing, in collaboration with LA Commons, the community organization that I am paired with throughout my time at AAW.
However, for at least the first month, interaction with the community org is withheld to allow me and the other 23 AAW artists to ease into things before embarking on a project.
I’m using this time as an opportunity to level up my skills by learning Blender, an open source animation software that I’ve always been curious about but haven’t ever taken a stab at… until now!
What you seen??
MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969) is my third manslut movie after Boogie Nights (1997) and Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971), and it is my favorite of the three by far.
From a screenwriting perspective, this is a curious piece of work because, while it is mostly linear, it actually begins at the very end of Act One.
Joe Buck has already accepted his call to adventure to leave behind his life as a dishwasher in small-town Texas to become a hired hoe in NYC, and the first few scenes are simply him going around announcing this intention to everyone.
We don’t actually understand what Act One experiences motivate this decision until later when, at various points in the film, wordless but evocative flashback montages of his life in Texas show us what he is leaving behind and why.