Not Doing Math In Math Class

    STEM classes aren't really my thing and while that might explain why I'm in AICE Media Studies, it doesn't say much about why I'm in a pre-calculus class. Which is why during a "math study hall" day in the class, I took the opportunity to do the exact opposite. While listening to music I brainstormed ideas for potential film openings when a song came one and an image appeared. The image was of a person in a spotlight, others around them celebrated in the neon light but this character in the spotlight seemed unhappy. It got me thinking. Why would this person be unhappy?

    

    I've always loved the idea of finding the devil in the details. An idea that had been plaguing my mind recently is the idea of achieving great success and seeing nothing come from it or having to sacrifice yourself for it. Stories like Black Swan and Whiplash come to mind when I think of this idea. A tortured artist so engulfed in their craft that it consumes them whole. In Whiplash, the main character practices and plays drums to such an extreme extent that their hands begin to bleed, but regardless they keep playing. He doesn't realize the tole this obsession begins to take until it's too late. There may be so many instances where everything is telling this character to take a break, but his actions for most of the movie are completely led by his blind perserverance to succeed.

    I've also marveled at films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Opal and how they demonstrate running away from a painful but real situation. Specifically in the short Opal by Jack Stauber, the little girl we follow builds up a fictional idealistic reality for herself as an escape from the real world around her. She chooses to ignore her main source of suffering until she can't deny it anymore. 

    I feel this character in the spotlight is unhappy with what they've let themselves become. Chained to their passion, their creations, their talents. Unable to let themselves live freely to decide for themselves what to do with them. But the truth is, they always had a chance to decide. It just so happened that these decisions led them down an unfavorable path. What they've used as an escape from the world around them is now the very thing chaining them this world. They've run out of time to pretend. Now, a new, young, and naive artist will look up to this character in the spotlight with great admiration. The film opening will pose the question of will they suffer the same fate.

So that's what I spent my math class doing.