criticism
I think, however, I finally know the answer.
I want to be Eric Rohmer.
Eric Rohmer, for those who are not familiar with international cinema, is a French filmmaker who has been making unusual, excellent and intelligent movies for almost 50 years. My concern, however (and this is unrelated to the fact that he is one of my favourite film directors), is more to do with his career prior to filmmaking - that of an intelligent, intellectual film critic for the influential French magazine Cahiers du Cinema (other names who shared this pursuit were Chabrol, Truffaut, Rivette, and one of the most famous names in cinematic history, Jean-Luc Godard).
Of course, I fully realise that I may never have the necessary talent that Rohmer possessed to move into the world of filmmaking. However, I believe I do share his passion for analysing films, and perhaps some of his critical writing ability - could this alone be sufficient for me to become a film critic, even a great one like Rohmer was?
However, one does not become an esteemed film critic overnight, and I am puzzled as to how exactly I would achieve my goal. Some have suggested looking into a journalism degree, but, to be honest, I am held back from exploring this field by the sheer immoral populism of the mainstream media. One of the last things I want to become is some writer for a major newspaper, with exaggeration, fear, and looseness with the truth being my main weapons, in a desperate search for irrelevant, barely existing news. That is the opposite of my dream, yet I fear that that is where a degree in journalism would leave me.
And, more than anything, I see such a degree as unnecessary - surely, possessing a basic writing ability as I do, a degree in journalism seems useless, especially in relation to being a film critic. Surely film studies would be a far more relevant field of study for the work I want to find.
At least I'm thinking about it, I suppose. I hope that counts for something.
