Unusual People: Ed Wood (or Is Success Really Important?)
AGE: Secondary |
THEME: Unusual People: Ed Wood (or Is Success Really Important?) |
PREPARATION: |
| There are many web sites devoted to Ed Wood. An OHT of a film poster for Plan 9 from Outer Space is available. Ed Wood figures in Eccentrics by David Weeks and Jamie James, published by Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1995. David Weeks, a clinical neuropsychologist, considers that such eccentric personalities are almost always very happy: "Eccentrics are people who take boundless joy in life, immoderate men and women who refuse to violate their ideals. Their minds are always buzzing furiously with ideas. They may fail in a particular endeavour, but society wins by their example..." |
DEVELOPMENT: |
What do you think of this poem?
'Beautiful new railway bridge of the River Tay,What would you give it - 10 out 10.... Or 0 out of 10? Or, how good do you think this film is likely to be? Some of you might have recognized that the poem is by William McGonagall. Plan 9 from Outer Space was written and directed by the cinematic equivalent of William McGonagall, a man called Ed Wood Jnr. Both McGonagall and Ed Wood believed in their own genius - while being, in most people's eyes utterly useless. Ed Wood has had a film made about him, with Johnny Depp in the title role. Wood spent his life scraping together money to make films - all of which were terrible. The scripts, for example, were hopeless. Plan 9 begins with a voice intoning: "Greetings my friend, we are all interested in the future for that is where you and I will spend the rest of our lives... and remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future... You are interested in the unknown, the mysterious... the unexplainable, that is why you are here... "The film then tells the story of how aliens try to conquer Earth by resurrecting dead bodies and turning them into zombies. Sounds exciting! Unfortunately, Wood's actors were a set of third-rate no-hopers. The chief Zombie, for example, was played by a fat Swedish wrestler called Tor Johnson. Wood's main star - Bela Lugosi (who had made his name playing Count Dracula) - had, in reality, died before the filming began. Wood used his girlfriend's chiropractor to pretend to be Bela Lugosi by walking around with a cloak held in front of his face. On top of all of this the sets and costumes are terrible, despite the fact that Wood had conned the local Baptist church into funding the film, by promising that its inevitable success would enable him to make a series of biblical films (he never did). Plan 9 from Outer Space is so bad that it has become a 'cult classic'. If you want to see it, it has recently been released on DVD. The film Ed Wood, with Johnny Depp, is readily available. Ed Wood was, by all accounts, a pleasant, zany, charming man - but why are we bothering to think about him? He certainly wasn't religious! And, despite his own belief in his genius, he was useless at his chosen career. The film Ed Wood ends with him triumphant after the premier of Plan 9 - he is convinced that it marks the beginning of his recognition as a great film-maker. We, the audience, know that he will, in reality, end up as an alcoholic, directing third-rate pornography. But for a brief moment he is filled with joy. His name will be in lights.... he will be a star... success! success! We laugh at Ed Wood - but his story is really a tragedy. And what really touches us is that his story is so close to that of each one of us. After all, how many 'geniuses' are there? Mozart, Shakespeare... it's a fairly small group! Are you going to be a genius? Or a great film star? Or a Nobel prize winning scientist? Well, maybe you are. But, without being too pessimistic, isn't it more likely that most of us will end up as a moderately successful bank managers / hairdressers / mechanics...? The really important point is - does it matter? Jesus, perhaps one of the most famous people in the world, didn't have much time for the successful people in his own society - the wealthy or the top priests. He seemed to prefer the poor, or the poor in spirit (those who know their need of God). He told parables to illustrate his teachings using examples drawn from everyday life of his time. The Good Samaritan, most famously, underlines this point. Perhaps if Jesus had lived in the 20th century he would have told stories about third-rate Hollywood film directors like Ed Wood. Who knows? And Ed Wood might well have been more fun to be with than most of his more successful contemporaries. But above all, what mattered to Jesus was not worldly success but how much you loved God and how much you loved your neighbour. Whether your values were right. That was the true, deep measure of someone's worth. |
PRAYER: |
Heavenly Father - |