Argh. Just Argh,
Oct. 3rd, 2008 04:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kengrI've always loathed that bit in The Empire Strikes Back where Yoda says "No! Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try."
It's a sentiment I encountered far too often from my mother when I was growing up.
And it is *damaging* because it fails to recognize that effort can be put forth and the desired results not reached.
So while many see it as a "you have to believe you can do it" thing, I (and others) see it as calling efforts that don't succeed the fault of the person making the attempt. And make them a personal flaw rather than a need for more training or whatever.
same sort thing is pushed by far too many Phys Ed teachers. Though they tended to go for "you aren't trying hard enough". Telling this to a kid who's having a minor asthma attack while trying to complete the laps you assigned is *not* going to help.
Now I find that there was even more wrong with that scene than I'd realized.
Use the Try Harder, Luke
If that transcript is true, even if Lucas was right about human nature, he was *so* wrong by bowing to it. When you are creating myths, you are supposed to make the heroes *better*. Make them folks who inspire people to try harder or to persevere when all seems lost.
I agree with Hamill. Luke was being a whiner and the way he was played in that scene was a disservice to the character.
It's a sentiment I encountered far too often from my mother when I was growing up.
And it is *damaging* because it fails to recognize that effort can be put forth and the desired results not reached.
So while many see it as a "you have to believe you can do it" thing, I (and others) see it as calling efforts that don't succeed the fault of the person making the attempt. And make them a personal flaw rather than a need for more training or whatever.
same sort thing is pushed by far too many Phys Ed teachers. Though they tended to go for "you aren't trying hard enough". Telling this to a kid who's having a minor asthma attack while trying to complete the laps you assigned is *not* going to help.
Now I find that there was even more wrong with that scene than I'd realized.
Use the Try Harder, Luke
If that transcript is true, even if Lucas was right about human nature, he was *so* wrong by bowing to it. When you are creating myths, you are supposed to make the heroes *better*. Make them folks who inspire people to try harder or to persevere when all seems lost.
I agree with Hamill. Luke was being a whiner and the way he was played in that scene was a disservice to the character.
no subject
Date: 2008-10-04 12:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-04 02:07 am (UTC)Only perfect was good enough. *very wry* I'm a lot better about "good enough". One of Elise Matthesen's posts, where she quoted Mike Ford as saying something like all the false starts and unfinished projects are the compost a creative person needs to have... that made a huuuuuge impression, and freed up a lot.
But I've still got a long, long way to go.
no subject
Date: 2008-10-04 02:09 am (UTC)He said that having started many more things than you finish is a natural state for anyone who is actually engaged in doing a lot of creative work. He said that those unfinished projects were part of an ecosystem, and served a purpose; they were the nurse logs on the forest floor. Having them is not failure; having them is part of how the natural process works.
When he told me this, it felt like a huge iron spike had been taken out of my heart, or something.
(from a post
no subject
Date: 2008-10-04 01:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-04 03:01 am (UTC)