When I first decided to pursue composing there were people I really admired and looked up to: Henry Mancini, Alex North, Jerry Goldsmith. These were people that had acquired fame and fortune as film composers.
I thought at the time, "I like the fortune part, but I can live without the fame."
Over the years I have learned that there is a part of me that wants to be famous, that wants to be known for what I do and who I am. I like when my good reputation proceeds me. But I would still rather be fortunate than famous.
Sometimes these two things decouple. There are many people on the Forbes 400 list that have amassed huge fortunes and I have never heard of them, and many more that I would not recognize if they were standing next to me at the supermarket. And certainly there are people now who get their 15 minutes of fame but never get the fortune.
Sometimes fame and fortune come together in a negative way, like for the ex-president of Countrywide Bank, or Bernie Madoff: Fortune and Infamy.
And then sometimes they come together in the most powerful, synergistic way, and the world stops cold for two hours.
Like with Michael Jackson.
And what a price to pay.
I will take fortune, you can keep the fame.
No comments:
Post a Comment