The new doc on Eddie Murphy came out yesterday on Netflix. Interesting piece, I guess…
 
Now, don’t get me wrong, I have nothing but respect for Murphy. He was and is a groundbreaking performer who deserved his rapid rise to the top and praise for all of the barriers he broke down not only for himself but for those who came after him. The doc talks about that.
 
Of late, I have been watching a number of documentaries presented about famous people and/or groups. Just off the top of my head there was the one on Michael J. Fox. The one about Stiller and Meara, told via the thoughts and the words of Ben Stiller. The one about Ozzy, created just after his passing. Stepping back just a bit, there was the one about Sly, Christopher Reeves, Pamela Anderson, Stallone: Frank: That Is, Devo, and…
 
They were all good and informative works in their own right. But, the overwhelming vibe of them is that they were Puff-Pieces. Meaning, that as truthful as the story being told may have been, they don’t really dig into any of the dirt of the individual. They simply present the more positive aspects of their life.
 
Now, I get it… Isn’t that the way we all wish to be viewed and judged, only by our positive attributes?
 
I believe we are living through one of the truly historic periods of American history right now.  This has been highly-defined by the rise of Trump to the Presidency of the United States. Not once, but twice. Whether you love or hate him is not the issue. But, just look at all of the dirt that has been put out there about the man. From the moment he was elected president, people have gone after him in so many ways: cable-news network presentations, articles, books, impeachments, you name it… I think most people don’t think about this, but think how many books have been written about the man over the past few years. Sure, all of the authors are doing it to make bank. But, that does not change the content of most of these writings. They present a very negative picture of the man. Yet, and again, he did become President of the United States twice. And, he is in office right now.  
 
From a personal perspective, and I truly do not know why this is, but some people on the internet and elsewhere have talked shit about me, taking my words out of context, turning my philosophies upside down, and presenting all kinds of false appraisals and ideologies, about my creative works, and myself. I won’t go into why I believe they have done this in this piece, because that’s not really the point. …At least not for this piece. But, the fact of the fact is, they have. Why? Why would anyone focus on a negative appraisal of my life or my works in the first place? A person who has spent his entire life concentrating on the positive, trying to make the world and the lives of people a better place, and to give back, via my art and my everything else, in any small way that I can.
 
I think it is interesting how people place themselves in a position of judge and jury over others. Judge and jury, where, at least from my perspective, they are so wrong about so many things. Now, people could stand up for me, as I do seem to have a certain about of, “Likers,” out there. But, it seems that nobody wants to get their hands dirty or to go toe-to-toe. So, what does that say about them? What does that say about me? And, this all goes to the truth of the truth in the projected reality about that Some One Else.
 
I remember when that group of students at a Midwestern university did that multi-part pseudo bio-pic about Zen Filmmaking and myself. That was like fifteen years ago. Or, more??? They uploaded it to YouTube. It’s still there if you feel like checking it out.
 
I never watched the whole thing, but the little I saw of it, the piece was pretty funny. Though the piece took a lot of swipes at Zen Filmmaking, DGJ, and myself, it was done from a light-hearted approach. Making it a fun piece to watch. With this, what could be viewed as a critical comment was erased by the kitschy humor.
 
I have no idea who the people who created that pseudo-doc were or are. I never met any of them. And, I have no idea whatever became of them. They did that piece when Zen Filmmaking was on the lips of everyone in the film game. So???
 
The reason I bring this/that piece up is because, I, and people like me, are an easy target. People who create and present their art, or their whatever, from a new and different perspective.
 
But, more to the point, and to the truth of the truth, do those Puff-Piece Docs present the truth? Just as do the Attack-Ads present the truth? The answer is, no.
 
Like, I finally got around to watching the multi-part series that was done on the WeWorks founder, Adam Neumann and his wife Rebekah Neumann, WeCrashed, played by Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway. And, probably not unlike the film, The Disaster Artist, created about the production of the movie, The Room and Tommy Wiseau by James Franco, the series was revealing yet factual. (Of course, with a theatrical twist).  And, I think that is the key word in all of this, “Factual.”   
 
The thing is, though these Puff-Piece Docs I am speaking about may be truthful—truth, from one perspective, they are not fully factual as they leave out many of the details that the primary focus of the productions do not want to be spoken about.
 
Every now and then, like just recently, when someone asked me what would I think about someone doing a biopic about me, I always jokingly say, it has already been done, referencing that piece made by those university students years ago.  But, here is the factual fact, of everything I have heard, watched, or read that was written about me, the people doing the doing get it wrong. In no case, whether the piece was based on positivity or negativity, did they get it, (me), right. They misrepresent my philosophy. They misquote my words and my writings. They misconstrue my motivations for the art I create. And, they are wrong about my process of creation of the films, writings, art, and other things I have done. So, why are they doing it? Doesn’t that make everything they say or do based upon a lie? And, if this is the case, what does that say about them as a human being and what they are putting out there to the world?
 
And, maybe even more importantly, what does that say about the people who view what they say and believe it?

I guess what I’m saying here is, why has no one made a Puff-Piece about me??? I’m the one who created something.

I mean, even some of the people who have thrown shade my direction have used some or all of my filmmaking philosophy to create their films. I find that very disingenuous. Not to mention the A-Listers who used some or all of it in their productions. …As has been documented.
 
I get it, the only reason anyone talks about anyone’s anything, other than their own, is because they want to make a name for themselves as a, “Knower.” They want to either help or to hurt the person they speak about. But, in all of that, where is the truth in a person’s truth? Is it found in the way they want their life ideally projected, like in the documentaries I have spoken about in this piece? Or, is it found somewhere else? Not defined by the mind of that someone else who thinks they know more about a person than the person themselves, but in the truth of the truth that can only be found in the inner-reaches of an individual’s soul? Think about it…
 
You can lie to me. But, you can’t lie to yourself.