I’m totally ashamed to admit this, but one of my favorite movies to watch over and over and over again is Something New, starring Sanaa Lathan and Simon Baker.
You see, I’m the kind of guy who typically likes horror movies. Intense ones. I love films with severe decapitations of Dario Argento proportions. Lucio Fulci’s Zombie is one of the best pieces of pop candy available due to a fight scene between a shark and an underwater ghoul. One of the most prominent books on my shelf is Eaten Alive: Italian Cannibal and Zombie Movies.
Therefore, my appreciation for something as trivial as Something New may be totally surprising, but I can’t help but LOVE it. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. And I love it for more than the hottest toenail polish scene ever (It’s horrible. I hate myself. But you just have to see it).
In the movie, Kenya McQueen is a powerful woman who is being considered for partner at a prominent law firm. Her identity as a black woman and “lists” get in the way of finding true love with Brian, her landscaper, because he is white. Her girlfriends tell her to “let go, let flow.” Translation: Open your eyes, know what’s important, and follow your heart. An obvious message, surely. In its obviousness, however, we are often blinded by our own preoccupations and worries.
Dario Argento’s films deal with being blinded in a more literal sense. Pins are attached to eyelids and the like. His films deal with what we think we see versus what we actually see. Did we see someone being murdered or did those eye drops just make our vision too blurry? Was that a reflection of the killer in a hallway mirror or was it really just a painting and not a mirror at all? There’s a reason he’s known as the Italian Hitchcock.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what blinds me from what’s important, both professionally and personally. Again, it should be as obvious as Something New’s message of acceptance and openness. We all ask questions about ourselves. How do I make myself better? What do I want to achieve? How do I feel empowered as a person?
I quickly realized that many of the answers to these questions focused on my own weaknesses that I would prefer to change, rather than the strengths that I should allow room to grow. Yes, in the real world there are real problems. We have to work and oftentimes have to settle for less than what we want in terms of our career. This, however, still leaves ample opportunity to focus on what we actually want to do and what we are good at.
My recent angst-ridden contemplation about career woes suddenly came to a halt several days ago when my roommates and I had a guest from Australia who happened to be gay. One night, he called someone from home.
“Couples are actually able to hold hands on the streets here.”
My heart was simultaneously touched and horrified by the sincerity — Dario Argento’s Suspiria, Something New, and my embarrassing passion for both rolled into one. In my own career-centric thoughts, I was reminded of both something human and something that should not have felt so new. I was reminded of something that should be free. Something that is blindly taken for granted by those actually holding hands here and the people who try to prevent such acts elsewhere.
