Thursday, February 9, 2023

Why I'd Be A Poor Guest on a Movie Podcast

A really nice guy sent me an email and said he wanted me to be a guest on his podcast, which was about obscure old movies. I had to decline, and here's what I said:

"Thanks! Love your show, but I would be a big disappointment to your audience, because I'm no good at talking about movies.

When I was coming up as the youngest kid of a family of five kids, my Dad was too cost-conscious to take all of us out to movies. I remember one time we talked him into making an exception. All of us piled into our yellow truck and went to a movie theater to see Mary Poppins. But they had just raised the price to 35 cents per person, and that was too much for him. "THIRTY FIVE CENTS EACH!!!? NO WAY!" He said as we got back in the car. And we went home without seeing the movie.  

Instead I found a radio station that played old radio shows like Suspense and Escape and The Bickersons. No one my age had ever heard of those shows, which made it feel like I lived in my own universe. After I left for college I never bought a TV. All the media references of people my age are lost on me.

Instead I did stuff like stand in the backyard, shoot an arrow straight up in the sky, watch it turn around, and step out of the way when it came back down."

2 comments:

CerverGirl said...

That is an incredible story. It no doubt helped foster your imaginative mind and built a foundation for what you have done and do. You are appreciated!

nuum said...

This is one of the reasons that made you the artist you are, James.
Paulo-Rio