In the Chapter 2 Claire gets a job offer from a private film museum and is conflicted over whether or not she should take the job or stay at her current job at Deane Productions.
"Claire sits up . Holy shit. They,re going to offer her the job. Or are they? Talk more? They've already interviewed her twice. What can they possibly need her to talk about? Is this it? Is today the day she quits her dream job?"(Walter 16)
Claire would be a curator at the museum, which she believes would be a better use of her time. This should be a pretty easy decision. The only problem is she wants to hold out hope that she will help make a a life changing story come to the big screen at her current job. She is currently a chief development assistant for the "legendary" film producer Michael Deane, which was initially her dream job. However the job ended up being listening to odd and ridiculous movie pitches; helping produce movies that weren't necessarily meaningful, but were marketable.
" And so she finds herself here at life's big crossroad: stick it out with this crass career and her unlikely dream of one day making a great film or take the quiet job cataloging relics from a time when film actually mattered?"(Walter 17)
Today many kids entering college or the workforce face are faced with choosing between pursuing what they love and pursuing a more stable career.What would you choose in this situation? Why?
This is a very interesting idea that you drew out of Claire's decision. In my opinion, it comes down to deciding what you value most in life. There are definitely some people who have a really strong liking for something (such as theater or music), but they like the idea of having success and money more. In this case, they should pursue a career that will give them the stability they are looking for. On the other hand, there are types of people who value something so much that they know they would be unhappy if they gave it up, and can live with the idea that they may never have (financial) stability in their life. This lack of stability also goes further because it can possibly prevent them from having/supporting a family, and being able to do things like travel or dine in nice restaurants, but these are sacrifices they are choosing to make so that they can pursue what they truly love.
ReplyDeleteIf I was in Claire's place, I would stay at Deane Production's. She recounts how film was her first love, and I do not believe that she should give up on something that she values so much. "Claire was amazed at the life she was seeing on that little screen, as if she'd imagined it without ever knowing. This was the power of film: it was like deja vu dreaming" (Walter 25). Even though she feels like she is struggling in her career and should move on to be a museum curator, she is at least making a valiant attempt to pursue her dreams, which says a lot about her character.
This is a decision that an immense amount of people are faced with nowadays and is clearly an important decision that will strongly impact one's life. In most people's cases, it would be ideal to find a job they are completely content working, yet at the same time they are making a salary that allows them to live a comfortable life without money being the main concern. However, this appears to be difficult goal to achieve in our society, and that is why people have to decide what values are most important in their life and decide which path to take.
ReplyDeleteClaire is struggling with this especially during the beginning of the book, and is in a position where she is unhappy with her current "dream job" and is desperately looking for any possible reason to make her stay in the business. Although she had always wanted a job like this, and in the beginning it was wonderful, as the years went by, the business she once loved became a business she despised and was horribly unhappy with. There were rarely any worthy, meaningful film ideas, and instead, the company had changed to please the shallow, immature minds of the majority of the public.
"It's gotten so bad she's started to actually look forward to WIld Pitch Fridays, the one day she still might listen in on a random pitch for a film. Unfortunately, most of these Friday pitches come from Michael's past: people he's met in AA, people he owes favors to, or owe him favors, people he sees at the club, old golf partners, old coke dealers….." (Walter 28). For this reason, I believe that Claire should have the strength to walk away from the changed business, which is completely different than it once was, and allow herself to be happy again. I believe that she owes it to herself, to find joy in the workplace again. Although it may not earn her as high of a standard of living as her previous job did, she would be much more content and gain much more meaning in her life from her new surroundings.
If I were in Claire's position, I would stay at Deane Productions because even though she might not be doing exactly what she wants to do, it's in the same genre as to what her passions are. Even though it may seem as though she has lost hope about doing anything productive at her job, she still has a dream to make a "legendary" film and I think that she should continue to attempt to work towards that goal. If i were her, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if i just switched jobs when I still had a dream at the previous job.
ReplyDeleteBy taking the job and being a curator at the museum, maybe she would feel like she is doing something more productive with her time but in the back of her head she would always keep dreaming about her "legendary" film that she could never accomplish. Her heart and mind wouldn't be at the new job and therefore her time spent at the new job may not turn out to be the most productive thing after all.