My dear boy,
The Yellow Tie. Trust me, I had second thoughts about seeing the movie, but obviously, seeing John Malkovich on the poster, I had to oblige. Forgive me; he’s been in multiple films, but the fact that he could bring to life the character of Pascal Sauvage in Johnny English Part 1 has stayed with me. Perhaps it’s not necessarily about the film, but the time when I saw the film.
This was the time when my family would sit together in front of the TV and just enjoy movies. It was by far our favorite Johnny English movie. Mr. Bean and a host of other films that we enjoyed as a family, but for us, comedy took the crown. By the way, Rowan Atkinson is a comedic genius. Anyway, it was the best comedy according to my father’s estimation, because when you are raising a godly family, you pay very keen attention to what you let into the house. That will include the food, the music, the film, the art, and the culture, even. Because replete with food, music, books, films, and art is culture; for every art you pick, you pick the culture that has informed it.
Why? Art never exists in a vacuum. It either foreshadows something or brings the other to mind. So his portrayal of that character has stuck with me as one of my all-time favorites. Maybe that’s not true, but he has such great sentimental value, as long as I’m concerned, and seeing him on the poster of The Yellow Tie, I was inclined to see the film. Well, I do not deny that there is something about the film that leaves me in high spirits; not in an extroverted way, rather, it is this faux deep melancholy. Let’s call it a penchant mood now, because that’s what it is for me.
I’ve always been driven by the “why?” What is it that motivates people to do what they do? To say the things they say in the moment that they say them? It’s all about that motivation for me. The intent- what is it? It has always captured my mind, and this is the subject matter that has preoccupied my thoughts for an extended period of time now. As such, seeing the film, The Yellow Tie, has spurred me to write to you. Although, trust me, this is not an appreciation of it.
Nevertheless, I do not deny that it is what has inspired this letter that I write to you, my dear boy. It doesn’t have the “action” that I grew up watching. I’m a man who abhors horror films, but something is intriguing about the way the story is told. It’s as though one scene is now and the next scene is yesterday. You are left trying to piece together what has motivated this man to be who he is. I am fascinated because this is a storytelling technique that we hope to employ in our upcoming series. It’s been discussed, and I am definitely beyond excited to see this project come to fruition. I know that I had described it, but seeing someone already translating that in a film, just as immersive, making you feel like you’re part of the journey, is incredible.
It’s beginning to explain to you where his inhibitions stem from. You can literally see it for yourself, and so it’s as though the narrative is trying to court you, woo you to the side of the protagonist, and that is exactly what I wish to achieve, my dear boy. The essence of this piece, this elaborate story that I have presented, is to yet again remind you that nothing is new under the sun. The fact that you have yet to experience it does not in any way translate to its nonexistence. As such, whatever you’re trying to achieve in your field has been achieved in another field, and it’s entirely up to you to decide how to replicate that in your field.
This reminds me of what Dr. Peter Onuoha would always share with me. He never failed to remind me that the reason we have interdisciplinary studies is that somebody realized that something happening in a discipline can, via the vehicle of literature, be imported into another discipline. Such a phenomenon can be replicated; hence, in the study of literature, you find eco-literature, eco-criticism, and a host of others that talk about nature and other disciplines.
So, my dear boy, in my last piece, I suggested that you steal like an artist. See, your wisdom is made manifest to the world when you are able to take what’s happening somewhere, and tweak it enough to fit your circumstances. Hence, you take an idea and synthesize it. You synthesize that idea with the realities of your environment, formulate policies based on the restructuring of the idea, and implement them. Therefore, be not wary of influence. A man becomes original not by refusing influence, but by learning how to transform influence into something appropriate to his own world.
Looking forward to the great things you will do, my boy. You’re already on that path because you have my blood flowing in your veins. Stay safe, son.
Love,
Dad.
