CJK — Book excerpts

These are the type of things I noticed when I watched movies back then. I was always looking for deeper messages beyond the script. I used to wonder just who must be writing these stories—and the actors; yeah, they really got it too. In the end, I was either connecting because these bad guys were just like me, or maybe I just wished I was one of them.

Whichever the case, there was always going to be just one big problem: these guys were all fantasy characters playing out plots in a movie, and I was living in the real world.

That didn’t stop me, though. My determination to make a movie out of my own life and create a star character I wanted to be was unstoppable, but I knew I was living in a fantasy of my own creation. The crazy thing is, I find it easy to adapt. Some changes are harder than others, but give it enough time and I can pretty much play the part of anyone.

It’s all just an act, right? Well, who knows. I’ll tell you one thing, though: if you stay in character long enough, things tend to get very real, and if you give it enough time, you get pretty good at being that guy.

I mean, look, I liked a lot of good guys too—they just had to be badass good guys. You know, they either had it or they didn’t get it. Take Arnold in Predator, for example. He got it. And if you’re a guy who grew up on the movies I watched, then you know that movie rocks.

Anyway, here I go again about the movies. It makes me wonder, though, to what extent Hollywood is aware, and how responsible they are for shaping the minds of youth. I can’t even get into movies these days. Maybe I’m done being impressed.