If you are young, I would like to disabuse you of any penchant you may have for winning awards.
They are are useless, worthless, and even dangerous – especially those coming from an authority.
Avoid them.
You are far more valuable than an award.
Don’t let King Louis value your life for you.
Don’t accept his dog biscuits.
King Louis has an agenda.
You must find solace and peace of mind in the work that you do, in the value that you feel you add to the community, and how you feel God feels about your work.
That is what will sustain you.
If you wait for the approval of others to validate your life, you will become ever more frustrated and miserable.
There are many great actors in Hollywood who have never won an Academy Award.
One such actor who could have easily won an award for just about any role he played is Nick Nolte.
He has been nominated several times, but he has never won.
He could have easily won for the Prince of Tides. He also could have won for The Thin Red Line. He was astonishing in the latter film.
So why didn’t he win?
The high road states that there are many deserving people and that someone must prevail.
The real answer is that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has its head up its ass.
It really does.
Years ago, Will Smith was upset that he did not win an Academy Award.
I was in his corner.
Still, he shouldn’t have been upset.
He shouldn’t have been upset because the Academy has failed to honor so many great actors.
If I had been standing beside him I would have told him: Will, you are too important to win.
This was the advice given to a famous scientist who was disconsolate because he has not won a Nobel Prize.
The same advice could be easily given to many Hollywood actors.
The Academy really doesn’t know who the good actors are.
And there’s a good reason for this.
Many of the people who vote haven’t seen all the movies and all the performances.
Many of those same people aren’t movie fans.
Still others vote for political purposes or because they think they are supposed to vote a certain way.
The run with the pack.
Years ago I hired a publicist to help me promote a book that I had written.
We got to talking about the movies that were currently up for Academy Awards.
She informed me that she had a piece of a vote. Yes, you heard me right. A vote can be divided amongst several people.
After a few minutes, it became increasingly clear to me that while I had seen nearly all the movies, she had only seen one or two.
In those days I was seeing approximately 100 to 150 movies per year.
That was the state of affairs in the early 90s. It’s that way today.
Many of the people who are voting for the awards are woefully unaware of what they are voting for, in any industry, which is why waiting for an award and approval from others can be a lifetime of frustration.
Indeed, I’m not sure that you want to win an award at all.
Receiving that award might change your attitude toward your work and the confidence you have in yourself.
It’s always better to be a little hungry in life.
So forget the awards.
Focus on the job itself. Place one foot in front of the other, and focus on giving value to the people who you are serving.
Let that be your award.
In the end you will be the winner.
You will be your own man as well.
Sincerely,
Archer Crosley
Copyright 2021 Archer Crosley All Rights Reserved
Cowboy Archer 