Don’t Get Me Wrong

Another film I love from my childhood is Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion. I believe it is one of the main reasons I have such a love for 80s music.

A few days ago, I remembered it have been 10 years since I graduated high school (I graduated May something, 2006). It seemed only appropriate to watch the film again. It has been ages. The last time I watched it was before I took any screenwriting classes. While watching it, I really enjoyed the little things that made everything make sense at the end.

For instance, in high school Romy and Michele were very fashion forward and they carried that into adulthood. Lisa, of the A group, liked their looks, even in high school. So, it made sense that she would end up working for Vogue and at the reunion compliments their fashion. I imagine little touches like that were added through rewrites, but, nonetheless, it really helped build the story for me.

I’m a huge fan of The Pretenders because of this film. “Don’t Get Me Wrong” is one of my top favorite songs ever. I don’t know if I would have ever heard it if not for this film as it is slightly before my time.

I wish I had been a teen in the 80s or 90s. It seems like it was such a fun time to be young. I try to live vicariously through Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, but it just isn’t the same… I love the music, the fashion, the movies.

I wonder if the kids born today will feel the same about my generation?

Back on the Chain Gang

I’ve mentioned this in previous blogs, ones I probably deleted, but I like to remind myself.

I’ve always loved watching movies. I got it from my mom, I believe. We always had this massive collection of VHSs growing up and I’d go through and watch them on weekends and during the summers. Now I have a massive collection of Blu Rays.

I had a few favorites that I’d watch over and over. The summer before 9th grade I watched Coyote Ugly every day. Every. Day. I knew, even then, that it would have relevance to my life. And now I’m brand new in the big, bad city (though at the time I probably thought the big, bad city would be NYC, not LA.)

The Devil Wears Prada is another film I feel will have relevance in my life, though I’m not sure how yet. Perhaps I’ll work as an assistant to someone someday (fingers crossed).

But, this morning, I thought about Sister Act II. I think of it often when I find myself not writing. At one point, Sister Mary Clarence tells Rita about this book she read. In the book, a guy is writing to an author about becoming a writer. The writer tells him if he wakes up in the morning and the only think he can think about it writing, he is meant to be a writer. She uses this same thinking to tell Rita if she wakes up and can only think about singing, she is meant to be a singer.

Well, today I woke up and all I could think about was writing. I’ve had many days like this. I actually sat down and jotted down some vital notes that came to me about my story. I’m also realizing I need to get rid of a lot of distractions. When I get home from work, I like to watch mindless YouTube videos and I need to stop that. I need to read more. I also need to focus less on the fact that I’m lonely and more on the fact that I wrote all the time when I was in high school and I was lonelier then. It was my coping mechanism. Perhaps the Universe is trying, by whatever means possible, to get me back into writing consistently again.

After I jotted those notes, which will help me with writing the story (I envisioned a scene which spells out the theme of the script), I immediately began writing this blog.

This feeling I feel now, having a sense of direction in my script, is better than I’ve ever felt going out to bars and whatnot. I just needed a reminder of how good writing feels in comparison to the distractions I attempted to replace it with.

Mama

I never called my mom “mama” but I like to use song titles as my blog titles often and the Spice Girls song came to mind (also the Boys II Men song from Soul Food.) I didn’t call her mom either. I always called her Ma.

I have a lot on my mind today and thankfully it will be a busy day to keep me from dwelling on much of it.

I’ve always been a bad news first kinda guy, so the bad news is; my mom is being laid to rest today. I won’t be at the funeral, for my own assorted reasons, but I wanted to “say” something anyway.

I tried to think of a specific memory with my mom I wanted to share, but I couldn’t think of one. I think of a bunch of little things that made me happy growing up. My mind keeps coming back to movies. My mom had a huge stack of VHSs and when I was bored I’d pick a random one and watch. During summer, I’d just go through them all. She is probably the reason I have a passion for film.

I also remember going to Blockbuster as a kid. Every weekend we would go to this one with a subway next door, so we would get our rentals, we each got to pick (sometimes I would pick a game instead of a movie) and then head over there. I’d always get the turkey and bacon six inch. I remember once I got it with vinegar and oil and by the time we got home it was soggy. I’ve never ordered a sandwich with vinegar and oil since then. I also remember our many trips to our local Sony movie theater to watch the latest films.

There was one Christmas when my PS2 memory card corrupted and I needed a new one. Since it was Christmas time, it was hard to find one. I called every store in town and they were all sold out. Finally, a Blockbuster in New Milford (maybe 20-30 mins away) had one and she took me to get it. Sometimes we would go to that Blockbuster too. There was a Chinese restaurant next door. We’d get fried rice and spare ribs. Sooooo good.

I remember the weekend trips we would take. Before we would go, my mom would take my sisters and I to KB Toys and we each got to pick out a new toy. My sisters and I would make up silly stories and scenarios for my action figures in the backseat. I saw so many different places. I loved being in cars and I loved being in hotel rooms. They made me feel safe. Sometimes we would rent a car for the weekend. It was always fun picking out the car for the weekend.

My first plane ride was with my mom and sisters to Orlando to go to Disney World. I was so excited. My mom planned the trip for months. We got a Disney VHS (maybe it was a DVD by then) in the mail and I would watch it over and over. I remember that was the week Opps! I Did It Again came out (the album). My mom took us to a Virgin Records store before our flight and I bought it the first day it was released. I also bought a smoothie maker at a toy store that would work… but only if water were in it. Once you put the mix it, it wouldn’t.

One time we drove to Chesapeake Bay. It was my first time going to the ocean. At some point, my mom was asleep and my sisters and I decided to go swimming in the ocean (we had a hotel right on the beach and a room facing the ocean). She woke up and saw us from the balcony. I don’t remember how many stories up our room was, but I remember her saying she was so scared because she it looked like we were really far in the ocean, but we weren’t.

I have all these happy memories of growing up in Connecticut. We were a family then. There were so many good times. More than I can count.

The good news is; I’m moving to West Hollywood today. I’m very excited as that was my target area when I originally moved. My roommate is much closer to my own age and I’m going to be in an area that makes it easier to be social.

It is bittersweet. I don’t know how this works. I feel guilty for being excited and happy about this, but it has been something I’ve been looking forward to all month, at least the move to my new location. I’ve been looking forward to moving from my current place pretty much since I moved in about three months ago. When I’m alone with my thoughts, I feel guilty when my thoughts move away from my mom or how my family is handling everything.

Ghost in the Shell

I felt the need to write something really quickly to sort of my thoughts on the topic. So, I spent a good part of Friday arguing about the casting of the new Ghost in the Shell film. I want to preface by saying I love Scarlett Johansson. People give her a lot of shit, but I think she is a wonderful actress. However, I can’t help but think of the opportunity missed to increase representation and visibility in Hollywood.

Here is where the water gets murky though. About a year ago, when Fantastic Four was getting a lot of backlash for casting a black Johnny Storm, I sided with the creative liberties of the film makers. Does that make me a hypocrite if I feel it is OK for a white character to be played by a non-white actor/actress, but not vice versa? Only if we lived in a perfect world.

I wrote this long explanation, but I’m going to simplify it. Hollywood has a serious history of whitewashing, in part due to the fact that it started as a business exclusively for whites. Even today, there are still issues of diversity within Hollywood.

If white actors and actresses get 80% of the roles in Hollywood, and I’m just making up figures here for the sake of making a point, and non-white actors and actresses get the other 20%, one role taken from 20% hurts a lot whereas one role from 80% is insignificant. I feel the same in regards to women taking lead roles originally meant for men because of the same reasoning.

I do feel if race plays an important part of the story and/or character, it should remain unchanged. For instance, American History X wouldn’t work as well if Edward Norton’s character were anything but white, as he is a Neo-Nazi.

From a business standpoint, I do understand it, more or less. Scarlett being attached to this film will draw in her sci-fi fans, regardless of whether they know the series or not. However, in doing so, the film has already alienated fans of the anime.

P.S. It was also disheartening to read the studio tested using CGI to make white actors, they specified they didn’t test on Scarlett, look more Asian, which adds insult to injury.

Welcome to Me

I’ve been wanting to get back into blogging for a while now, but I wasn’t sure what to write about. I will start by saying I am extremely thankful I studied Film & Media. I like to think that everyone has a path in this life, set by the Universe, God, the Powers That Be, whatever. There were times when I didn’t understand my path in the moment, but looking back I was on the right path at the right time.

I hated that I took time off from school after a semester of college. My high school friends were graduating college at 22 and I was just going back to college. However, I might not have met the wonderful professors and taken the courses I did had I finished at 22 rather than 27. I also learned so much about myself through my college courses.

One of my last classes was a LGBT TV course. One assignment asked us to write about three things that define us, identity wise, and three shows that represented or helped us realize that. My three identifiers were: gay, black and geek. I wrote about how I always felt I had to keep the three separate. In some ways, I still feel that way, but I want this blog to find a way to mesh all three. The beautiful thing about writing is everyone has a voice and unique perspective. I’d like to show you mine.

I have so many opinions on games, movies and TV shows, but I also have a lot to say about what it means to be gay, what it means to be black and what it means to be gay AND black. So, welcome to me!

California Dreamin’

I moved to Los Angeles roughly two weeks ago. I figured now would be a great time to start blogging again. You know, discuss my career and personal successes and failures. It’s too soon to have any stories career wise, so I’ll just stick with the personal for now.

I first started blogging back on MySpace. I mean to save all those blogs, but when they redesigned the website after everyone moved on the Facebook, I lost it all. It’s probably for the best, but blogging helped me through some of my hard times in Arizona. Maybe it will have the same effect here.

I’ll just dive right into things. LA has been different than I expected. I tend to have high expectations, which lead to disappointment. Right now, this is one of those cases. I had this idea in my mind that I would get here and immediately start networking and making friends, but that’s not really happening.

It’s strange, because I have a handful of friends in Los Angeles, some of them I talked to a lot prior to moving. Some of them were very determined to see that I moved to Los Angeles, and now that I’m here… we haven’t talked or seen as much of each other as I thought.

Also, the handful of people I know don’t live near me. Well, they do, but in LA time, they are about 20 minutes away (which is roughly five miles) and Ubering around can add up. I’m also disappointed in my living situation. I love the place and I didn’t have to sacrifice any of the things I wanted, aside from location, but part of, what I thought would be the perk of, having a roommate was an instant way to network. My roommate is an older gay gentleman. I didn’t expect him to want to go out to the bars, but I did think he would at least go out or something, but so far, I’ve only witnessed him leave the house to go to the store and no one has come over.

I’m also looking for work, so my days are filled with nothing to do but send out resumes and search online for jobs… and Netflix. A classmate of mine moved out here last January and found a job in the industry within a month. She told me she would only take a job in the industry. Part of me wants to keep that same mentality… but the other part of me doesn’t want to go broke in this town. That part of me wants to get a call center job as a starting point and then transition into the industry if and when I can. The other part of me thinks if I get a call center job, why didn’t I just stay in Phoenix then?

So, my days, and nights, are filled with little to no human interaction. I don’t really talk to my roommate a lot. He seems like a nice enough person, but he has told me a lot of stories in the few times I’d spend extended periods of time with him and many of them didn’t add up. So, I’ve felt incredibly lonely. It’s odd, because I felt that way the last few weeks of my time in Arizona too. I thought my days and nights would be full of people trying to spend time with me before I moved away, but they weren’t.

And I know I have to be accountable for my own actions here. If I really wanted to make friends, I suppose I could just go out alone, but that scares me. Or, I could try contact people I know, but not very well, or people I wasn’t so close with that live here, but I’m afraid to do that too. LA is definitely a place where you have to come out of your comfort zone, so I either have to start or just learn to deal with the loneliness.

This all sounds bitter and sad because, well, I’m bitter and sad right now, but LA has had its positives as well. I love the weather here and walking around or going for a drive makes me feel good. In Arizona, if I wanted food, I’d drive or have it delivered, but there has been some pretty good food within walking distance, and parking is a bitch here, so I just walk over and pick it up. My sadness has affected my appetite though. I haven’t eaten a lot here. I’ve already dropped almost 10lbs, which probably isn’t very healthy to do in a little over two weeks…

Despite being sad and lonely, I’m ever the optimist. I’m certain things will turn around. I still feel this is where I’m meant to be right now. I just have to give it time and if the effort I’m giving isn’t enough, I’ll just have to give more. It does make me wonder about my Phoenix life though. I mean, if my roommate hadn’t taken me to this party to gay-network, I wonder if I’d know any of the people I know now (almost all of the people I know I met through at that party or through someone at that party). I need some event like that here.

Party in the USA

I was one of those people who took a long time, or at least in my opinion a long time, to come out. One of those people who were so obviously gay, but denied it anyway.

Although, in my defense, I was never really truly attracted to anyone to gauge one way or the other, and that was the excuse I’d use. Though I always failed to mention that since the age of 18 or so I’ve had this particular fantasy. It is cheesy, but one I’m still waiting for nonetheless. It wasn’t even a sexual one. It was just the end of a date, a first date, and the guy walks me back to my door and gives me a kiss and leaves.

Despite my stoic nature, I am a rather romantic person, and I’m still waiting for that date to occur.

The main reason I didn’t want to be gay had to do with my fear of not having a family. Somehow, I’d told myself if I accepted I was gay I also had to accept I’d never have a “normal” life with a “normal” family. I couldn’t have a husband and we wouldn’t be able to have or adopt kids. And I wasn’t ready to accept that I couldn’t have what I wanted.

It wasn’t until about 21 or so that I came out. This was after watching a lot of gay movies and Queer as Folk. QaF had a huge influence on me. I learned being gay wasn’t just about drugs, sex and alcohol… though the show depicts a lot of those three things. It could also be about commitment, partnership, and (most important to me) family. Michael and Ben were what I aspire to be someday with my future partner.

I write all that to say that today the Supreme Court has ruled that gay marriage is legal in all 50 states. It makes me so happy because it puts me one step closer to my dream of a family. This is something my 18 year old self thought was never possible. He spent so much time telling himself he could never have the life he wanted, so he would just be alone the rest of his life instead… That idea has been chipping away with time, but I feel today a huge chuck chipped away.

To know that someday I’ll find the love of my life and our marriage will be recognized all over our country is a very beautiful thing.

#Genesis

I assume if you are reading this, you already know who I am, but maybe you don’t. In that case, this first part is for you. My name is Lytrell and I am an aspiring screenwriter. I currently live in Arizona, but plan to make the transition to LA (the city, not the state) early next year.

Once upon a time, this blog was full of posts. I mainly wrote about personal things. It was my way of venting. Now, I want it to be a bit more focused on writing, video games, TV and film. Those are the things I love. I am finishing my degree in Film & Media Studies, so it only makes sense for me to write about them. My goal is to perhaps develop a following of sorts.

I’ve felt the need to start blogging again, but I’ve been putting it off for a while now. I was recently reminded that I should start blogging again via watching #Rich Kids of Beverly Hills (a recent obsession of mine). Morgan is a blogger and she started small and ended up making a career for herself.

I plan to make a career via screenwriting (be it for TV or film), but a blog can’t hurt, can it?

I figured I’d keep this intro light and easy, so that’s it for now, but I’m excited for what’s to come.

Intuition

I’ve always been skeptical of psychics and the like… I find it very hard for a complete stranger to tell you a lot about your life. However, I remember this time as a child when my mother told me she contacted a psychic. I don’t remember much about it, other than what the psychic had to say about me. She told my mother that I was very intelligent, but that I constantly doubted myself. She told my mother to tell me not to be afraid to raise my hand in class. That is still an issue I am working on. It was spot on and this psychic never even talked to me directly.

Let’s fast-forward a decade or two. I went to San Diego Pride a few weeks ago. One of my companions was a relatively new friend, Andy. He had gone to LA Pride not too long before. I was completely jealous. He saw Danity Kane (may the band rest in peace… perhaps for good) and I wanted to know his thoughts on LA as that’s where I plan to head after I get my degree. I expressed some doubts I was feeling and he told me he had a tarot reading done recently and it really helped him put things in perspective.

I decided in the car that when we got to San Diego, despite my fear of having a tarot reading due to my knowledge of the musical, Carmen, I would find someone and have a reading… Well, I was really drunk the entire time and forgot. I didn’t think about it again until the other day. One of my amazing co-workers in named Diana. She has been very much like a mother figure to me these past few months. She has a gay son around my age. I’ve talked to her about a lot of stuff, recently has been my worry about LA and if I am making the right choices.

She referred me to a woman to have my tarot reading done. She lives all the way in Peoria, but something in me yesterday told me to go today, so I set an appointment and I went. She was so warm and inviting. The first thing she did was say hello and give me a hug. We then sat down at her table and we held hands for a few minutes so we could connect.

As we were connecting, she tells me that music is very important and prominent in my life. I always talk about writing as my passion, and it is, but music pumps through my blood. I am also listening to music and always singing. Sometimes I’ll hear a song and will get inspiration for a scene. She told me she felt this rhythm about me as we were connecting. Music is very important to me, but that is something I’ve never told anyone about, because I never felt a need to do so.

Before I picked my cards, she asked me what I wanted to know. I told her I was very interested in finding out about my career and I wanted to make sure I was making the right decisions. I drew my cards and she laid them out for me. She saw a lot about my career, but she also saw a lot about my love life, which was odd. I remember when I was talking with Diana yesterday, I told her I was less interested in my love life and more interested in my career.

I didn’t hear a lot that I didn’t already know, and she let me know this. She told me I am very intuitive but I have a hard time balancing my lofty ideas against my Virgo desire to be practical and realistic (she is a Virgo as well). The only thing she asked my prior to the reading, aside from my name when I set the appointment, was what am I studying, where I am studying it and my astrological sign. I told her I was studying Film. I wanted to keep it vague to see what she would see in the cards.

All of the career stuff was very positive. She told me I am definitely on the right path and if I keep at it, I will be successful. That was great to hear. The cards showed her a lot of growth and creativity. I’m in a time of growth and need to start putting the building blocks together for my career. The cards also showed her that I worry a lot about love and finding The One. She told me not to worry, I will find him.

She asked if I had an older male mentor in my life. I told her I didn’t. She told me that sometime in the next year, one would come into my life, perhaps through school. She also told me to get involved in a local theater group or something. She believes I will not only meet this older male mentor that way, or perhaps through school, but she also believes I will find the one through such endeavors as well. I could also possibly meet the mentor through school, but she felt I won’t meet the one through school or work.

This older male mentor will have a lot of experience in the business. Either he will have worked in Hollywood or owned a theater… or both, and he will help guide my career and my career choices. She also made sure to express that this older male mentor will not be a lover of mine, because I guess the card he showed up through can sometimes be interpreted as love.

The cards also showed my past. She told me I had some feelings of loss I am still dealing with that are hurting my future that I need to let go of, she also saw a lot of family issues that I need to work out. All of which is very true. She saw some financial gains coming soon, which will be nice… She also said that I get depressed from time to time and I have a tendency to get bored. Once again, something I don’t really talk about, but something she was spot on about. She gave me great advice for both.

Most of what she had to tell me was generally positive and good. There was only one thing that can be seen as a negative thing I will encounter. She told me I would meet a man I would think was the one, but he wouldn’t be. I’d be greatly attracted to him and he would have the ability to hurt me really badly if I’m not careful, but he would teach me lessons in love. She also said I will come upon some struggles in LA, but I’ll make it through alright.

After the reading, we just chatted and I told her more about myself and my family trouble. She gave me advice and was very motherly. She also has a son around my age. I was told to trust myself more. No more doubting myself or questioning myself. When I speak of my career, I am to say “I will do… this this and that” rather than “I’d like to…” or “Maybe I can…” She also told me to stop seeking validation from outside sources. She strongly urged me to start making connections now. I think she felt that my best option for LA is to go with people I meet here who want to be in the film industry as well (going back to the giving involved in local theater groups or something). She also told me that surrounding myself with likeminded people will help keep me motivated and driven. She was once an actress, however, she told me she was unable and unwilling (being the Virgo she is) to take the necessary risks to be successful. She told me I wouldn’t have the same problem she did.

I left feeling so much better. This entire summer, I’ve been worried about ending up in LA and deciding it was the worst decision of my life. I know there will be struggles and I know there will be hard times, but I feel this reading was exactly what I needed right now.

Drive

Writing has always been an important part of my life. I’ve always loved books, video games, and movies. They have been a way for me to escape reality. Writing has allowed me to escape to worlds of my own creation.

I’ve never been very good at expressing my feelings. Writing is my way of doing that. Sometimes it even happens subconsciously.

For the last few months I’ve been thinking about how to revamp a story concept I’ve been working on since I was 14. The more I worked on it, the more I realized how similar I am to the main character. I mean, there will always be a part of the writer in each character, naturally, but it wasn’t until the other night that I realized I’ve been subconsciously using this character and her story to work my way through my own situation.

I’ve been having a lot of doubts lately. My dreams and aspirations can easily be described as pipe dreams. I want to do what few succeed at doing. Many go out to LA and don’t make it. That scares me. I don’t want to fail. But then I think back to when I moved out here. I spent my 18th birthday on a bus from Augusta, Georgia to Phoenix, Arizona. I think I had about $100 (thankfully my housing was covered by tuition) in my pocket. My mother and father were so scared for me, but I wasn’t. I knew everything would work out and there was nothing anyone could tell me to change my mind. And I was right. I came here and I built a life for myself.

When the fears and doubts start to creep up, I try to remind myself of my move to Arizona. I was fearless when I should have been scared. I’m scared now, but I know it is something I have to do. I’m not sure exactly where this adventure will take me, but I have to do it. I’m also realizing that it might be awhile before I get to exactly where I want to be and I am learning that is ok too.

I used to have this dream a lot as a kid. In this dream, I see the intro to this film and I see “written by Lytrell Moffett” as the credits roll. For most of my life, I always assumed that meant I would write a book and have it turned into a movie… But maybe it just meant screenwriting was what I was meant to do and it just took me some time to figure it out?

Well, I suppose time will tell. I’ve got a year and a half of school left. It gives me time to work on scripts and try to make connections before I venture out. More importantly, I get lots more time to plan my attack.