Be Kind, Rewind

Kim and I watched Be Kind, Rewind a few nights ago, and I've been meaning to post something about it ever since. What a great movie!

Now, I really dig Jack Black's stuff to begin with. I laughed my head off at Nacho Libre, and (more recently) got a big kick out of Kung Fu Panda (possibly Jack Black's best movie ever). I even enjoyed School of Rock and King Kong (mostly). So naturally, I expected to enjoy Be Kind, Rewind.

What I didn't realize was how much I would identify with it. Not that I have anything at all in common with any of the down-and-out urban characters in the movie, nor am I an aspiring film maker. What I identified with was their desire to create something and share it with the world - flaws and all.

The movie wonderfully represents the concept of imperfectionism, which I have blogged about several times. The 20-minute films Jerry and Mike create in the movie are choppy, silly, imperfect retellings of popular movies. But they each have a certain genuineness, because of the imperfections, not in spite of them.

Somehow, this all ties in with my Simplicity Cycle book, both thematically and logistically. Perfectionism, in life or in art, tends to over-complicate things, while actually reducing the "goodness" or value of the thing. Imperfectionism, in contrast, involves a certain degree of simplification, even to the point of providing less function, less capability.

The Simplicity Cycle book itself, while not a "Sweded" project, is certainly a home-grown little book, full of its own little quirks and imperfections. That's one of the things I love most about it.