Posted on: Sunday, January 2, 2005
Being famous and being great aren't the same
By Michael DeMattos
Children are faced with a tough task in this day and age. They must discern the difference between fame and greatness. Sometimes the two co-exist, but never intentionally. More often than not, the truly great people live their lives never once drinking from the cup of fame. Sadly, many of our society's most famous people are newsworthy, but not praiseworthy.
So how exactly does one teach a child the difference between the two? Over the past 20 years, I have been to a variety of trainings, seminars, presentations and lectures on human growth and potential. Most were formulaic while others offered watered-down clichés better suited for bumper stickers. Still, I found those more palatable than the overly ambiguous, "shoot for the stars," "aim big," "you can be the best if only you believe" drivel that was more undertow than undercurrent. You can't teach greatness.
For all my reservations and discomfort, I could never put my "proverbial" finger on what was the matter. That all changed Christmas weekend.
As it turns out, my Christmas wishes really did come true. My wife decided that I merited "The Return of the King" extended version and the alchemical combination of nasty head cold, new DVD and available sick leave led to pure magic. Ever the aficionado, I went straight to the appendices. It was there, in the deep caverns of movie making magic that I found the answer to the question that had perplexed me for so long.
The art director said that his team did not set out on a course designed to garner fame and fortune. Instead, it was a learning process, in which the team tried their utmost to put their collected efforts and collective knowledge into their craft. Fame and fortune (and 11 Academy Awards) were mere by-products of their work.
They were not shooting for the stars; they were mining the depths. They reached down, not up. They used all their amassed knowledge to build elaborate sets, exotic costumes and life-like miniatures and, when they exhausted their skill set, they went back to the drawing board and learned as they experimented and reached even deeper. All this, not to become famous, but to produce the best movie they could possibly produce. I get the feeling that if the movie had failed with audiences, it would have succeeded in their hearts.
In the end, greatness is the by-product of passion, though you would not know it by watching the tube. Instead, we are sitting on the sidewalk of life and treated to a freak parade of ne'er-do-wells whether we like it or not. If it bleeds it leads and if it's bizarre or involves a wardrobe malfunction it will make the celluloid screen.
The difference between fame and greatness? It just may be intention. Many of the famous want nothing more, while many of the greats want nothing of the sort. You can only find the famous on TV or in the media. Greatness might be right under your nose, living next door or staring back at you in the mirror.
Family therapist Michael C. DeMattos has a master's degree in social work.
