kickstarter – Houghton STAR

A Nice Hill To Die On

Millennials are terrible at picking causes. We just throw our attention and energy into the next cause that walks by, because we have been fed the idea that all causes are important. This is entirely understandable. There are so many things marketing to our desires and ideals. Even good social movements use viral marketing and attention-grabbing techniques, trying to persuade us that they’re worth our blood, sweat, and tears. It’s hard to discern what’s worthwhile for a generation that desires to make real change in the world. We are driven and compassionate, and we want to change our broken systems, broken politics, and broken ecology. We wish we could change it all.

Someone once told me to think carefully about what hill I want to die on. By this, they meant, “You only die once; where would you be satisfied dying? What would be okay to sacrifice for?” This metaphor provides some much needed perspective on decision making. There are many things I disagree with in my environment, but I have limited energy and time to change those things. Finding the right hill to die on is important.

Our generation has a tendency to choose causes poorly. Therefore, I want to leave you with a few things to keep in mind when you select a cause to champion.

First, keep in mind that not all causes are created equal. A Kickstarter campaign to make a giant potato salad and Black Lives Matter are about as different as campaigns can be. One changes lives and the other changes a moment on the Internet. There is no comparison. This is why Black Lives Matter makes history and a supermassive potato salad does not.

Second, apathy is a trap which deeply believing Millennials can easily step into. Taking part in too many causes wears down our ability to care. We only have so much energy for caring, and if we join too many causes that caring energy will soon be depleted. This is how being human works. No one wants an apathetic supporter. In fact, apathy will discredit the importance of the cause. Don’t become a part of something you don’t fully believe in. If you don’t fully believe in it, it’s simply not the hill for you.

The third thing to consider when choosing a cause is whether the cause hurts people. How many people are being hurt by the words and actions of that cause? Think about it long and hard. Is it worth it? If you do join a cause that hurts people, don’t expect those who are hurt by you to understand your actions. Don’t expect anyone outside of that cause to understand. Never put your causes before people, even if it seems like those causes are for people. Find a better solution.

Finally, keep in mind that making no decision is still a decision. You’re still giving an answer. Saying nothing is most definitely saying something. Choosing to not participate in a cause shows others that you don’t value something. This is not a call to reject all causes. On the contrary, the drive to change things in the world may be the single best attribute of the Millennial generation. I want to encourage you to find something bigger than yourself to pour into and to make better. It would be such a waste to be divided and disconnected. So please, be thoughtful and real and find a hill where you can firmly plant your roots and grow into someone who changes the world.

Ian is a senior majoring in communication and theology.

As a group of artists aspiring to learn and grow from the experience of a challenging project, Aaron Fitzgerald, Jordan Meeder, Andrew McGinnis, Graeme Little, Aubrey Thorlakson, and Nicolas Quigley came together at the beginning of the fall semester to begin creating a short film, called Telemachus.

Fitzgerald, the team’s director, said concerning the origin of such a project, “Jordan and I kind of had an idea about it, and had talked about it sort of seriously, sort of jokingly over the summer… but we didn’t do anything about it then… Then I sent out an email to him and a couple other people I thought might be interested, and we met, and that was it.”

Telemachus acts as a group undertaking for an advanced projects class, supervised by Professor David Huth, Visual Communication and Media Arts. The project’s production time spans the entire 2012-2013 academic year.

“We’re all doing the equivalent amount of work that would be involved in an individual project… most projects would encompass more aspects of the medium, but wouldn’t necessarily do as in-depth kind of stuff,” said Graeme Little, director of sound.

To explain the plot of Telemachus, Fitzgerald said, “I think the easiest way for someone to understand it, without revealing too much, is that it’s like a loose, modern adaptation of the first three or four books of the Odyssey, and then the last two books of the Odyssey… I wouldn’t say it’s a parallel story, but more of a character study.”

When asked whether the individuals in the group had ever attempted producing something like Telemachus before, Fitzgerald said, “Nothing like this. We’ve all done smaller, more independent projects.”

Meeder, director of photography, said of the project as a whole, “I think it was a challenge to learn to work creatively with other people because none of us had ever done that before… I think it’s a good experience, but it’s definitely something you can’t really plan for… It’s been more of a learning experience than we ever expected.”

Fitzgerald went on to say, “I think one of my ideas for this project is to give people who I think are gifted or invested in a certain way a cooler platform to showcase their work on, the kind of thing a lot of other majors have, but the communication major doesn’t necessarily.”

Since Houghton lacks a specific film department, the group’s goal to complete Telemachus acts as an experience and essentially an experiment of their own. As Fitzgerald said, “We didn’t do this because Houghton doesn’t have a film program; we just wanted to do something, and we thought that fact might be a good marketing platform.”

The team establishes its objective as principally gaining experience while deliberately challenging each of its members.

McGinnis, director of editing and effects, said, “I guess for me, the project is basically to get a large production under my belt, whether it turns out good or not. I can just say I helped with a film that was over fifteen minutes long, and basically adding that to my portfolio and seeing what it’s like to work in a team atmosphere.”

Little’s hopes for Telemachus parallel those of McGinnis as well. He said specifically, “I guess my goal for the project would be to best create something that… is not just my project anymore, but more like part of a larger project, which is like what any project is going to be in the real world.”
While the team hopes to eventually enter the film into film festivals in order to gain recognition, this aspiration comes second to the actual completion and experience of the entire project.

“I think our primary goal in this project is really just to learn and to try something that’s new and something that we’re not used to,” said Fitzgerald. “I think a good way of thinking about is not in terms of, ‘We’re doing this so that we can be known,’ but rather something like, ‘A good goal for us would be trying to get into a festival,’ and that could help drive us to do something better than what we’ve done before, and do something new and different from what we’re comfortable with.”