Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Sunday, May 8, 2016
Birdwoman
I have spent a lot of time thinking about the movie "Birdman" since seeing it with 2 of my kids shortly after the movie received numerous awards, including the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2015. I was surprised to see it was nominated by The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films in 3 categories because I didn't see the movies as fitting any of those genres. The movie was full of metaphor but real, none the less. Reviews of the movie go on and on about the unorthodox way the movie was shot and the great performances but only nod to the story line. Aging, washed up older person trying to make a comeback and getting beaten back by the people in his life and by himself. There have been lots of inspirational movies about the subject...Rocky franchise? How was this movie different than other movies?
On the drive home after seeing the movie, I asked my (grown) kids what they thought. Could Michael Keaton's character fly? Did he have "powers"? What about the voices? My kids said, no, no, he was just crazy. If I had seen the movie 20 years ago, I would have said the same thing. But now, I hear voices, I think I can fly, and want the powers I think I possess to be validated.
In the movie, Keaton's character, Riggan, is a man who spent his adult life playing the role of a superhero known as The Birdman. The superhero goes out of style and becomes obsolete, leaving Riggan as a divorced, alcoholic, washed up has-been, trying to stage a comeback as a serious actor in theater. I am not going to retell the movie but what I was left with was how complicated an inter generational workplace is. I know that might seem like a strange takeaway but the relationship in this movie between the different generations is fascinating. Riggan is bombastic and obnoxious as he demands to be taken seriously and the younger characters are equally awful in how self absorbed they are and how they have no regard for those who aren't them...young. Both sides have a different idea of workplace standards and both sides have a different way of relating to the world. And a successful outcome requires that each side, not just give in to each other, but understands the value of what each side has to offer.
More and more people over 50 and even over 60 like me, are staging comebacks or entering new careers, out of necessity due to the recession and loss of retirement funds, or made possible because we are living and staying healthy longer. For sure in my kids lifetime, working with people over 60 will be more common place. How do we get past parent/child ways of seeing each other? The older people demanding respect and that their experience be valued and the younger side, pushing back and insisting on doing things their way? Out with the old and in with the new. Is it in our DNA? Our children get to a point in life where their goal is to push parents/elders away. And on the elder's side, we might assume we will always be in charge and our words or life experience shouldn't be challenged. There are laws on the books about discrimination and companies have legal sounding statements in employee handbooks, on job boards and in mission statements but how do we get beyond the legal requirement that we tolerate one another and start valuing one another?
In Birdman, the "youngs" and the "olds" both are made better by the presence of each other. 20th century psychologist, Raymond Cattell, identified 2 types of intelligence. Fluid and crystallized. Fluid intelligence is about abstract thinking, problem solving and recognizing patterns and does not rely on experience. Crystallized intelligence is the result of learning and experience, foreign language and mathematics, for example. One increases with age and the other decreases. Can you guess which is which? Fluid intelligence decreases. Think of it this way. As you get older, you might rely on experience and what you have learned over time, and may not be as good at coming up with a new way of solving a problem or seeing a situation...you tend to do what has worked in the past. On the other hand, if you are having open heart surgery, who would you pick as a surgeon? Probably someone who does many heart surgeries a week...crystal intelligence. Obviously, all age groups have something to contribute if value is given to all.
I have noticed in my own thinking, at 62, I have context. When I read or hear something, I have decades of experience with which to process that information and that is quite lovely. I learn something today that might help process something that happened 20 years ago or an experience in my past might be helpful today. At the very least, years of experience help in prioritizing where to direct attention, what is important and what can be ignored. But, all that context can be diluting. Highs and lows can be neutralized and the ability to put them in context, flattens them out a bit. How different is that for a younger person who is experiencing things for the first time? I can't change how I am seen by those younger than me but I can change how I see them. When I listen better and drop my parental urges, sometimes I get to feel something the same way I did 40 years ago. It's like eating a home grown tomato instead of a supermarket tomato. This would be a good start in the workplace. I think it is going to take time, but with the life experience an older person brings to the table, we can begin modeling new relationships, rather than demanding a continuation of old ones.
On the drive home after seeing the movie, I asked my (grown) kids what they thought. Could Michael Keaton's character fly? Did he have "powers"? What about the voices? My kids said, no, no, he was just crazy. If I had seen the movie 20 years ago, I would have said the same thing. But now, I hear voices, I think I can fly, and want the powers I think I possess to be validated.
In the movie, Keaton's character, Riggan, is a man who spent his adult life playing the role of a superhero known as The Birdman. The superhero goes out of style and becomes obsolete, leaving Riggan as a divorced, alcoholic, washed up has-been, trying to stage a comeback as a serious actor in theater. I am not going to retell the movie but what I was left with was how complicated an inter generational workplace is. I know that might seem like a strange takeaway but the relationship in this movie between the different generations is fascinating. Riggan is bombastic and obnoxious as he demands to be taken seriously and the younger characters are equally awful in how self absorbed they are and how they have no regard for those who aren't them...young. Both sides have a different idea of workplace standards and both sides have a different way of relating to the world. And a successful outcome requires that each side, not just give in to each other, but understands the value of what each side has to offer.
More and more people over 50 and even over 60 like me, are staging comebacks or entering new careers, out of necessity due to the recession and loss of retirement funds, or made possible because we are living and staying healthy longer. For sure in my kids lifetime, working with people over 60 will be more common place. How do we get past parent/child ways of seeing each other? The older people demanding respect and that their experience be valued and the younger side, pushing back and insisting on doing things their way? Out with the old and in with the new. Is it in our DNA? Our children get to a point in life where their goal is to push parents/elders away. And on the elder's side, we might assume we will always be in charge and our words or life experience shouldn't be challenged. There are laws on the books about discrimination and companies have legal sounding statements in employee handbooks, on job boards and in mission statements but how do we get beyond the legal requirement that we tolerate one another and start valuing one another?
In Birdman, the "youngs" and the "olds" both are made better by the presence of each other. 20th century psychologist, Raymond Cattell, identified 2 types of intelligence. Fluid and crystallized. Fluid intelligence is about abstract thinking, problem solving and recognizing patterns and does not rely on experience. Crystallized intelligence is the result of learning and experience, foreign language and mathematics, for example. One increases with age and the other decreases. Can you guess which is which? Fluid intelligence decreases. Think of it this way. As you get older, you might rely on experience and what you have learned over time, and may not be as good at coming up with a new way of solving a problem or seeing a situation...you tend to do what has worked in the past. On the other hand, if you are having open heart surgery, who would you pick as a surgeon? Probably someone who does many heart surgeries a week...crystal intelligence. Obviously, all age groups have something to contribute if value is given to all.
I have noticed in my own thinking, at 62, I have context. When I read or hear something, I have decades of experience with which to process that information and that is quite lovely. I learn something today that might help process something that happened 20 years ago or an experience in my past might be helpful today. At the very least, years of experience help in prioritizing where to direct attention, what is important and what can be ignored. But, all that context can be diluting. Highs and lows can be neutralized and the ability to put them in context, flattens them out a bit. How different is that for a younger person who is experiencing things for the first time? I can't change how I am seen by those younger than me but I can change how I see them. When I listen better and drop my parental urges, sometimes I get to feel something the same way I did 40 years ago. It's like eating a home grown tomato instead of a supermarket tomato. This would be a good start in the workplace. I think it is going to take time, but with the life experience an older person brings to the table, we can begin modeling new relationships, rather than demanding a continuation of old ones.
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