by Ron Perlman
I am far and away not the first among us to pronounce how fortunate we are to witness the emergence of this new Pope. He is the embodiment of those sentiments. And although I don’t physically kneel in that particular church, I kneel with all my heart to his core teachings. And, further, I remain one of the dwindling masses who thank God to live in a world where Barack Obama can be the heart and soul of this country I love so much. Because he is a man who has spent all of his political capital just adjudicating for the common man, and in the face of every single thing they could throw at him, he remains calm, classy, and incredibly humorous—one of the greatest political wits since JFK—all this in the face of the worst, most blatant racism along with the highest degree of disrespect for the title Commander-in-Chief I have seen in my lifetime, a title our founders granted to him. Men and women have left their blood in a shitload of dark and lonely places so you can disagree with me about this, but let’s be clear: no one should confuse that right with the dignity and the sanctity of an office that came as a result of two fair and democratic elections. I am a fan. He has managed to maintain his poise, his grace, and, most importantly, his vision in the face of profound ugliness. It cannot be lost on us that he is the Jackie Robinson of executive politics. And like Jackie, he never complained, never engaged with the haters, never took his eye off the ball. What he did do is finally begin a worldwide discussion about a whole lotta shit that nobody wants to talk about, chief among them being the redistribution of resources. I’m not going to say wealth, because I don’t mind wealth as either a concept or a fact; I just mind what one chooses to do with it. Because with great power comes great responsibility. Don’t tell me you’re a pious person—just show me. Don’t hide behind some empty nonexistent spiritualism because, like Elmer Gantry says, “Ya can’t go to church on Sunday and cheat at business all through the week!” Spiritual? Gimme a fuckin’ break. You better know if you’re truly spiritual or not, ’cuz I got news for ya: God does! And there comes a moment in every muthafucka’s life when the ability to buy a first-class seat to the other side ain’t no longer negotiable!
So after all is said and done and when all the dust finally settles, what I truly believe would be the best use of my last fifteen, twenty years on this Earth, or whatever time God chooses to give me, is to reclaim and rededicate the simple beautiful things in this life that no amount of money can buy. And I am convinced that this can only come about by appealing to people’s better angels, their deeper longings to be part of something bigger than even themselves, where they have a seat at the table, a voice that money can’t drown out, a knowledge that they are giving their children the best lives they can. And this means that in order to put some skin in the game, I better be willing to make an investment I can afford. I may not pull it off, but I’m good with that.
I’m calling this little venture of mine Wing and a Prayer Pictures. And in what will come as no surprise, we’re gonna make movies. In fact, I’m betting we’re gonna make the best damn movie company since MG-fucking-M. ’Cuz I’m betting on the artist. I’m betting on the storyteller. I’m betting on the folks out there—just plain, ordinary folks who want something a little smarter, a little classier. Something that truly engages their better angels. And by the time this book is published, I’m betting we’ll be well under way. ’Cuz I just can’t give my kids and my kids’ friends a bunch of shit that says, “Ain’t nuthin’ ’less you got some skin in the game!” I gotta walk the walk! I gotta pave a parking lot and put up a paradise. ’Cuz if not me, then who?! And if not now . . . well, you know what I’m sayin’. Fuck waiting for the world to change you; you start by trying to change it. And if you are pure of heart and your intentions are good, you can’t lose. Even if nothing happens, you can’t lose. Because whether you are successful or not, what better way is there to spend your one and only life than working every day purely from passion, love, respect, and awe?
Oh, and by the way, just so I get off on the right foot, here’s a little tip for all you talent out there: make sure your people show you everything that is offered. There’s a rule at my management company that my whole team is cool with: if a script comes in with an offer for me, no matter what they think of it, whether they think it’s good for me or not, they send it so I can make my own decision about whether I do the project. As talent, if ya wanna keep watching the movie business get more and more mediocre, then keep leaving it to your agents, your managers, and your fucking lawyers to make your decisions for you! But if you do that, I better not ever hear you complain how shitty the movie business is, ’cuz you ain’t part of the solution; you’re part of the problem. ’Cuz you can bet dollars to donuts you ain’t seeing the good stuff, ’cuz they don’t wantcha to, ’cuz there ain’t no money in it for ’em. So yeah, if my theory holds any water and it’s true that our beautiful culture is truly devolving, believe me when I tell ya, there’s plenty of blame to go around.
Listen, man, righteous indignation aside, ain’t nothing gonna ever happen by just identifying the problem—the walk is in need of being walked. I’d love to suggest that every artist who’s coming out of school, every journalist, every actor, every musician, and every dancer stand up and say, “No, this ain’t art, this contributes nothing to our culture.” It’s possible. The only thing that’s getting in the way of it are market forces. That’s all it is. Ever. ’Cuz I submit to you that there’s just as many Bob Dylans, Stevie Wonders, and Joni Mitchells getting born every day as there ever was. The only thing that separates an artist like that and us knowing about an artist like that are market forces. So we got to change the hearts and minds of people. We gotta wake people up. We can’t keep going down this road where we allow ourselves to be completely desensitized and buy into the fact that fucking Coca-Cola is good for us and a Romney-type is a great leader, all because of billions of marketing dollars that tell us he is. While, if he had pulled it off, a couple of hundred people would have gotten much, much richer during his eight years in office while the rest of us would go fuck ourselves.
No one person is going to be able to change the world. No one gesture is going to be able to change the world. But if enough of you decide, “I’m not gonna buy into any of the paradigms, any of the edifices that only worship false idols,” well, then, maybe we can turn this ship around and start sailing to higher ground. I’m hoping this book at least starts a conversation in places where it might not have started before. And if it doesn’t, who gives a fuck? I’m gonna die anyway. Shit, we all are. All I’m sayin’ is: here’s what I see. You agree with me, you don’t agree with me—whatever, no problem. But hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained. And look, if ya don’t like my version of the good, the bad, and the ugly, then go find your own. Just don’t settle. Your life is worth more than that. And as far as I can tell, you only get one.
Yet we can do all these things and still be happy. That’s really the point, isn’t it? For me, happiness is this vision of me walking down the street on my way someplace. Doesn’t even matter where. I got my wife on my left and my two kids on my right, and we’re laughing our asses off. That’s the image that trumps everything. That’s my contingency plan, and knowing I got that, then it doesn’t matter whether I’m an actor or a plumber, whether I’m wealthy or just getting by. All that matters is . . . I’m happy.
Don’t let them steal that from you.
That’s winning. That’s Easy Street, Baby!
acknowledgments
If you’ve made it this far, you already know the many people who I thanked, and I did so with sincerity. As for this book, much thanks to Katherine Latshaw of Folio Management for her belief in this project and especially for hooking me up with Ben Schafer at Da Capo. Thank you, Ben, for sharing the vision I had for this book. Also, much gratitude to all the folks at Da Capo and Perseus who worked hard behind the scenes, especially John Radziewicz, Lissa Warren, Kevin Hanover, Sean Maher, Christine Marra, George Banbury, and Justin Lovell.
A special thanks to Michael Largo, w
ithout whom there is no book—we started off with a job to do and ended up hecka pals!
And thank you, Ian Gibson, for taking good care of GDT so he could take such good care of RP.
But to my intrepid team, starting with the inimitable Erik Kritzer and the inspirational Brian Wilkins. And the young guns, Kyle Einsohn, Patrick Havern, and David Katsman. And a special thanks to Ryan Bundra, who ran point for me on the evolution of this book. And Ben Levine and Jay Cohen and Brett Norensberg. And Michael Selby, Craig Baumgarten, and Josh and Randy Crook, all of whom dwell in places that make dreaming big just another part of the day.
And to my kids, Blake and Brandon Perlman, around whom keeping it real is the only option and in whose company all is good!