Tron and Tristram Shandy (my father and Samuel Johnson)
The back cover of my edition of Tristram Shandy quotes Dr Johnson. “Nothing odd will do long; Tristram Shandy did not last”. He was wrong because the 20th and 21st centuries have rediscovered the originality of that book. But it is an idea held by many critics. My father has more than 20 years experience working in radio and TV shows, so he knew what he was talking about when he said of Tron, “There’s nothing more outdated than yesterday’s avant-garde”.
I saw Tron as a child and I saw it again yesterday. It’s funny, short (what’s this fashion of making movies last no less than two hours?) and it draws on some eternal themes such as the combat of Good against Evil, humans against machines, and a small team’s quest to find the villain’s headquarters in order to destroy him. The small team includes a Chosen One… at times I thought I was watching an accelerated, early eighties version of both The Matrix and The Lord of The Rings! Still, what had me thinking about the most unpredictable aspects of the creative process is that Tron is a cult movie. Very few people know of it. The special effects look old, but then, so does the first Star Wars. And I have never been much of a Trekkie, but I’ve seen one or two of the earliest films and they seem to have survived quite well.
What makes Star Wars a classic and Tron cult? The problem is, no one has a clue about where the line lies between original enough to be long-lasting (classic) and so avant-garde it will be outdated in the way predicted by my father and Samuel Johnson. We have to use our instinct, create what feels right and hope that the future will treat it well.
Tron also made me curious about the present. What will my grandchildren think of The Matrix?
I saw Tron as a child and I saw it again yesterday. It’s funny, short (what’s this fashion of making movies last no less than two hours?) and it draws on some eternal themes such as the combat of Good against Evil, humans against machines, and a small team’s quest to find the villain’s headquarters in order to destroy him. The small team includes a Chosen One… at times I thought I was watching an accelerated, early eighties version of both The Matrix and The Lord of The Rings! Still, what had me thinking about the most unpredictable aspects of the creative process is that Tron is a cult movie. Very few people know of it. The special effects look old, but then, so does the first Star Wars. And I have never been much of a Trekkie, but I’ve seen one or two of the earliest films and they seem to have survived quite well.
What makes Star Wars a classic and Tron cult? The problem is, no one has a clue about where the line lies between original enough to be long-lasting (classic) and so avant-garde it will be outdated in the way predicted by my father and Samuel Johnson. We have to use our instinct, create what feels right and hope that the future will treat it well.
Tron also made me curious about the present. What will my grandchildren think of The Matrix?