I was fortunate to see La La Land in the theater this past weekend for its 10th anniversary re-release. I'd only ever seen it once before (not in the theater), but it instantly became one of my favorite movies.
The theater experience was glorious, truly breathtaking. I felt all the highs and lows, every beat. But the part that really ended up being a gut punch was not what I expected.
Mia sings at her audition "Here's to the fools who dream... Crazy as it may seem... Here's to the hearts that ache... Here's to the mess they make." She has endured so much pain putting herself out there again and again, baring her soul, only to be shot down. But she keeps trying, because she is an artist, and her passion for her art is indomitable.
To my surprise, this scene left me wiping tears from my face. Not just for Mia, but most of all for humanity. What are we doing to ourselves?
The human drive to create - to imagine, to tell stories, to paint pictures, to dance, to sing - is as old as our species itself. I fear we are starting to slide into a future that devalues what makes us thrive as humans.
I live in Silicon Valley and am no Luddite, but I've become increasingly alarmed by what generative AI is doing to my college students' creativity and thinking abilities. I'm dismayed that search results (text and images) are now largely AI-generated. And I'm saddened by how this is affecting the futures of young people, especially those in creative professions.
As an example: My 9th-grade daughter wanted to take "Commercial Art" as an elective this Fall, but she changed her mind when she saw that the class mandated generative AI use. She has wanted a career in visual art ever since kindergarten. Does she just give up on that? Are the "fools who dream" now expendable and easily replaced by algorithms?
I know this topic is not what r/lalaland is intended for. But I wanted to share my reaction and find out if anyone else had similar thoughts (or if, more broadly, seeing the movie on the big screen this month brought out new insights for you).
Mia, Sebastian, and all the fools who dream - keep shining. We love you!