Shadyac Draft

Victor Pierce

Period 1 CW

March 3rd, 2013

To Be or Not to be a Poet

Among being a famous and widely successful director, producer, as well as an actor, comedian and screenwriter, Tom Shadyac can also add being a poet to that list, rather he actually writes or not is beside the point; his knowledgeability and awakening to the impact his works have had on others and how he’s used his own works to enlighten and inspire himself is what gives him the title of a poet. The coined term “poet” is an incessantly broad and a immensely abstract term that can be  very difficult to grasp; being a poet isn’t just putting words on paper and pressing print, there is a undying sense of subjectivity that for me, truly defines what the tem “poet” entails. In my experience with poetry, I’ve come to distinguish certain characteristics about poetry, such as “using works to inspire one’s self”,  “how it’s a mind-set not just an action” or that “It’s a way to see the world under a different light”. So based upon  those specific instances of  criteria, I would say without a doubt, Tom Shadyac is a poet.  With all the movies he was and still is making, Tom Shadyac Is unnecessarily rich and instead of living in a mansion of some sort or having exotic cars, all the fixings for a wealthy celebrity; he chooses to live in a trailer park,Tom realized that his works weren’t helping anybody to do anything, he acknowledged the problem and took steps towards the solution thus creating the documentary “I Am” as well as altering his mental perception of life and people as a whole. His movies were widely famous in the demographic in which he was anticipating, but he realized that his movies weren’t part of the solution, and that they could very well in fact be this “pollution”; as of lately I’ve taken a more philosophical and performance based approach to my poetry and I’ve used this format and the various ideologies that I draw from the wide array of experience to be the life force of my writings.  Through my exposure to poetry I’ve tried to monitor where the generality of my ideas hit, so I usually try to find a broader common theme in each of them and run with it; I  realize that I’m not always going to be present in many aspects of life and I’m not always going to be around, so within my poetry, I write down my philosophies so should  ever forget them, I’ll have them right at hand to “reshape” my mind; also to be shared with others if I die today people can still hear my voice in my poetry. Tom Shadyac sold his mansion(s), he realized that we’ve been under this incantation that we need monterey possessions, the original idea was that if your cold and someone gives you clothes to warm up your going to be happy and the same idea with food when you're hungry and over time its been twisted and diluted, attempting to say “the more the merrier”. Hes used all his success in the film industry to open up his eyes to see this life in a new light. Tom meets all the criteria I have for classifying some as a true poet, he may not literally write poetry but beyond surface level Tom Shadyac is a true poet.