February 19, 2022 by Brian Weiner No CommentsChanging The World One Thought At A Time., Lessons From The Mountain

I ought to care more about you than I do about me. I ought to care more about what’s right than I do about what’s popular. I ought to be willing to give up this whole thing for something I believe in. Because if I’m not, then maybe I don’t belong here in the first place.

I’d like to apologize to the American people. You see, I was hired to do a job for you. And it was just a temp job at that. I forgot that I had 250 million people who were paying me to make their lives just a little bit better. And didn’t live up to my part of the bargain. You see, I think there’s certain things you should expect from your President. I ought to care more about you than I do about me. I ought to care more about what’s right than I do about what’s popular. I ought to be willing to give up this whole thing for something I believe in. Because if I’m not, then maybe I don’t belong here in the first place.

FROM THE MOVIE, DAVE, DIRECTED BY IVAN REITMAN

This week, we lost another of the outstanding film directors of our era. Ivan Reitman’s career is colored by some of the most memorable comedies that he either produced or directed or both, including Ghostbusters I and II, Animal House, Heavy Metal, Kindergarten Cop, Stripes, and Evolution, to name a few. But for me, the one to remember is much lesser known, Dave, starring Kevin Kline in dual roles as both the President of the United States, as well as a regular guy named Dave, who does such a perfect impression of the President, that he is tasked with standing in for him when the President goes into a coma. This film is one of the films that echo the sentiments of Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes To Washington in which a young Jimmy Stewart is thrown into Congress and learns how Washington works, the hard way.

Guys like Frank Capra, Aaron Sorkin, Rob Reiner, John Wells, and Ivan Reitman have all taken audiences into the fantasy world of politicians that work for the American people at large, rather than the special interests that fund their campaigns, in films and television shows like Dave, An American President and The West Wing. In these fantasy dramas, we witness a world that we would like to believe in. A world of fairness and honest representation of the people’s interests.

I have opted to refrain herein from making my more impassioned political diatribes in my musings, because Sizzle is ready to go to market and I cannot put my own core beliefs in front of staying responsible to investors and shareholders of my company. It was a tough decision to come to, but in the end, I would rather command a massive platform that can bring countless systems of benefit to society rather than vocalize my political opinions in a musing that will be dredged up some day and used against my companies.

So on my blog, I purged every last column that espoused negatively on any political or social system. http://brianweiner.com/

If I have to choose between vocalizing my criticism vs. launching a potential solution to many of the world problems and putting my exhaustive profits towards real solutions for the homeless, then there really can only be one proper decision… and screaming about things that my blog will not change had to be the victim of such a moral decision.

That said, in honoring a great artist like Ivan Reitman, I opt not to give you the hysterically funny moments that he gave us, but rather to deliver the President’s speech from Dave. This sums up how I see the role of the President of the United States. I believe a lot of Americans feel the same way, and even more could be persuaded to join us and then, to quote John Lennon, “the world will be as one.”

So here is to Ivan, who made me laugh in countless ways with his expertise at delivering some of the most landmark comedies of his era. I appreciate all of the joy, and I am delighted that people with your stature would still make a film like Dave in order to perpetuate the potential of what life might be like with leadership that carries the value systems that I believe in.

Happy Saturday!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOgf3IaWlgU/

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Dave Ivan Reitman

Written by Brian Weiner

When I was 5 years old, I discovered that the lemon tree in the backyard + dixie cups + water and sugar and I was in business. I have been hooked on that ever since. In 1979, I borrowed $14,000 to create a brand new product... photographic greeting cards with no text on the inside, called Paradise Photography. That was the start of The Illusion Factory. Since then, The Illusion Factory has been entrusted by all of the major studios and broadcasters with the advertising and marketing of over $7 billion in filmed, live, broadcast, gaming, AR, VR and regulated gaming forms of entertainment, generating more than $100 Billion in revenue and 265 awards for creativity and technology for our clients. When I took a break from film school at UCLA to move to Hawaii, my mother did not lecture me. Instead, she took 150 of her favorite aphorisms and in her beautiful calligraphy, wrote them artistically throughout a blank journal. That is the origin of the Lessons from the Mountain series. Since then, on my journeys to the top of a mountain to watch the sunrise, I have spent countless hours contemplating words of wisdom from the sages of all races, genders and political persuasions, constantly accumulating the thoughts to guide me on my life path. I hope you enjoy my books. Please let me know your thoughts, as I highly value your feedback!