Are You A Writer Or A Talker?

First, check this out. It's Roger Ebert writing about the virtues of real movie audiences versus industry types...

There is also the matter of how people laugh: Are they responding, or informing? At the Music Box, the audience seemed to respond as an organic whole. At most festivals and all industry screenings, they seem made more of individual voices essentially saying: "I'm instructing you that that was funny."

via blogs.suntimes.com

Sometimes a writer just nails it, distilling an idea into a simple, perfect passage. Ebert does this time and again.

Like almost everyone I know, I grew up knowing Roger Ebert as one half of the two thumbs. The fat one. A talker, not a writer.

Then somehow I ended up reading this incredible post on his blog. Then recently I read this Esquire piece about him. Then his perfect response to that piece. Then an article Ebert himself linked to written by a journalist imploring other journalists to take the Esquire piece as a call to arms. Then I began following him on Twitter. Basically, I'm stalking Roger Ebert. Call the cops.

Now I know Ebert as he really is. A writer, not a talker.

If I could reverse time and change the events that lead to his current condition, I would. But I'd do it with the bittersweet knowledge that the world may never get a chance to met this side of him. And that would suck.

You don't have to love movies, to love his blog.

Posted via web from The Gut Manifesto