“In every conflict there are casualties. The question is what is gained and what is lost?”
-Hoffa
Directed by Danny DeVito, written by David Mamet, and starring Jack Nicholson, today’s Movie Life Lesson comes courtesy of “Hoffa.”
I am choosing this 1992 biopic for this week’s Movie Life Lesson because of the looming Hollywood writer's strike. The strike happening hinges on whether the screenwriters who write the movies and the TV shows watched by audiences all over the world can reach a deal with the AMPTP, the studios that produce those movies and television shows. The contract is for three years so it is time to return to the bargaining table in an attempt to hammer out a new deal.
The deadline for a deal is May 1. Next Monday.
Last week the WGA held what’s called a strike authorization vote. Contrary to what some believe this was not a call to strike that day. It was an authorization by the guild’s members to call for a strike if a deal can not be reached. The vote was 97.9% to 2.1%. In other words, there is overwhelming support among the writers for a strike. The idea is that this unification sends a message to the AMPTP that they will not be able to sew division among guild members to force the WGA to make a less favorable deal. What this authorization says is the deal points being negotiated are important enough that it is worth it to writers to strike.
Presumably, if a deal cannot be reached between the WGA and the AMPTP by the May 1st deadline then a strike will begin on May 2nd.
For that reason I decided to re-watch the Danny DeVito-directed Hoffa (DeVito both directs and stars in the movie) seeking perhaps some wisdom, and a little inspiration if a strike does indeed occur.
Movie Life Lesson: In every conflict there are casualties. The question is what is gained and what is lost?
It is worth mentioning taking a moment here to mention what a stupendous career Danny DeVito has had in Hollywood. There are few people who can lay claim to so much success wearing so many different hats. To wit:
He starts off as an actor in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest playing patient, “Martini,” first in the off-Broadway production and then in the 1975 film directed by Milos Forman and based on the Ken Kesey novel.
In 1978, he stars in the hit television show, “Taxi” playing “Louie De Palma” which runs for five years
Over the next two decades he stars in more hit movies, among them Terms of Endearment, Romancing the Stone, Jewel of the Nile, War of the Roses (which he also directs), Ruthless People, Throw Momma From The Train (which he also directs), Twins, Other People’s Money, Batman Returns, and Get Shorty (which he also produces).
His company Jersey Films, in addition to producing Get Shorty, also produces Pulp Fiction, Gattaca, Man on the Moon (which he also stars in), and Garden State. He also produces the tv show Reno 911.
Then he returns to television as both actor and producer in the hit FX comedy series, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” playing “Frank Reynolds.”
Wow.
In the middle of this stunning career, he directs and produces “Hoffa.”
So, let’s get into the movie and take a look at the Movie Life Lesson.
Quick disclaimer: Jimmy Hoffa’s actual life is far more complex than any movie can capture. This series is called MOVIE Life Lessons. My focus are the lessons we can take from the themes and performances in our favorite movies, which in the case of biopics like “Hoffa,” are distillations of a person’s life into a story. It is not the entirety of their life. Thus this post is not meant as a referendum or endorsement of Hoffa the man, but only as a recognition of the lessons we can take from Hoffa, the movie.
The movie is written by David Mamet, in his trademark tough-talking, straightforward, streetwise staccato, dialogue, so it is perhaps not surprising that today’s Movie Life Lesson is distinctly Mametian.
During a truckers' labor strike that is about to turn into a riot, a reporter asks Nicholson’s “Jimmy Hoffa” if he could have anticipated the violence that is about to occur prior to organizing the labor strike.
Hoffa cuts him off and says
“In every conflict there are casualties, the question is what is gained and what is lost?”
Too often we try to sanitize the world, to minimize life’s inherent risks. We claim to do it for our kids. We claim to do it for the good of society. This is not to discount those feelings or some of the good that undoubtedly comes from rethinking our world and the risks take living in it. (I like seat belts for example).
However, the degree to which we engage in self-censorship in order to shield ourselves from the ugliness of the world, from inflicting emotional harm as much or more than physical harm, and from generally making ourselves feel bad about things, is, I suspect, very high.
Unfortunately, too often what ends up happening is reality comes along and smacks us in our faces.
Now, that’s life. It’s bound to happen. What really hurts is when you’re unprepared for it.
There is a funny episode of the show "Friends" that begins with the gang sitting around watching the movie "Old Yeller." Lisa Kudrow's “Phoebe” enters the apartment right before the end of the movie which she knows, sees all of her friends teary-eyed, and naively asks them why they’re so sad. It’s the end of Old Yeller, they explain. Like duh.
Phoebe has no idea what they’re talking about.
The joke it turns out is that Phoebe has never seen the end of Old Yeller . It seems her mother, never wanting to upset young Phoebe, always turned sad movies off before she saw the endings. Like when Travis has to put Old Yeller down. The teaser to the episode ends when Phoebe sees the ending of the movie for the first time and is horrified.
Cue the Big Laughs.
Cut to The Rembrandt’s irritatingly catchy, “I’ll Be There For You.”
It’s a funny joke in a tv comedy, precisely because avoidance of reality leads to reality only leads to reality biting us in the ass. Often unexpectedly.
This brings us back to “Hoffa,” the WGA-AMPTP contract negotiations, the possibility of a writers' strike, and today’s Movie Life Lesson.
The question is what is gained and what is lost?”
This lesson is applicable in more than just conflict scenarios. Forget for a moment that much of life is conflict in one sense or another, what about just as a question of measuring our own success.
A good way to determine success is by measuring what is gained and what is lost. Did you come out ahead or behind? Also, because no success comes without sacrifice.
Success lies in the answers to the questions:
1.What is your goal?
2.What did it cost you?
3. What did you gain?
4. Was it worth it?
The thing to remember about Hoffa’s Movie Life Lesson is that you want to try and applied that calculation before the fact, not after.
After the fact is what’s called simply a life lesson. That’s when we get smacked in the face. After which, hopefully, we learn our lessons.
The point of this blog is to try and learn the lessons from the movies we love so we can incorporate those lessons into our lives to be more successful. In this case, it is probably best to ask ourselves the question, “what is lost and what is gained” before we take on various challenges and accept responsibilities in life. Precisely so we don’t get smacked in the face when we do.
How do we do that? How do we measure what is gained and what is lost before we undertake an endeavor?
The answer perhaps lies in the question asked of Hoffa by the reporter in the movie… “Could this have been prevented?”
When you seek to accomplish something in your life — be it professional, personal, mental, physical, or spiritual — if it is a worthwhile pursuit, it will require of you certain sacrifices.
This is the “what is lost” part of the Movie Life Lesson.
The takeaway from this Movie Life Lesson is that it is best to try and anticipate what that might be beforehand.
This brings to mind a similar Movie Life Lesson from the movie “Spy Game” in which Robert Redford teaches:
When Is It Time To Build The Ark? Before the rain.
Point being, part of success is determined by preparation.
So, do what you can to understand the risks of something before it occurs. Even if it means facing uncomfortable truths. That way you can take steps to avoid or limit that risk, as well as your potential losses), and to increase your chances of success as well as what you stand to gain. As opposed to jumping in prematurely or going off half-cocked.
If the loss is unavoidable, then it is best to know that beforehand so you can choose whether you’re willing to suffer that loss to achieve your end goal. If the answer is yes, then best to steel yourself ahead of time.
So, how do we measure what will be gained versus what will be lost beforehand?
Make a Pro vs Con list.
Sounds funny, I know. But often life’s best tools are the simplest ones. I have a very successful friend who rarely makes a big decision without first making a pro vs con list.
Are you someone who makes pro vs con lists? If not, how do you weigh your success? Both before and after the endeavor.
One of the things which is fascinating about the internet is that when the question of a conflict or a disagreement (or a disagreement about a conflict; see Ukraine-Russia War) is posed online, the responses for and against are a kind of real-time pro vs con argument weighing whether said action/conflict/endeavor is worth it. That’s not to say that online opinions should be the guiding force, only that as a discussion of what might be gained versus what might be lost is illuminating. Especially interns of what people value.
This brings us back to the looming Hollywood writer’s strike.
Based on the strike authorization vote it seems clear that the writers have considered what we stand to lose if we do not negotiate what we consider to be fair gains contractually to compensate us for our work. And it has been deemed worthy of striking over it if those asks are not met on key issues.
The question that remains now is whether the tactics taken thus far, including the possibility of a strike, will be worth it in the end?
The way that will be measured will be in terms of what is lost versus what is gained, in terms of people’s careers, and in terms of lives.
Which is pretty much always true in life.
Here endeth the lesson.
**A quick note: I intend to discuss the specifics of the strike leading up it, should it occur. But I will be doing so in separate posts.
Thanks for following along.
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