In Defense of Vanity Projects

Cringe is in the eye of the beholder. Indeed, everyone thinks they are star-worthy. Modern social media is founded on the promise anyone can quit their dreary day-job. Isn’t every new director/writer/star guilty of this crime? Rudy Ray Moore’s body of work was only possible through his delusion he could act and knew karate. Today, his films are considered cult classics. Quentin Tarantino cast himself in his own movies, and he has made a reputation indulging in his pedantic film knowledge to the delight of millions, playing his private record collection to us in every film he has made thus far.

​ Without the same artistic urge that produces After Earth, we also wouldn’t have any of Martin Scorsese’s films either.