When does the rat race end? by Nora Poggi
I recently spoke to a few friends who are going through depressive episodes. What they all have in common, is that one of the many factors playing a role in their situation was something we’d discussed for years – the constant competition, and the feeling of never being/doing enough, inherent to our creative industries, and to a neoliberal society run amok. I don’t think I can find a better example of this madness than the newly announced competition show “The Activist” which drew the ire of the internet and of real activists. But more on that later.
None of this is new — but I figure I’d give some perspective on the artist dilemma nowadays. Thanks to the podcast I produce interviewing filmmakers, and to my own experience working in film for the last 8 years, I have seen some truly disturbing things that I wish were talked about more. With the pandemic, it seems a lot of us have realized we want a change — see this great piece about “what radicalized you?” — but powerful forces are at play to maintain the status quo and make sure we keep quiet in the hamster wheel, no matter how much suffering the rat race brings, and how much it distracts us from what truly matters.
Chasing the breakthrough
As freelance artists, and as content creators, we are always chasing that breakthrough moment to get our work seen and for people to care. You have not “arrived” but you are on your way to getting doors open more easily. It’s about getting from the hustle and exhaustion to the flow stage where opportunities start coming because people know you and appreciate your work. Because the freelance career path is so lonely, despite the collaborations, that fragile breakthrough moment is often vital to have the courage to keep creating.
As many creatives have experienced before, during my career I have seen that saying the right things to the rich and powerful at the networking cocktail hour can mean the difference between struggling for another year and getting your project funded. The main reason for this is the systemic lack of public funding and support for the arts in America, which keeps repeating the structural inequalities of access to funding, and of who gets to tell stories and shape our media.
Our whole industry is dependent on sponsorships, and our freelance careers on elevating our profile through book publishing, social media, PR, etc. Most people would shrug and say “duh — that’s how business works.”And it has truly afforded me a lot of opportunities I don’t think I would have had back home in France, so I’m not saying to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
But neoliberalism has permeated every aspect of our culture, artists (and activists!) now having to transform themselves into social media influencers and brands to get their message out. While social media helped many of us get our work out in a way we could not have dreamt of before, creating direct lines of communication with audiences and communities, it also set up a powerful trap.
“You see artists hailed as a new generation of independents, only to be enlisted to leverage product” — Anohni
The Activist competition show helmed by CBS, featuring Usher, Priyanka Chopra, and Julianne Hough (more famous for donning blackface than for her activism) has been described by many as the embodiment of everything that’s wrong with our culture right now.
When it comes to the artistic process, I have written before about the importance of “unproductivity” and being able to take the time to be intentional in our work, but I don’t see much changing and it scares me to death. Especially when my colleagues and friends are going through depression, anxiety (I am not immune to that, let’s be clear), or just unable to talk about it at all for fear of appearing as one of the “losers” as opposed to the winners climbing the ladder of success.
Read the rest at Nora’s Lens
Producer, Director, Impact Producer / distribution consultant
Nora Poggi is a French journalist/filmmaker. She directed and produced SHE STARTED IT, an award-winning feature documentary about women tech entrepreneurs. She has interviewed key players in Silicon Valley for four years for publications including Examiner.com & Usine Nouvelle and previously worked at French social network Viadeo.com and award-winning production company Lucky Dragon Productions.
She is a TEDx speaker and has been featured in Inc, Forbes, Fast Company, Glamour, Huffington Post and others. She works as an Impact Producer and consultant on various film distribution campaigns.
Nora also has her own website - Nora’s Lens - where she writes on a variety of topics, including film, politics, and life.