The Terminator 1&2. Aliens. The Abyss. Titanic. These are just some of the blockbuster movies created by Writer/Director/Producer/OCD Control Freak, James Cameron. Now, there’s Avatar. Fifteen years in the making, and with a $300 million price tag. For that kind of cash, it better be a masterpiece. And the early reviews seem to indicate that it might be.
But what did the movie actually COST?
No matter what you think of James Cameron’s body of work, there is no denying his tremendous financial and critical success, as well as his status and influence in Hollywood. Cameron is a success by almost any metric you want to use.
However, he is also notorious for making actresses, and actors, cry on set. He has forced actors and crew to go hours and hours without bathroom breaks. He frequently flies off the handle in spittle-projecting, profanity-laden rages. He operates on only four hours of sleep each night in the mad pursuit of the flawlessly perfect feature film.
It could be argued that Perfectionism has served him well. He has loads of money, Oscars, and industry clout due in part to his obsessive/compulsive perfectionism. It has also cost him four marriages, and working relationships with a number of great talents in the industry.
What’s wrong with simply striving for excellence in an industry that suffers from an overabundance of mediocrity? Good point. We should always strive to produce something we are proud to put our names on. But perfectionism is excellence pursued to the extreme. It destroys the healthy balance between producing quality work in the quantities necessary to keep up with our creative urge. Here are a few negatives of perfectionism:
Perfectionism prevents us from getting things done. We tweak and edit and putter around with a project that we should have called “done” long ago. We have to learn to recognize when it’s “done enough.” How many of Cameron’s projects will sit forever “in production” because he can’t bring himself to just put a friggin’ bow on it and move on to the next one?
Perfectionism causes us to be overly critical of everything we do…and what others do. Constructive criticism is essential at the right moment in time of the life of a project. And from the right source. But perfectionism prevents criticism from being constructive because it establishes a level that no project can ever reach…PERFECTION. Cameron’s perfectionism has driven some artists to say they will never work for him again. How many relationships does our critical pursuit of perfect cost us?
Know this…it will never be perfect. Imperfect novels, songs, films, automobiles, cups of coffee, and yes even surgeries, have been delivered as done for centuries. The Sistine Chapel was not perfect, and neither is your blog post. But seriously, time to stop messing with whatever it is and get it in front of an audience.
Perfectionism is often rooted in Insecurity. When Cameron was asked about his OCD perfectionism, he admits: “What people call obsession or passion, for me it’s just a work ethic. I think it comes from an insecurity that I’m not good enough.” This kind of insecurity won’t go away once you we have that “big success.” It won’t go away once we have thousands of adoring fans or Facebook friends.
Regarding his decision to abandon engineering for filmmaking, Cameron recalls ‘I would say that my father was completely unsupportive in any way, shape or form and was sharpening his knives waiting for me to fail, so he could say: “Ah-ha, I was right. You should have gone into engineering…Because there was zero support there, it made me angry enough that I had to succeed. It made me mad and I had to prove that I was right, and it made me mad enough to get good and to survive.’
Think about it. After numerous blockbuster films, millions in the bank, and worldwide name recognition, this guy is still just trying to get his father to say “Good job, son.”
Perfectionism kills. It stifles our creativity and slows our progress. It alienates us from people who would otherwise be valuable partners in pursuing our calling. And it can be a red flag that we have unresolved issues that will follow us around all our lives.
If we can channel our urge for perfection into a more productive direction, we will still experience great heights of creative satisfaction and success, without the trail of dead bodies guys like James Cameron leaves in their wake.
This is Day 23 of the 100 Day Challenge.
