JUST A PERSONAL NOTE ABOUT COMPETITION

Just a personal note about competition. It often doesn’t really tell you anything about Good, Better or Best. Case in point – the Academy Awards. Yea, I know that it’s just an advertising tool, but just look at this example and you’ll see why I’m not big on competition. My favorite movie of all times is 12 Angry Men (the 1957 version) The film was nominated for Academy Awards in the categories of Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Writing of Adapted Screenplay. It lost to the movie Bridge on the River Kwai in all three categories. As much as I enjoy The Bridge, it has never made my all time favorite list. Why? A lot of reasons. Mostly because it has that crazy British pride over all component to its plot and I’ve never been that patriotic (and I’m not a Brit).

I don’t know why The Bridge won over 12 Angry Men, but to compare the two is kind of ludicrous. First off 12 is in black and white, takes place almost completely in one room and examines human flaws in a applicable setting – that is “normal” real world issues. Bridge is a war movie set in a tropical setting and is filmed in color. It too looks at human flaws but how often is the everyday Joe going to experience a Prison Camp? It is a great movie and well acted, but it should never have been compared to 12. The only thing they have in common is they came out in the same year. How is that an issue of “best”?

I am not opposed to competition. I enjoy it and participate in it. In fact I don’t think any of us can say we haven’t engaged in completion even if we were the only one who was aware that we were competing. (LOL) I just have a problem with it being a determiner of “best”. It is hard to bring the elements for comparison together such that they all bare equal weight and appeal to “fairness”.

So, enjoy your efforts at besting something or someone. Just don’t make it the end all definition of the best possible.