Something really cool about John

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

Last night Emma Watson was on Jimmy Fallon, all grown up and no longer little Hermione. And let's be honest, her ultra short dress was a bit on the sluttier end of the scale than the classy Emma Watson.

But in a roundabout way it brought me back to why I think John is...such a fascinating person in Hollywood. John is synonymous with Hollywood. His music has defined it over the last few decades. Yet he is seemingly an old humble man in an unassuming house with a little family that he's held on to for a long time.

It's really surreal when you stop and think, this man has scored incredible motion pictures, elevated stars and directors to glory. Watched them grow from childhood to adulthood or skankhood. He's seemingly a very classy person, seemingly mundane in his interviews, and yet he works side by side with some very typical Hollywood people.

And that makes him really cool.

He is like the old geezer at the corner of the neighborhood who is a relic of a bygone era...yet he still takes time to chat and hang with the young neighborhood vermin. You can tell everyone looks up to him. You know when he talks to them he doesn't try to be anything other than what he is...a classy relic of a bygone era. And yet he fits in, and is looked up to by the vermin, while being their antithesis.

There's something very neat about the concept.

That is all.

[chuck 154]

That's the same concept people think about Betty White.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

Indeed. But I'd say Betty also tries to be cool. John just kinda does his own thing.

[Hlao-roo 389]

John is in Hollywood, but not of it.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Betty White is simply hilarious.

[Incanus 5,713]

John is in Hollywood, but not of it.

Yeah Johnny is to a surprising extent teflon when Hollywood is concerned, they can't make it stick to his personality yet he is very much part of its history and culture. Williams has traversed from one end of the spectrum to the other in Hollywood and show business throughout his career making friends and acquaintances with Sinatra and Altman and Mahalia Jackson and everybody in between and earning a lot of admiration and giving it in return in heaps. He is iconic, almost larger than life, despite being this humble and self depracating man, who seems a bit lost amidst the constant adoration, more than a bit uncomfortable and half amused. He has navigated the studio system and Lionel Newman's rule, the constantly renewing genre of film music and had friendships with people who have been an opposite to his own temperament like Bernard Herrmann and gotten along with them immensely well despite the fact that he was known to be a nice guy, which e.g. Herrmann disliked intensely.

And he truly has kept working in the climate of high change and new generations of film makers and has retained his status and respect, even though he may be a relic and a monument of a past era, in fact something of an embodiment of past eras of film music and film making. I think there are very few, who evoke such august and nearly universal respect just by their mere presence and association. Also this seems often not a conscious effort as there is very little of the ostentatious in John Williams but rather an automatic reaction to him.

Yet Williams seems rather untouched by Hollywood by and large. He works there, he lives there and has expressed fondness for the area itself but in his interviews and comments he seems forever rooted partly in New England, the climate of artistic that surrounds Tanglewood and other East Coast centers of art. It is a down-to-earth attitude, focused on music making and not so much the business of entertainment. He also bridges the gap between the "high art academia" and Hollywood perhaps more effectively than any other artist today, even most critics giving this grudging admission. The way he inspires respect and admiration in professional musicians through many genres and branches also illustrates that his "stigma" as a film composer hasn't clouded most people from seeing that he is really a consumate musician and an artist. In return it is wonderful to hear him talk so full of genuine warmth of the young new talent and appreciating them and nurturing their skills and promise.

He works with an enormous sense of integrity (btw I am not claiming there is no integrity in other composers by saying this) and does not diffrentiate between concert hall and film music even though accepts certain restrictions of the latter in form. He has taken Bernard Herrmann's philosophy at heart, trying to be a composer without epithets, whether he is creating music for film or concert hall. Williams has with enormous even-temperedness and graciousness and undeniable skill and talent won the friendships and admiration from peers and industry alike and also through the years attained such wide success and yet he is truly one of the most unassuming people in the midst of this industry of entertainment full of big stars. As Williams says he has been immensely lucky although I don't think luck is the only component by far. And I guess you could characterize him as the old geezer, who is universally respected in the neighbourhood and still hip enough to give advice and encouragement to the younger folks, a sort of role model they can look up to. Also this old guy might have some great lessons and tales to tell in private, regaling people with stories of Lionel Newman or Irwin Allen or his experiences in Hollywood society and at Tanglewood, not the PR stuff but something cool from behind the scenes.

[King Mark 3,626]

So seeing Emma Watson in a short dress made you write this post?

[Incanus 5,713]

It is funny how brain works sometimes.

[publicist 4,643]

Just like pouring nitro into glycerine, feed Incanus with the slightest reason and he explodes into poetic waxings on John Williams, the mother earth of western music. I will set off another detonation in the near future, i promise.

[Luke Skywalker 1,793]

So seeing Emma Watson in a short dress made you write this post?

Freud could get a juicy review out of this...

anyways i thought maybe john and emma were in the same party and you had seen them talking on tv, or emma had said something about John's HP music...

[Datameister 2,037]

John is in Hollywood, but not of it.

[Incanus 5,713]

Just like pouring nitro into glycerine, feed Incanus with the slightest reason and he explodes into poetic waxings on John Williams, the mother earth of western music. I will set off another detonation in the near future, i promise.

Please do. I have no objection of you throwing some level headed cynicism and historical perspective into the mix. I often forget to show the spot light on Williams negative aspects, his boozing, womanizing, evil temperament, small minded old fashioned character and poor eye sight and taste in clothing and receding hair line.

Also he is not mother earth of western music, he is the grandfather of Western music.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

So seeing Emma Watson in a short dress made you write this post?

anyways i thought maybe john and emma were in the same party and you had seen them talking on tv, or emma had said something about John's HP music...

That's what I thought at first.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Blume is just a sick pervert.

One of only few left on JWFAN.

[chuck 154]

Also he is not mother earth of western music, he is the grandfather of Western music.

Yep, and Hans Zimmer is the drunk, creepy uncle of Western music.

[Hlao-roo 389]

And Emily Howell is the adopted mecha child of Western music..

[chuck 154]

And Thomas Newman is the quiet nerdy college kid of Western music.

[Incanus 5,713]

And Emily Howell is the adopted mecha child of Western music..

And Rachel Portman is the nice quiet aunt of the Western music, who will abandon Emily Howell into the woods soon.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

And Thomas Newman is the quiet nerdy college kid of Western music.

Thomas Coolman.

[chuck 154]

And Thomas Newman is the quiet nerdy college kid of Western music.

Thomas Coolman.

Sounds like the mascot for coolers.

[russds 8]

anyways i thought maybe john and emma were in the same party and you had seen them talking on tv, or emma had said something about John's HP music...

That's what I thought at first.

That's what I thought too. Actually I wish interviewers would ask actors, and other people associated with films scored by JW, what they thought of the score, especially younger actors who might not even pay attention (maybe they do, i have no idea). But i would love for someone to ask Emma what she thought of the score, or Harrison Ford what he thought, etc.

And yes, JW is from another world. He's got the second most nominations of academy awards ever (second only to Walt Disney), and i think this sums up his career. I don't think many people really realize just how impact-full he's been to the movie business...I woudl agree with the academy...second only to Walt Disney.

[Hlao-roo 389]

I wish interviewers would ask actors whether they post at JWFAN or not.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Are you saying you are ACTUALLY Humphrey Bogart?

[Muad'Dib 1,801]

anyways i thought maybe john and emma were in the same party and you had seen them talking on tv, or emma had said something about John's HP music...

That's what I thought at first.

That's what I thought too. Actually I wish interviewers would ask actors, and other people associated with films scored by JW, what they thought of the score, especially younger actors who might not even pay attention (maybe they do, i have no idea). But i would love for someone to ask Emma what she thought of the score, or Harrison Ford what he thought, etc.

I believe Harrison has complimented Johnny more than once. Don't have a link to prove it, but I recall hearing him talk good things about his music in a couple of interviews.