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Is John Williams in a way a role model for you and your own life?


GerateWohl

Is John Williams in a way a role model for you and your own life?  

53 members have voted

  1. 1. From all his characteristics (as far as I see him) I am aiming for these:

    • His modesty and kindness is desirable for me.
      39
    • I would like to be able to compose music like him.
      24
    • His creativity inspires me to go creative ways in my life.
      19
    • His discipline and industriousness and dedication to his work motivates me.
      28
    • The way how he builds and maintains friedships and working relationships inspires me in my social life.
      12
    • His cross-cultural communication and understanding is a goal for myself.
      14
    • His partiotism is exemplary for me.
      5
    • I wish, I had his positive aura and charisma and would be able to handle citicism about myself or my work that well.
      22
    • None of them. I just like his music.
      10


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2 hours ago, Bespin said:

I have 3 well-known (or international) "role model" artists in my life: Charles Aznavour, Roy Orbison and John Williams.

 

Charles Aznavour, because he is an artist who started from nothing, who built himself in spite of criticism, who made it because he worked hard, and he was never afraid to show his almost feminine sensibility. Yes a man can cry.  And it makes a man stronger than anybody else.

 

The two others for more or less the same reasons. :)

 

Ah... and one more important point... their life were not scandalous.

 

In fact, a part from the details they shared themselves (which are not many), we don't know much about their personal lives.

 

And I'm totally okay with this.

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Very interesting poll.  I cannot say that practically I have not chosen to do or not do anything consciously following Williams's example. However, I do think his discipline is a concrete way of showing what it takes to be successful in the long-term.  Natural talent is necessary, but it is rarely sufficient for a lifetime of success--hard work, even when tedious and boring, is just as necessary.  

 

I appreciate his modesty.  I know it could just be a social affect, but it still is preferable to insufferable arrogance shown by many in all ways of life.

 

Plus, he is an example of my theory on the key to a long life: avoid manual labor at all costs.  

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JW is an example to me of dedication to one's work. He doesn't speak to the notion of passion much, but his love of music is clear. He is an inspiration to me. I also appreciate how in control he is of his own time. He is polite but not particularly generous with his time. This has been touched upon in several interviews with people who know/work with him. JW is always polite, but very conscious of his own time. He is very disciplined and that quality resonates with me.

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  • 3 months later...
On 06/06/2022 at 1:58 PM, GerateWohl said:

I think, apart from his music John Williams as a person is very interesting.

I believe, it is even a precondition for what he does and achieves.

So, as a fan of that great man, I hope he makes the world a litte better not just by giving us his music but by giving an example how to live a good life. 

Or maybe not. You can make a statement on that here.

 

By the way, chosing an option does not mean, that this must be something visible in your life. But maybe you just think, I am not capable of doing this, but I would love to. And if I do it one time in the future, it will also be inspired by John Williams.

He will certainly be a role model for many. This is one of the most successful film composers in history. I once wrote about the role model, I used https://samploon.com/free-essays/role-model/ for this. I wrote specifically about John Williams and his life. Many liked my article, my lecturer even asked me to send him the work.

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John Williams is proof that there are some people crazy enough to devote their entire lives to a single discipline (i.e. music). Sort of like the monks who denounce all personal belongings and just devote themselves to meditating all day. I am not sure if I want to follow that route - my current feeling is that I would rather experience and learn about a bit of everything than try to become the greatest at one thing (to the extent that I even am able to). I am not willing to take that sacrifice, and I sometimes wonder what (unsaid) sacrifices someone like JW needs to make to get to the position they are at now. Still, JW is one of the greatest living composers, and I can't help but look up to their skill - who doesn't? I admit that I hold a secret "hierarchy" of composers based on their technical abilities, and JW is at its peak (or, at least, standing on the summit).

 

19 hours ago, Drew said:

Will my life get better if I start wearing black turtlenecks every day?

 

It's been scientifically proven that wearing black turtlenecks increases your chances of adding 7th degrees to your harmony :P

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3 hours ago, Loert said:

John Williams is proof that there are some people crazy enough to devote their entire lives to a single discipline (i.e. music). Sort of like the monks who denounce all personal belongings and just devote themselves to meditating all day. I am not sure if I want to follow that route - my current feeling is that I would rather experience and learn about a bit of everything than try to become the greatest at one thing (to the extent that I even am able to). I am not willing to take that sacrifice, and I sometimes wonder what (unspoken) sacrifices someone like JW needs to make to get to the position they are at now. Still, JW is one of the greatest living composers, and I can't help but look up to their skill - who doesn't? I admit that I hold a secret "hierarchy" of composers based on their technical abilities, and JW is at its peak (or, at least, standing on the summit).

Your description sounds like you really think John Williams lives like a monk, sitting in his prayer cell all das writing music all day. I don't think, He does. He has a family, he plays golf, travels a lot, meets interesting people, loves reading and nature. He might not watch as much Netflix or Amazon like we do, but apart from that I don't think, that He lives a life of sacrifice.

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14 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

Your description sounds like you really think John Williams lives like a monk, sitting in his prayer cell all das writing music all day. I don't think, He does. He has a family, he plays golf, travels a lot, meets interesting people, loves reading and nature. He might not watch as much Netflix or Amazon like we do, but apart from that I don't think, that He lives a life of sacrifice.

 

I'm not sure He knows what the Internet is, let alone Netflix/Amazon etc...

 

Of course, I know that JW does other human being things besides write music. The monk example was just to illustrate my point about his dedication to music.

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On 17/09/2022 at 1:53 AM, Loert said:

John Williams is proof that there are some people crazy enough to devote their entire lives to a single discipline (i.e. music). 

 

He's just one of those lucky people who gets paid well for doing what they love. Not that luck really had a role in his achievements compared to his efforts and work ethic.

 

To answer the original questions, no, I've never considered him a role model. Perhaps I'm splitting hairs, but he's just simply someone I respect and am in awe of his achievements. Of the characteristicas listed, the "patriotism" one baffles me. I've just always seen patriotism as tribalistic and a rallying call (in a lot of cases - not all) for the lowest common denominator. I certainly never pondered Williams and life and thought to myself "What a patriotic man". 

 

One perhaps missing is his eloquence. On more than one occassion, an interview he gave has sent me running to a dictionary. His sense of humor as well, although as a fan living from far away, it's only something of seen glimpses of. 

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I'm always on the fence about weighing in the biographies or personal traits of artists in my assesment of their work. The biographical/personalistic approach to art criticism is not always useful.

On the other hand, when the work artists really intrigues, inspires or touches me, I become really curious about their life, thoughts and deeds outside their output.

I try not to idolize anybody, because most people are flawed and sometimes the greater the achievements, the bigger the flaws.

John Williams public persona is an affable and very dignified one, I'd say he carries himself as someone who holds some kind of public ministry, with a demeanor that would suit a monarch, or a Supreme Court judge or a faculty dean.

Now, whether in his private he's a shining examples of any desirable human virtue, I can only speculate. I think it's clear he's incredibly disciplined and industrious, as the poll puts it, and this combination is very admirable. I think any composer working in Hollywood got to be a workhorse, but I have the feeling in many cases people have to work around the clock and regularly impose grinding working schedules on themselves. John Williams somehow seems to be able to be very productive while maintaining an almost 9 to 5 routine.

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  • 1 year later...

John Williams has definitely been a guiding light for me, not just in music but in life too. His dedication to his craft, his relentless pursuit of excellence - it's inspiring. It reminds me of a story I read recently about Mae Akins Roth in the following article. She embodied perseverance and passion, much like Williams. There was this one time I was feeling overwhelmed with my own endeavors, but reading about Mae's journey reminded me to keep pushing forward, no matter the odds.

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1 hour ago, Zerrador said:

John Williams has definitely been a guiding light for me, not just in music but in life too. His dedication to his craft, his relentless pursuit of excellence - it's inspiring.

 

Welcome to the board, Kris Bowers!

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Wise words, @JTN.

Why venerate someone who you have never met (or are ever likely to), just because you like their work output?

For all we know, JW could be a truly nasty little shit, and his public persona is bigged up for the fans. I'm pretty certain that this is not the case. JW seems to be a genuine and very personable man, but... what if it was true? Would that change people's perception of JW? Would people carry on listening to his music knowing that he really was an awful individual?

"Never meet your heroes", goes the saying.

I live by that, and I want to know nothing about them. If I "know" JW at all, it will be through listening to his music.

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Well, taking into account the little we know of John Williams's personal life, there may be a chance that he wasn't that present for his children when they were kids and their mom passed away. It was after that sad (and by all accounts traumatic) incident in JW's life that he became more and more consumed by work. It was then that he wrote his string of megahits of the 70s (Jaws, Star Wars, Close Encounters, etc), but the impression I have is that he became an workaholic (perhaps as a means to put his mind away from his loss) and thus he may have not been that present for his kids when they needed him.

 

Again, we don't know it for sure and we can only speculate. Still, it looks like Joseph had a problem with drugs in the late 80s - was it connected to his relationship with his parents or this was just par for the course for rock musicians back then?

 

But I'm pretty sure Williams's list of "sins" isn't that large. He didn't put his willie where he shouldn't :lol:

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