Movie poster for Jodorowsky’s Dune
This past weekend I went to our local art film house with my husband to see “Jodorowsky’s Dune”. It’s a documentary about Alejandro Jodorowsky’s huge undertaking back in the 70s to make the epic science fiction novel “Dune” into a movie. Before this I had never heard of Alejandro Jodorowsky, nor had I ever managed to finish reading, or see the “Dune” movie that was eventually made, but the book’s author Frank Herbert grew up here in Tacoma so is a local star, and my husband really wanted to see it. I was on board because the preview made it look really interesting, but nothing prepared me for the experience, or for what I rather surprisingly took away from it. (More than I could possible write about in one post, so I suspect there might be more on this in the future.)
At first glance, this could be seen as a film about failure and frustration. After all, Jodorowsky gave years of his life to the project only to have it rejected by and never fully realized as the movie he had envisioned. He had even managed to get such people as Mick Jagger and Salvador Dali and H.R. Giger and Chris Foss and Moebius to commit to the project. Jodorowsky dubbed them his “spiritual warriors” and empowered them with his total belief in their creative abilities. (It’s a really great documentary – it’s kinda crazy how it all came together – and then didn’t. See it if you get the chance.)
But at the end I realized it’s a film about creativity, and being fully in the process, and being fully alive. It’s about the importance of letting go of the outcome in service to the creative process itself, so that what needs to come about comes about. Even if it doesn’t take the form you’d been planning on.
Even though his film project could be seen as a failure, without all the vision and work he put into it, without his bringing together such huge talents, and his unwavering belief in those talents, and his faith in his own vision of a film that could change the world, in the end without the passion and creative energy he brought forth into the world, we might never have had such major films as “Star Wars” or “Alien” or “The Matrix” or “Blade Runner” or “Raiders of the Lost Ark” or sooooo many others.
That’s not to say that he was happy about it not working out. Nearly 40 years later you can feel the soul crushing heartbreak and frustration he experienced when he talks about the loss of this project.
But he didn’t let it stop him. He’s in his mid-80s now and he’s still creating every day. And you can see in him more aliveness and alertness and energy than can be found in most people half his age.
He’s such a great example, showing that engaging fully with your creativity has that power, the power to create life – the energy and enthusiasm for living fully in a state of aliveness!
I can only paraphrase this, but he spoke about how important it is to say YES!
“I am going to make this movie! YES! This movie isn’t going to be made. YES!”
Instead of asking “why me?” he said “what next?”