To the ‘Magnificent’ Guys

It’s hard to put into words what my father means to me. He’s old school. So writing some emotional, eloquent, diatribe to his greatness would likely embarrass him more than it would pay tribute. There is an art form to the minimalist compliment among men that I’m still trying to master. My favorite scene in “It’s A Wonderful Life” is when George Bailey sits at the table with his father and can’t put into words how he feels about his old man, “You want a shock, Pop? I think you’re a great guy.”

Part of what I love about my father is how he is a vessel that carries the good things from the past into the future. His generation may have brought some bad things along with them too, but we don’t mourn or fear the passing of bad things. It’s the good things that I fear are leaving us, and our society no longer produces men like Lincoln, Johnny Cash or even my dad. That’s what a father is, a vessel that ushers greatness into the next generation. Dads bring great things from the old school to the new school. (more…)

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Tags: Father's Day, George Bailey, It's A Wonderful Life, johnny cash, Lincoln
Posted Jun 21st 2009 at 6:25 pm in Entertainment | 165578No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dtennapel/2009/06/21/to-the-great-guys/To+the+%27Magnificent%27+Guys2009-06-22+01%3A25%3A25Doug+TenNapel

George Bailey Wasn’t Born Here

Simple beginnings

We all get into show business for the right reasons — because we love entertainment and want to have a hand in creating that special magic. I don’t think anyone begins down the road to Hollywood because they feel the urgent need to inject politics into their work in order to change the world. I certainly didn’t. And I bet George Clooney wasn’t thinking that way when he was on the set of “Facts of Life” for the first time at the start of his career. 

I started young, first as an actor, and now a writer. This is the only thing I have ever pursued and I have been at it since the day I left my small town in the summer of 1991. The Reagan/Bush era was coming to a close and I voted for Bill Clinton in 92 because as a reasonable person who watched the six o’clock news I could tell we needed something fresh. It was the first year I was old enough to vote and I was very excited to do it. However, in all those years that I was booking commercials or bit parts in movies and TV, no one ever made a peep about politics. To me politics was something separate and pretty boring compared to the dream I was after. If you asked me back then which political party my friends belonged to, I couldn’t tell you who was a Republican or who was a Democrat because it just wasn’t an issue.  

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Tags: George Bailey, hollywood, Michael McGruther, Reagan
Posted Jan 13th 2009 at 2:10 pm in Entertainment, Media Criticism | 790538 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mmcgruther/2009/01/13/up-on-the-big-screen/George+Bailey+Wasn%27t+Born+Here2009-01-13+22%3A10%3A50Michael+McGruther