Dev Take Tuesday - La La Land

Yesterday my wife and I went to see La La Land, the musical film starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. I expected some good songs, copious dancing, and a sweet love story between two good actors. I wasn’t prepared for the film to be so poignant to me. I guess you can hold off on reading this post if you’re concerned about very mild spoilers, but I promise I won’t say anything that isn’t apparent 15 minutes into the film.

Gosling and Stone in La La Land (Image found here)

The two main characters are both dreamers of sorts—artist-types living in L.A. (the title of the film is rather clever). As expected, both characters experience conflict as they struggle to balance their dreams with reality. It’s not the first time this theme has shown up in a movie, of course, but maybe because of the music and the likable yet believable characters…something just clicked for me emotionally. During one scene toward the end of the film, I actually got quite emotional.

I know that balancing optimism and pragmatism is a constant conflict for practically anyone in the business of creating. I know some people try to peddle easy answers for game developers and other creators, but I don’t believe there’s one cure-all for everyone. The hard (but true, in my opinion) answer is that every situation is different, and that we need both realism and optimism in these industries. It’s obviously important to be realistic when it comes to managing expectations and taking care of finances.  I don’t see any reason to be ashamed of working a day job to pay for your art, and I never look down on people who want to primarily make money from making games. But I also admire people who take that leap and dare to realize their dreams--without them, we'd miss out on a lot of beautiful art and enjoyable games. As Emma Stone’s character, Mia, sings at one point in the movie: “Here’s to the ones who dream. Foolish as they may seem. Here’s to the hearts that ache. Here’s to the mess we make.”

I’m proud to be a dreamer, despite the heartache and despite the messes. Here’s to all the other foolish game devs out there who dream.