Time flies... A little over a year ago Dan, Producer Reese, and Young Emilio we're out filming in the Marina. Producer Reese dominated Dan in a contest of ring dips, but that's a story for another day. Right before Dan and Young Emilio went off to go film at La Festa 2022, the crew filmed a "What do you do for a living?" video. Long story short, Producer Reese was the one responsible for the iPhone angle of the video, and had deleted the file of it shortly after. What ensued was a series of events which led to the degradation, epiphany, and rebirth of Producer Reese, more commonly known as the Producer Reese lying saga. During the epiphany stage of the PR lying saga, Producer Reese was asked to analyze two readings and one movie, and write a short reflection paper based on his findings/any realizations.
He was also asked to apologize publicly on Instagram Live and read this paper. Here is what he wrote:
["I am a liar. I have a habit of concealing the truth from my friends, family, and co-workers. I didn’t understand the magnitude of this issue until I saw how it affected my relationships within the workplace. My egregious lying has cost One Take Media some of its resources and productivity. Thankfully, my boss/mentor was able to see through this, and offer a way to help. He suggested that I take a day off to read and watch some items that would help me reflect on my habit of lying. I have to say, I think it helped a bit. After taking this reflection period to absorb the suggested items, I believe that I’m on a slightly better path to becoming an honest individual- something that will benefit myself and those around me.
Having consumed the pieces of literature and great filmmaking that I did this afternoon/evening, I was able to recognize a pattern across each of these stories. I was also able to make and feel a connection to each one of the featured protagonists. I got the pleasure of listening to an audio tape of “The Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe, watching a visual summary of Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment,” and watching the psychological thriller “The Machinist.”
The underlying theme across these works of art is lying, whether it has to do with deceiving others, or worse- yourself (Although I will say that consistently doing one of these things, will eventually cause you to do the other). I also realize that lying is not the only underlying theme across these stories. At the resolution phase of each of these stories, the protagonist does the one thing that relieves them of their internal conflict once and for all. They tell the truth. The truth is in fact the one thing that “sets them free.”
Even though the narrator from “The Tell Tale Heart,” is able to get away with murdering the old man and confronts the police with no issue when questioned about his death, the silent noise of guilt and suffering eventually overcomes the narrator and he presumably breaks down, crying out with the truth. What I learned from this audio excerpt is that no matter how good you are at concealing the truth from others, there will always be a negative feeling inside of you- a reminder of your unethical decision. This feeling will eat you alive from the inside- out.
In a similar fashion, Raskolnikov is burdened with the murders that he committed throughout “Crime and Punishment.” His mind becomes cluttered and isolated and these traits manifest into the lifestyle that he actually lives. Raskolnikov of course confesses to his murders and is able to free his mind from the negativity that it rests in. What I learned from this summary is that you waste valuable headspace and brain capacity when you lie to others. If you are always trying to keep up with a lie, your mind will be elsewhere- and become cluttered. You will never be able to focus on what’s in front of you because of this.
Last but not least, Trevor Reznik in “The Machinist” buries himself in his own gigantic lie, so much- to the point where he is not able to distinguish his imagination from reality. I really like this movie because it does a good job in portraying Reznik as a person who is straightforward and truthful. However, being that he doesn’t know what is real or not, you start to realize that his honest-seeming personality does not do much for him. Reznik of course comes to grips with the hard truth (committing a hit and run on a child), which finally (and literally) allows him to sleep. All of these characters are liars, but telling the truth gets them to a place where they can find inner peace - even if it costs them their perception of innocence. I learned something very important from this movie, which is to stop running from the truth. By running further away from the truth, you create a world that is far worse to live in. Everything becomes a lie, everything you say is a lie, everything you are told seems like a lie. Just face the truth so you can sleep at night.
There was one more piece of literature that I was asked to read, called “Lying” by Sam Harris. I only read half of the document because I didn’t really have the patience to go all the way through it. However, there were some valuable lessons that I was able to take from it, despite consuming it incompletely. Two lessons that stuck out to me were the concepts that: 1. Telling the truth can actually reveal ways that we want to grow 2. Telling the truth may induce short term discomfort, but will save you from long term suffering and embarrassment. Maybe sometimes I feel the need to lie to Dan about the editing software that I am using, because I don’t actually feel comfortable enough using what he prescribed. In this case, telling the truth would really help me understand that I should step out of my comfort zone and start utilizing a tool that would benefit me in the long run. In regards to the second concept that I mentioned, for every lie that I’ve ever been caught telling within the company, I now have to live with the roasting from Dan and Emilio for as long as they remember what I did (hence the long term embarrassment).
Tying my personal journey back to the 3 stories that I was originally discussing earlier in this document, I do believe that telling the truth lifts an invisible weight off of your shoulders. It is a freeing feeling, and the next time I am confronted with a situation where I have the option to lie (whether it is to save me from embarrassment or discomfort) I need to remember how much worse the consequences could be. I also realize that the distress caused by keeping a lie, escalates into a negative energy that can spread around you. The last thing I want is to be spreading negative energy around to my colleagues and having them bear the weight of my internal conflict. I vow to do better, and combat the culture of lying for the better of myself, and the greater good of One Take Media.
-Producer Reese"]
This paper was dated January 20, 2023. Thank you for reading. Hopefully this reflection has inspired you to think about an area of your life that could use some improvement, and proactively work to improve it.
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The lying saga that rocked a nation... I could see some relapse potential here!