Movie Trailers and Behind- The- Scenes

I love watching the making of my favorite movies. It shows all the hard work that went into producing a masterpiece movie… the details, the film tricks, the makeup, the stunts and even the goofy mistakes the actors make in delivering their lines. It never ceases to amaze me how much work goes into making one movie. A movie that runs for just 2hrs can take 2 or more years to be made. For example, the movie “Avatar” took 10 years to be made!

Now, the trailers on the other hand are solely for the purpose of whetting the viewers’ appetite… and mehn… do they whet! To the extent that one can be tricked into watching a mumu movie all because of a ghen ghen trailer… that feeling of being 419ed! It can pain sha

Lol… if you’re a frequent reader here, you would have already guessed that the above preamble is leading to something, abi? Hehe, bear with me biko; I love using every day relatable stuff to drive my point home.

So what’s all these about trailers and behind-the-scenes and what “moment of truth” lesson have I resurrected my dusty, cobwebbed blog (my last blog post was on…. *covers face*) to share?

Well, it’s social media o…Instagram to be specific… I was stalking going through the pictures of someone I follow on IG. Every photo was just a hit back to back. So perfect and flawless. This person looked so put together and purpose driven. Everything just seemed to be going well for this person. So I asked myself the question many of us grew up hearing, “does this person have 2 heads?” Kai… (Side note: please this is one of the aspects where we should be better than our parents! Never ask your kids this question!). The truth is that I was truly inspired by all this person had achieved and is still achieving…. Yes I was inspired but the green eyed monster still came charging and clawing at my heart. My “achievements” just seemed soooo drab compared to what I was seeing on IG. I didn’t like the way I was feeling so I tried to find out the root cause of the envy. That was when I had an aha! moment… COMPARED!!! Yup that was where I took a nose dive, the point I started comparing myself to this person.

I had to tell (re-tell) myself a truth: COMPARISON IS THE STEALER OF JOY. After that self-talk, I felt way better. Then the words “trailers and behind-the-scenes” flashed in my mind. It made me view this issue in 2 ways:

1. This person I was envying probably has some behind-the-scenes moves I need to tap into. Kinda reminds me of preparing for exams in school with all the late night reading and cramming and then getting an A after all the wahala. All the success stories I saw on the person’s IG probably happened as a result of plenty hard work and diligence. So I said to myself “instead of hating, don’t you think you should watch the movie making of this person? You may learn a thing or two”
2. Also I had to remind myself that somebody can just coman have high BP for nothing on top instagram matter because the truth is that many people go out of their way to put up only their life trailers on IG… The harsh truth is that picture you are commenting “goals” for may not have a worthy-of -emulation behind-the-scene… The person you are envying because of all their “slaying” and “on fleeks” may be sad and unfulfilled in real life…

That being said, let me leave you with the advice I gave myself: Be grateful for how far you have come. Focus on making your own movie. Stop wasting time viewing other people’s trailers. Keep hope alive and believe you will also make inspiring movies and appetite whetting trailers. Remember that comparison with others result in discontentment (or an arrival mentality) but comparison with yourself (former and present self) brings about improvement. You only have one competition… the YOU you are yet to become…

Selah!