Success as a sign of mediocrity.

When I look at Bientôt l’été I know it’s not going to make a lot of sense to many people. And I feel a bit weird about feeling concerned about this.

I remember when I was younger, in the 1980s, we took pride in being original. We liked that our work was confusing to people. We wanted to be special, to be different. To be misunderstood was an admirable quality.

Now, in the futuristic years of the 2010s, originality has become a liability. The internet has turned into a world wide popularity contest, mimicking the neoliberal free market with likes and pluses and numbers of followers.

You have to be successful now, popular, or you don’t exist. It’s a strange notion to me. In my mind success is a sure sign of mediocrity. I guess I’m getting old.