Brian James O'Connell

Heroes: Henry Rollins

Saturday July 18, 2009

Now, it is no secret to those who know me how I feel about Henry Rollins. As an artist and as a person, he has had a huge impact on not only how I view the world but also the way one should conduct oneself in life:

Try to treat people the way you would want to be treated but don’t take shit from anyone either.

It’s a pretty simple philosophy, I think.

In some ways, Henry sets a pretty heavy standard of living for himself, almost impossible to achieve actually, but that may be the point: Set your goals and ideals high and if you don’t reach them, pretty damn close is a good “silver medal”. If nothing else, it lead me to discover The Bushido Code, or Way of the Samurai, which is fascinating as an ethos.

At a certain point, I had to accept that although I admired the man (and in recent years I haven’t been wild about certain aspects of his career even though he backs up his word, which is a big “plus” for me), I didn’t necessarily have to hold myself to the same standard. That’s the misconception I had for a long time: What Would Henry Rollins Do? Then I would do that.

Now it’s all about What Would BOC Do and if there is some overlap with WWHRD then, you know, great.

But what really got me going was the first time I saw the video for “Low Self Opinion.”

Wow.

It is just 5 minutes straight of someone taking you by the shoulders and telling you to quit being a jerk and get your act together.

Everything about it just spoke right to me: the wash of feedback and huge riff that kicks off the song that demands your immediate attention. The stark, no-frills approach of the production value so that nothing dilutes the message. The way that Henry is shot almost exclusively in close up so that it really does appear that he is talking to YOU and you alone. The simple, yet poetic, structure of the lyrics so that no flowery language would distract you from the purpose of the song. If he had said my name I would not have been surprised at all.

As a filmmaker, I’m really quite taken with the artistry of economy used in the video; it’s a use of the medium of the music video in a very specific way that sadly doesn’t exist much anymore. It’s engaging without being pretentious in its art. The message is so strong that an overabundance of visuals would have really missed the point. In hindsight, I can kind of see its influence in certain parts of the feature I directed, KILLER VIEW.

I remember at the time saying aloud, “What is THIS?” Then, I remember turning off the television and just thinking about what just happened; what it meant. And that is a terribly deep thought for a 13 year old. I’m grateful that it sort of pushed me toward analytical thinking as a concept when I was of an age where your first boner is about as deep as you got.

I still return to this video whenever I have doubts about the career I’ve chosen or if I ever find myself complaining about my lot in life.

“If you could see the you that I see when I see you seeing me, you’d see yourself so differently believe me.”

I’d suggest taking the few minutes to check it out. Oh, and play it really, really LOUD.

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