It's a shocking title isn't it? Perhaps even bordering on blasphemy. Or is it?This past month I've been showing Ed Wood's most famous film Plan 9 from Outer Space on my Very Low Budget Horror Cam. At the end of the movie, I made a few comments about Ed Wood and his little quirks.
Ed Wood died a failure. His directing career slid into soft-core pornography. He was an alcoholic. He was impoverished. Not much of a hero, or at least not someone anyone would want to emulate.
But take a closer look. Here was a dreamer who didn't just dream and then move on with life; but who took action and tried everything he could to bring his dreams to life. Even if you consider all of his attempts to be failures, isn't it better to have tried and failed then to never have tried at all?
And was he really a failure? What if Ed Wood and Bela Lugosi had never met? Would it have been better for Bela Lugosi to have died sooner, possibly at his own hands then to have had the opportunity to act again; even if only for the very few who appreciated his comeback? Likewise for Vampira, who may have passed into obscurity if it wasn't for her role in Plan 9. After all, her TV show had already been cancelled at the time Ed Wood asked her to join his cast. Would she be as famous now if it wasn't for Ed Wood? Who knows?
In spite of Plan 9 from Outer Space being labeled as the worst movie ever made, and Ed Wood as the worst director ever (in my opinion, both of those judgments are debatable), I truly believe the world would be far poorer for all of us if it weren't for Ed Wood.
Ed Wood is an inspiration --- at least to those of us who never seem to measure up to the lofty ideals of our society, our culture and/or our particular place and time in history. His optimism in the face of failure. His persistent attempts to make his dreams come true. His ability to see beyond the surface - to see the diamond in the rough (even if to everyone else it was still a piece of coal) - these are the traits I find worthy of emulation.
And was he really a failure? What if Ed Wood and Bela Lugosi had never met? Would it have been better for Bela Lugosi to have died sooner, possibly at his own hands then to have had the opportunity to act again; even if only for the very few who appreciated his comeback? Likewise for Vampira, who may have passed into obscurity if it wasn't for her role in Plan 9. After all, her TV show had already been cancelled at the time Ed Wood asked her to join his cast. Would she be as famous now if it wasn't for Ed Wood? Who knows?
In spite of Plan 9 from Outer Space being labeled as the worst movie ever made, and Ed Wood as the worst director ever (in my opinion, both of those judgments are debatable), I truly believe the world would be far poorer for all of us if it weren't for Ed Wood.
Ed Wood is an inspiration --- at least to those of us who never seem to measure up to the lofty ideals of our society, our culture and/or our particular place and time in history. His optimism in the face of failure. His persistent attempts to make his dreams come true. His ability to see beyond the surface - to see the diamond in the rough (even if to everyone else it was still a piece of coal) - these are the traits I find worthy of emulation.
So he liked to dress in women's clothing. So he died a poor alcoholic. God forbid my life (or YOUR life for that matter) should be placed on display for all the world to critique.Ed Wood was not Jesus Christ. In spite of his baptism by the Baptist church that funded Plan 9, I don't even know if Ed Wood was a Christian. But as a human being, created in the image of God, in spite of his flaws, in spite of his quirks, in spite of his failures - I send up kudos to Ed Wood for all that was good about him; hoping that God in His mercy has a special place in heaven for this man who tried so hard to follow in the footsteps of his Creator by taking his dreams and bringing them to life, regardless of what others may have thought of him...or his dreams.
