During the pandemic in early 2021 I discovered the Team Deakins podcast. At first I thought it's probably run by people who admire Roger Deakins' works or maybe by his teams. I was surprised that it was he himself and his wife James who were (and still are) taking times to do a podcast. It was understandable of course because it was during the period of lockdown, some people might want to spend their time doing rather productive things. But it was a huge deal in my opinion that someone as accomplished and well respected as Roger Deakins would still have the curiosity to learn from his peers in the industry, a lot if not most of them are way younger than him, and from his colleagues working on other fields that is not cinematography. We are talking about someone that is widely regarded as the best cinematographer working today.
I probably shouldn't be as surprised as I was but I work in the field of architecture where most architects I know are creatures of arrogance. A lot of them act like they have known everything that is to be known, even when it's not actually their field of competence. Even someone like Kaoru Mende who is a very respected lighting designer when asked by an interviewer about what's it like working with architects who won Pritzker Prize (a prestigious award for architects), he emphasised how important it is to respect each other. That other consultants, lighting designer or landscape designer etc, are not below architects to command but are equal collaborators.
Another thing I admire from the podcast is that in the episodes Roger mentioned about how he still get nervous entering new projects. I think the question was asked by his fellow cinematographer who was also often nervous whether or not they can do the job. I found this very reassuring as I almost always think that I am still not good enough yet. I often get nervous about some things I don't really understand. It really says to me that we are allowed to be nervous. And that it is impossible to know everything even when you are already very good at what you do.
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The other day I watched the whole second season of The Bear in one day on two sittings. I, like everybody else, was anxious whether the second season could equal the first which was really really good. After watching the first season knowing it had been renewed for a second season I wondered whether a second one was necessary because it seems like they have closed the story perfectly and we can choose to leave it at that. Imagine how relieved I was that I was wrong and I couldn't be more glad that there are a second season.
I have been struggling with work these days that somehow seeing how the workplace dynamic portrayed on the show seems to me an ideal model of how it should be. Chaos, mistakes, and failures are inevitable, but each one of them are allowed the space, the time, and the opportunity to grow.
Now I don't really define myself with what job I do, what profession I call myself as. I think it's such a capitalistic view that everyone is judged and ranked by what they contributed as in the economy of a society. At the end of the day work is work and there are so much other things outside of a job that can define who we are. And also, very few people actually have the privilege to choose how they can earn money to afford a living.
But for too long I think we are used to the notion that employers hold much bigger power over employees. This certainly is not true. Without employees employers are not able to operate. What The Bear showed me is that work doesn't have to feel like an oppression. We can feel like we're working together. A good and nurtured employee doesn't only benefit the individual but also the team as a whole, including the employer. An unreliable employer is not the end of everything. It really was uplifting and envious at the same time watching The Bear heavily invest on each individuals to build something bigger. The worst thing of a job I think is when we reach the point where we feel like a cog in the machine, simply putting more money in the pocket of the employer, while having no more room to grow.
I sometimes wonder why would anyone that have a chance to start and lead their own companies, small or big, not wanting to have a team that grow together in a more egalitarian way, like in the show. I certainly had worked and are working only with people who think all employees are merely helpers or tools to make more and more money. It really sucks and tiring when employees would only talk bad things about the employer. It's a toxic environment. I really don't understand why more people don't think that a two way more horizontal relationship is better than an oppressive vertical one. But I guess unless there's significant changes of ideology in our society, we just have to suck it up, keep moving from one toxic workplace to another.
