Procrastination, Writers Block and some Californication

I have written atleast half a dozen blog posts over the past 12 months and sadly none of them made past the draft stage/ “blog probable” folder on my laptop. And so my blog lays neglected ever since. I myself can not fathom to explain why I sat down to write something, gave a lot of thought over it and then simply abondoned it for lack of inspiration. Being the most lazy ass'ed person who accepts the fact in his own blog- too long have I blamed it on writer's block. Too long. I have always realised it time and again. You are the master of your own destiny, no one else makes you, nothing else matters. If I want to write something which I want to see getting published, I bloody have to keep writing till it actually gets so. Someday. Sometime.

I also began writing a short story for the first time ever- which has also stayed neglected for almost a year. More on that later.

So, here goes the piece which I began writing a year ago, and posting here without any edits. I am my biggest critique- and a very harsh one at that. I abandoned this post as I didnt like it without realising that this is the perfect way I would have liked it.

What actually inspired me to write this blog post is that Californication ended- for the uninitiated, it is a TV series. I have watched several TV shows from beginning to end. Some of the best and most thought provoking(in your face) being House MD, and Hannibal. But none of them enthralled me as much as Californication did.

Talking to a friend of mine about the show, and here's what she said, “Hank Moody is a commitment phobe, a drunken fool who thinks that he is above all, and fucks pretty much everything that moves.” I find that this is pretty much the common idea that most people have about the show. I concur that the theme is mainly sex, drug abuse, and rock n roll, but what most people miss out on is that all these are not central to the character. The central theme is love- always. Hank Moody has his faults, he is selfish, and an addict(well, almost), but he also is a romantic- a hopeless one for that matter.

The character of Hank Moody with constant references to (and inspiration from) Charles Bukowski, is that of a novelist/writer who made it big in Hollywood. He has the perfect girlfriend Karen, with whom in his own words he “lives in sin” and has a daughter Becca. The success and the pressure(read fame) which came with the job, somehow went to his head and takes a toll at his relationship with Karen.

It's not like Hank stopped loving Karen. But somehow, love got lost on the way. This is something which makes Hank realise that he did truly love Karen and keeps returning back to her. I found Karen amazing, she is portrayed as someone who plays this beautiful bohemian chick yet with a sense of responsibility and maturity which is inexplicable. The only character flaw I could possibly find is how she could always forgive Hank given his chronic fuck-up history with her.

The hedonistic lifestyle of Hank is what adds glamour to the show. “Bitch, thy name is temptation” is a filler for most of the plot. Temptation presents itself to Hank -far too often it seems, and tempts him, teases him till he actually strays off the beaten path. After having led him astray, it then comes back to bite him in the ass. He has no sense of grandeur about himself. He knows what he is, and loathes himself for being himself- something he admits to Karen way too often, sometimes even as an excuse.

I am here trying to convey- a mix of emotions trying to use as few words as possible, for there are too few that I can find. I empathise with the character, that is of course obvious if not already.

There might be several scenes which may be described as best in the show, but personally the one I really liked was the one where Hank blew a million dollar paycheck on an engagement ring, carrying it for months on end like a talisman waiting for the one perfect moment when everything just feels right, and then after a much predicted fight with Karen one day giving it away to a homeless person out of sadness.