Weekly Roundup Episode 73: Completing a Job for the Entire Year of 2021

Welcome to another edition of Weekly Roundup!

Well for the first time in my entire existence: I maintained a job from the beginning of the year, to the end of the year. Of course this is by no means an achievement whatsoever, everyday common people achieve this sort of thing all the time, more than often not by choice or desire as they do just because a lot of people have to, which is quite a depressing feeling I will say. But I always wondered: What would it be like if I actually kept a job from the start of the year, till the end of the year?! I’ve kept a job for a whole year before in my teens, but never truly fulfilling a full calendar year from January to December with a job.

Now that I accomplish this ordeal, how do I feel?! I feel… Empty. Like it’s cool you achieved having a full year of experience of whatever job you have, I know other businesses make it a big deal considering they’re high demands for a simple mans job on their application requirements. But all in all as far as developing yourself as a person in terms of growth within yourself… You don’t feel you achieved anything. The only achievement worth saying is that you endured the upmost patience of continuing to do a simple task repeatedly over and over, to the point where your mind is either mentally drained by how bored it is or how frustrated/sadden/angered that you continue to waste your time.

When discussing this topic at hand that involves the Workforce, let me assure to you that no one and I mean NO ONE should take any offense to it. I want to let everyone know working at any job in any establishment that relates to the Workforce: I appreciate the hell out of all of you. I know a lot of you are mentally drained whether it be the work at hand, the repetitiveness of the job, corporate/management, and especially customers at hand whom treat the common worker HORRIBLY to where it’s extremely unnecessary as you question whatever happened to common decency? I appreciate you all deeply, especially making a valid effort to do your best whether it be the job at hand or customer satisfaction… Some of you may needed to hear this because I know first hand, your management and customers don’t tell you enough or at all, thank you really thank you.

The Workforce is a route often taken for a fair amount of reasons. Some are not fortunate enough to afford college for the time being due to high tuition costs or unable to secure scholarships, so they don’t want to take out loans that’ll put them in debt rightfully so, so they choose the Workforce for the time being until they work their way up to afford college. Some are unsure what exactly they want to pursue straight out of high school, so they go into the Workforce until they finally figure out what exactly they want to pursue in the future. Some just don’t see the point in going to college so they just go into the Workforce, as they hope it all works out.

There is no shame in going into the Workforce, I feel my reasoning for going after high school was unsure what I wanted to pursue when attending college… A lot of kids make the same mistake in investing college when they’re not 100% confident in whatever they’re pursuing, but we’ll discuss this for another time.

We understand clearly what we’re taught in high school, rarely ever helps us deal with situations and scenarios that may help us after high school. In this case: Why doesn’t High School not teach us what the value in pursuing a life in the Workforce?!

One common W I see in the Workforce compared to pursuing college, is the fact it’s a low to no risk investment. Other than maybe purchasing the required clothing for the workplace dress code… You’re not really investing much money into pursuing the Workforce compared to college, which is why this route is most often taken compared to college. In the Workforce there are grand opportunities to make a nice living, sometimes you got to be very patient or know the right people. When it comes to the financial side of it, if you can’t afford college… Why wouldn’t you choose the Workforce?! No debt compared to thousands of dollars that can reach up to even six digits?!

But the thing we’re not taught about the Workforce is we’re not building ourselves to where we actually want to be as an individual. For some people all they want to achieve is making a lot of money and nothing else… However like the Workforce, you suddenly start to lose purpose within your life. A lot of times when we continue to go on a path of working on a job solely to make money and not because we actually enjoy it but more importantly aren’t passionate about it… We slowly become depressed over the course of time. We’re not developing as individuals, we’re not going forward to an actual stable career, we’re not enjoying what we do, we just continue a meaningless life doing a meaningless job so we can be granted a piece of paper. Understand the jobs you guys do are fulfilling a significant purpose, I’m just saying from my own perspective for me it feels meaningless. I get bored within the first couple months of a job… It’s enjoyable when it is a challenge at first, but as you get established now you want to move on because… The receptiveness of it all feels completely meaningless.

That’s the thing about the Workforce: I solely believe this route was never meant for you stick around your entire life. In my opinion the WorkForce is meant to be a stepping stone, it’s suppose to help you provide for yourself and work your way up in what you actually want to be in life, over the course of time as you come to get more established within your inner self. So that way once you figure it all out: Now you can pursue what you actually wanted to do and have the needed funds to where you’re not in any or no debt at all. This is not a lifestyle meant to stay your entire life, at some point in your life you should let it go completely and move on to the next big thing that you want out of your life.

The thing about the WorkForce we don’t discuss enough is the Mental Health side of it all. As said earlier: It’s a mentally drained lifestyle, to where there are many factors in which will make you grow sadden, angered, or frustrated to where your becoming like the customers you’re dealing with… Making a big deal where it’s no deal at all. On top of it: Most of these businesses especially the corporate ones, you are nothing but a mere object and nothing more. You maybe providing them significant value to the company within your work, but you will never feel like you matter as they scream out your faults as they whisper your success as it feels as if they have to break their own back to show you appreciation. Rarely ever do you feel compassion in these jobs, rarely ever do you feel cared nor matter working in corporate big brand names, the only time I actually felt I mattered is working at a family owned business, the job may suck but that meant the world to me knowing I was cared for. These jobs were never meant for you to put everything you have in terms of hard work… You do that for your passions and desires, not for a lousy day job that could care less if you die tomorrow knowing they’ll put up a “Now Hiring” listing the same day they hear about you passing.

My time in High School: All I ever see and hear is advocates for college and nothing else… That really does nothing for kids who are more interested in being a carefree kid trying to fully discover themselves as a person. I feel kids should be taught the pros and cons within pursuing the WorkForce over College, explain the values within both. I also feel we can also encourage kids about pursuing the WorkForce temporarily, working their way up to get enough funds or finally being 100% confident on what they want to pursue to make an investment of going to college or heck. Kids should never feel a Go to College or Nothing situation coming out of High School, I don’t think that’s a productive way in influencing kids to go to college, if anything it makes kids not want to go in the first place. I will never understand High School and the way these schools are organized… You waste more time in teaching kids pure nonsense they’re never going to use in life, than actually teach them something worth of value to where they can actually use in real life.

College should be considered solely on the fact you’re working towards a career, that you are passionate about and can set yourself up for a lifetime. WorkForce should be considered as a temporary destination, it should only help you work towards achieving something grander in mind when you get to the point where you know exactly what makes you excited about life.

For those who actually enjoy working in the workforce or want to continue working more years where they’re at: Heck I’m happy for you. This is by no way a knock at what you’re currently doing, if you feel at home or enjoy yourself where you’re at, stay there you’re an awesome being and we’re proud of you. For those who feel depressed, lost, or angered where they’re at… Make sure you have a strategy in where you want to go next, don’t just quit and leave yourself in a much bigger hole, have a plan and execute it. I don’t want to help improve the unemployment numbers any further… Just a film critic writing out my stance on this subject matter is all, I’m not here trying to tell people to quit their jobs and be lazy whack jobs on Tik Tok. Happy to achieve this small accomplishment, have 0 desire to be one of them folks saying “I worked here for _______ years”... I don’t know how y’all do it, I get vivid nightmares just hearing it. Let’s talk about movies!

Bruised Grade: C+

I love boxing and fighting movies, not only for entertainment purposes but more so motivational purposes, as I hoped Halle Berry’s directorial debut would deliver.

I would say Bruised though very formulaic, does however has it’s moments. I like the whole dynamic of Justice (Halle Berry) and her unexpected son Manny (Danny Boyd Jr.) coming into the picture, thought the whole development of their relationship worked just fine, as both encountered a tragedy within their own lives, more so Manny. They rebuild their confidence within each other, making them more established and better over the course of time. I felt the finale fighting sequence was pretty good, well choreographed and most certainly entertaining. I also felt Halle Berry delivers a solid performance as well, a lot of raw passion within her performance as this fighter making a comeback.

Bruised however does deal with many problems. I felt there should’ve been more development of Justice leading her way towards a title fight with more matches, to where Justice earns a title match. A lame street brawl leading her to this title fight with a great fighter just feels… Not earned nor deserved at all. How about we get Justice in the ring, with fights that are regulated like exhibitions?! There is a romance aspect that felt totally forced and unneeded, like can’t they just be good pals without adding sex to the picture?! We didn’t have it in Million Dollar Baby, why do we have to have it here?! I felt Manny giving up on Justice in one scenario was unfortunate, I mean she didn’t lash out on him or insulted him in any way, she was just going through a panic attack where she did go to the bathroom in order to not have Manny involved, I don’t know I felt Manny shouldn’t have taken off like that without a significant reason.

Overall, Bruised was an average film. I guess give this a watch on Netflix if you like fighting movies, just don’t expect to be amazed by it.

Summer of 85 Grade: B

Summer of 85 from the poster itself felt very reminiscent from the likes of Call me by Your Name.

Surprisingly enough: Summer of 85 caught me by surprise in terms of being unique. The story itself for a good portion is a typical romantic drama flick, however where it really shines is the superb written character of our lead Alexis (Felix Lefebvre). Alexis is a talented writer, whom is extremely into the concept of death. He loves talking about death and enjoys learning about all these different ways of dying, dating back to times of the pyramids. In a way: He’ll slowly learn that death shouldn’t be fantasized or glorified in any way, as death is quite a painful time to endure especially when it’s done to someone you love.

I thought the relationship aspect between Alexis and David (Benjamin Voisin) was done pretty well. David helped Alexis grow more onto his horizons, as he’s a daring young man who lives life on the edge, while Alexis complimented his sensitive side. You can also say Alexis while enlightened by death, David however is a troubled soul whom is scarred by his fathers death. A lot of pain this character goes through, despite him being a very jolly soul on the outside, but once conflict comes about… David just lets the relationship fall apart and even let’s himself fall apart as well. This is quite a visually stunning film that does feel like I’m watching the 80’s, beautifully photographed featuring such a lovely scenery and colors.

I enjoy the whole hospitality of David and his mother (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) the way they treated Alexis… The mother however is quite a complicated confusing character. First off she over steps her boundaries, as she first meets Alexis, she takes off his clothes preparing for his bath... It’s weird. Then in the third act… Though I understand her pain in this situation, I don’t understand why she suddenly hates Alexis?! Alexis was nothing but good to her son, if anything she should be upset at her son the way he treated Alexis.

Overall, Summer of 85 t’was a solid film. I recommend checking this one out, can be found on Showtime.

Broken Diamonds Grade: B

I saw the poster and saw Evan Hansens face as I wondered who’s this menace’s next victim?!

Broken Diamonds would compliment The Skeleton Twins as a double feature: A story about two broken siblings, as one deals with complications of Mental Health. Scott (Ben Platt) has had a difficult time growing up, where he wasn’t the most popular kid in school as he was most known to be Cindy’s (Lola Kirke) younger brother. Cindy was the most popular girl, all the guys wanted her everyone wanted to be her friend, plus she was destined to be an actress someday. But unfortunately Cindy developed schizophrenia which pretty much wrecked everything for her. So for Scott: It hasn’t been easy especially in the household, a lot of confrontations as they were especially hard on Scott compared to Cindy, even though Scott did the best he could and has had a pretty stable life.

I enjoyed how this film not only deals with what Cindy goes through as a character, but more so what Scott goes through. Scott is pretty much a lonely individual, which is all due to the fact he’s hesitant to be open and lacks trust within others, he’s a very vulnerable being whom just wants to escape onto a new life in France which he hopes to become a writer. It’s definitely a complicated sibling-ship, however the film does a very matured job in making it wholesome and especially realistic. Satisfying performances from Ben Platt and Lola Kirke, thought they delivered both solid performances displaying solid chemistry as well. The story was solid as well, well written characters and it never once became dull for me, was surprised with nice couple comedic moments as well.

I guess couple issues would be one moment in particular being bizarre, as someones reaction to a certain scenario was hard to comprehend. Plus the back and forth flashback moments… Gave me headache.

Overall, Broken Diamonds was a good film. I recommend checking this one out, can be found on Showtime. -Mitch Smietana