Hi there, I’m Ahmad, I’m 25 years old and I’m from the greater Toronto area in Canada. For as long as I can remember I’ve loved watching movies. I can remember putting The Lion King on every single day at the age of 3. I remember being introduced to Jurassic Park by my mother at an age that probably wasn’t appropriate for me and it remains to be one of my favourites to this day. I also remember sleeping over at my aunts house and watching all the movies we weren’t allowed to watch at home like Titanic, Scarface or Snatch. 

My love for film has only grown, and my taste has only widened into new and unknown territories! There are many reasons for me to start a blog like this. However, the following story encapsulates one of the biggest reasons for going through all this effort.

“Shame on you,” he said with a half smirk and a dry wit. For what should I have felt ashamed for at that party you ask? What heinous crime was I caught in the act of at this innocent get together? Was it double dipping my half eaten chip back into the guacamole? No. Rather, this friend of mine told me I should be ashamed because I had never seen the film “A Few Good Men.” Sorry Tom Cruise. 

I don’t blame him for saying what he did. He meant no harm by it, wasn’t really trying to make me feel ashamed and it was all in good fun. That’s just the way we talk about art after all.

I say art because this conversation happens around all art forms. How do we speak about art? In those little conversations: around the dinner table, in line at chipotle, driving home from the movie theatre, in the time between the opening and main act. In these moments, do our eyes light up? Do we listen? Maybe our lips curl into a smile. Maybe we size up the person across from us. Maybe we’re made to feel ashamed.

We collect tokens for obscurity, controversy, complexity and the antiquity of a piece. And at every opportunity we get, we like to throw these tokens at others to see how they fare, to see what they can throw back. We participate in this absurd race of tastes to establish where the other lies in comparison to us.

“Oh that person likes Kanye West? She’s never seen The Godfather? He doesn’t know who James Joyce is?” We judge each other on these arbitrary measuring sticks to establish who belongs where. Who’s uncultured? Who has bad taste? Who can we establish as being in a different class than us? And to be quite honest, it’s all bullshit.

This practice that I’ve shared with my friends and colleagues is completely counterproductive. The joy of art is drained when all you feel is overwhelmed by what you don’t know. And I’m just as guilty as the next person. I too find ways to express dominance in cultural and artistic relevancy.

The truth of the matter is that there is just too much out there, and with our current over access to information we feel more and more aware of everything we’ve missed out on, everything thats left to consume.

I haven’t seen A Few Good Men. Nor have I seen Apocalypse Now or A Clockwork Orange, and I’m unsure when I’ll get the opportunity to do so. What I do know is how good it feels every time I watch The Dark Knight, how clever 12 Angry Men is or the inherent warmth present in my favourite Miyazaki film. These experiences validate to myself my passion for the art of filmmaking and storytelling, no matter how much I’ve yet to see. 

There’s a lot more to know about me than my love for film and storytelling. But for the time being, I’ll leave it at that. I hope this is enough to get you to stick around.