I was on a movie message board, and the question came up? Why was Marlon Brando such an unhappy man?
I answered, wound up going on for a while. Since I think I made a few points relative to me, I'll copy and paste my post here:
I don't think he ever found lasting happiness. I also somewhat
believe he never would have found it, period. No matter where or what he
did.
First and foremost? He was very sensitive. A literal 'empathy rod'. I
know something about this. Share your deepest pains with me? I'm liable
to wind up more depressed than you. Because, A) I now 'feel your pain',
and B) I feel pity for you going through it, but there is no pity for
me! And OK, I'm not that important, got the memo. Which doesn't
alleviate my grief any. And my only real defense is to avoid connecting
with volatile people. Unfortunately, I have more than a couple of them
in my life....family, childhood friends, etc. Not to mention I
occasionally 'take a chance' and wind up back in the frying pan of
someones painful 'drama'.
Of course playing around with beautiful women and having enough cash
to keep me in neverending 'creature comforts' would have been nice,
but, I can't really complain.
And secondly? Assuming I'm correct about him being my sensitive
'brother from another mother'? There is this strange paradox. Imagine
you are passionate about an art form, whether it's music, comedy,
painting, acting, etc. A fire burns brilliantly within you, and you show
incredible intuitive talent. You happen to be in the right place at the
right time, and are lauded for your every move along the way, including
ridiculous acclaim and success. (Let's face it, anyone familiar with
Marlons life knows his 'starving' artist period was short lived. Even
before "Streetcar" he was experiencing success). Anyway, imagine this
'burning passion' coupled with all that success, and all the accolades?
It must've been crazy exciting being Marlon Brando from say, 1945 to the
late 50's. I think to mention Marlon had an unbelievable run of
'personal happiness' during this period is probably an understatement.
Then, almost as quick as it came? That burning fire?
It just goes out. Just leaves. The creative 'passion' just
disappears. That can be a staggering personal blow. Kind of like having a
terminal case of 'writers block', but they still want you to write a
book a year. And what's more? Everyone still thinks the books are good,
if not great. And sometimes they even are. But you know, deep down
inside, they really don't come from the heart, that burning passion,
anymore. So, to you, your books are frauds, pale imitations.
Technically, you write superb, but your hearts not in it. And you can't,
for the life of you, understand how everyone can't see that.
That can be very painful to a very sensitive person.
I think Marlon only really 'found it again' two times after the late
50's, early 60's. Once was "Burn", and the other was "Tango".
Even the "Godfather", where he has great moments? It's an ensemble
piece. Sure, the Vito character set's the tone, but it is surrounded by
well written/directed/acted 'vignettes', including Marlon's
performance. And he had a lot of fun on the shoot, that helped. But as
great as he was in the film, I'm not sure he was as connected to "Vito"
the way he was to "Terry Malloy", or "Paul" from "Tango". Not in the
terms of passionately going to that deep, dark place he once could.
I think there were times in Marlons life when he thought he might
be, even could be, THE WIZARD. But most of the time, he knew he was 'the
little old man behind the curtain'.
Which doesn't mean he wasn't the WIZARD. But if he 'knew' he wasn't,
that can be very unhappy. Fulfilling everyone else's expectations (and
sometimes not), but rarely fulfilling your own.
And one things for certain. Regardless of happiness fulfilled or
otherwise, he lived an extraordinary life. He was a helluva talent, and
an interesting guy, however imperfect he was.
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