Again with that talk about how Grey’s Anatomy has compromised my books, movies and social life… Am I being tedious? Redundant? I know… The thing is I finished the ninth season yesterday and now I just have to wait for the first episodes of the tenth season to be released… With subtitles (if someone can find it please post the link on the comments!)! There are so many technical terms that I’d rather wait for the subtitles so I don’t miss anything.
All this to say that, on my first day without Grey’s, I decided to make up for the time I “wasted”. So I started with a film I was dying to see, even though I’m a bit late. It’s the biographical movie about Steve Jobs, founder of Apple. No introduction needed, right?
I bought the authorized biography (book) as soon as it was released. Right after he died. And I haven’t yet read it. I started it and then put it aside. I stopped between pages 150 and 200, something around that. I always start more than one book at at time, and some of them end up getting lost along the way. This was one of them… Until now. Because I left the movies feeling positive that I would resume it. And I’ll explain why.
I can’t tell if I enjoyed the movie. Because I didn’t dislike it either. But I guess what makes me not turn up my nose at it is the huge curiosity I have over this guy. I’ve said a thousand times here how crazy I am about biographies. When it comes to a guy who’s so present in our lives, the technology genius, the guy who created the gadget from which I write this piece, the curiosity grows exponentially. So I guess I don’t like the movie. But I’m really interested about the guy. So it kind of evens out, you know?
I’ll try to explain the reasons why I don’t like the movie. They sold it as the Jobs biography (this is the title for a reason! Or it isn’t?) but what we get is the Apple biography. Yeah, Apple would definitely be a more accurate title.
I clearly recall (from the few pages I read from the book!) Jobs’ suffering after being abandoned by his parents, his relationship with his foster parents, his relationship with Woz… As I said, I haven’t read even the first half of the book, but I read enough to say the film is pretty shallow. The screenplay doesn’t dive deep into Jobs’ mind and it doesn’t seem very concerned about being a faithful source regarding his life facts. That would be o.k. hadn’t they sold it like it was so (I think you can feel how eager I am to resume this book ASAP, right? The film only made me more curious!)
Anyway, what we see is this big leap from working at his parents’ garage to Apple CEO. From the young visionary to a guy who won’t think twice before being a jerk to any of his employees (and friends!) or leaving people along the way. Including his daughter. There are so many details missing, though… About the ups and downs. About his choices. A bunch of things we’re not presented…
The intention to make up an untouchable hero, justifying all his mistakes as a consequence of his geniality, is very clear. The film ends up having this role. Canonizing the Apple God (that he is a genius, we all know, right?). And some people might buy it. Ashton Kutcher did. People say he got really close to the way Jobs used to walk and speak. I couldn’t tell. I have never seen a single video with Jobs. What I do know is that I didn’t buy it…
I left the movies wanting to know more about it. Further beyond the Apple God. I wanted to get more of Steve. Steven Paul Jobs. And that’s why I’m rushing back to the book as soon as I publish this text. Because I already knew that Apple is the world’s most valuable company nowadays. Now I want to go through all the ups and downs its founder has faced (internally) to get there! And I’m sure there were many of them. That they were not simple. And definitely pretty interesting!
See ya!
