A scary day. A day of rumored, infamous bad luck. It became the name of an internationally
known horror movie franchise. I even
shot my film DEADLY REVISIONS at the same cabin as that franchise’s fourth installment:
partly as homage and partly to play on the theme.
But let’s get real.
There is no such thing as a bad luck day. There is no such thing as bad luck at all. Or luck of any kind. As sentient beings, there are things we can know
and things we can do; this combination allows us to control a percentage of our
world. But the other percentage—the part
that’s out of our control—is a result of infinite forces of nature: other beings, timing, and all the rest
coordinate to create the moments of our lives.
To call that mysterious alchemy “luck” seems to me reductive and
immature; a dangerous combination that allows for embracing such nonsensical
beliefs and behaviors as avoiding cats of a certain color, leaning ladders, and
stepping on cracks.
While I enjoy the
mythology of Friday the 13th, I enjoy it for its preposterousness. It’s a day to laugh at the foolishness of days
gone by. I only hope one day we can
laugh at some of the preposterous things people believe today. I don’t want to extend this idea here, but I
ask each of you reading this to ponder what ill-advised thinking and behaviors
might be resulting from similar archaic beliefs people continue to hold
today. I dare say Friday the 13th may be
the least scary of them all.
In the meantime, I’m off to hug a black cat.
