When in Doubt, Keep Running: An Essay on Resilience

by Ray Brimble, November 6, 2017

This one is for all of us who are stuck in the middle of doing something, but not sure it’s going to work out. In other words, damn near all of us. I have two stories for you.  It just so happens that both involve the film business , but they could have been from any field and their relevance hopefully transcends. 

I had the occasion to overhear both of these stories in a “ Forest Gumpian” fashion as I just happened to be around the tellers. The first is from Forest Gump himself, Tom Hanks, who spoke recently at the Texas Book Festival. Hanks recalls a conversation he had with director Robert Zamekis in the middle of exhaustive filming of the jogging-around-America scenes. They travelled to multiple locations around the country to achieve an epic backdrop for that part of the film. Hanks challenged Zamekis if he really believed that anyone would listen to the words of this strange character, Forrest Gump, or appreciate the incredible but grueling craftsmanship they were putting into every scene. 

According to Hanks, Zamekis paused, and then said, “ it’s a minefield. Everything we are working on here could be the seeds of our own destruction”. 

I heard the second story while visiting my daughter at college- The School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles. The school is housed in a gorgeous campus within a campus, bought and paid for by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, who’s names adorn the entrance. Lucas and Spielberg were working on a film together, Lucas producing and Spielberg directing. Midway through the filming, Spielberg was losing confidence that anybody would really pay to see this unusually stylized story telling. Perhaps just to get his friend through the finish Lucas challenged Spielberg to a bet: Lucas was contemplating making a large donation to USC to refurbish their film school campus. If the film they were making was not a success, Lucas was prepared to make a smaller donation on his own. However, if it was successful, Spielberg would have to join Lucas to fund the entire project. 

Can you guess what movie they were working on in which Spielberg had such reservations but turned out to be successful enough to fund a giant film school campus? It was the first Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark. 

What do these two stories have in common? Actually, many things, but first and foremost, there is the aspect of talented, committed people working hard on great projects but coming to their own moments of doubt. It’s very easy to dismiss the doubts of Hanks and Spielberg based on their talent and the end results of their efforts; in these two cases, two of the most beloved and successful movies ever made. How silly of them to have wavering faith- they have no right! 

I have chosen these two stories as extreme examples of what we all might go through, if we are courageous enough to start something big and challenging; and stubborn enough to get it to a place where we know it might not work out…but we go on anyway. This place is located at an odd address where demise and victory live in adjoining rooms connected by a shared bath. 

These two stories share another important commonality. They are about the doubter and the believer. Each need each other, and in many cases, can be the same person. The doubter defines the danger and bears witness to the fear. The believer does not discount either, but rather clearly offers the choice of carrying on despite it all. I don’t know if Zamekis or Lucas are men of formalized Faith, but these stories tell me they are comfortable with it. The same goes for Hanks and Spielberg as acknowledging ones doubts and fears is one of the most dependable acts of faith. 

Another shared nuance of both stories is that neither Zamekis nor Lucas tried to talk their counterparts down off the ledge. Although both films involved heroism, in real life Lucas and Zamekis weren’t attempting to rescue anyone. Rather, they simply explained the situation to their partners as they saw it and affirmed the path forward. I am humored by Spielberg’s choice, which could have been thought of as “lose-lose”. Either the film failed, or he had to pay a huge amount of money to build this film school. However like Indiana Jones himself, running from this giant rolling ball of a challenge about to crush him at any moment, his choice was to just run like the dickens and figure it out as he went.  

Whew! It all worked out for Forest Gump and Indiana Jones, right? These were stories of people who were constantly challenged, but overcame fear and adversity. So the next time you are stuck in the middle and doubting yourself a little, remember what Gump, Indiana Jones, Zamekis, Hanks, Spielberg and Lucas all did. They just kept running.