Louis Psihoyos is a documentary filmmaker who won an Academy Award for his film The Cove, an exposé on the brutal slaughter of dolphins in a Japanese fishing town and the subsequent health concerns due to mercury content from the meat.
Years later Wired magazine interviewed him on a current project he was working on at that time called Racing Extinction in which he met with scientists who reported that the planet was experiencing species extinctions 1,000 times faster than the natural rate.
Psihoyos is a passionate filmmaker on a mission. He has literally risked his life to film in locations that would be extremely hostile if discovered.
Why would someone do that?
In an interview with reporter Andy Isaacson, Psihoyos revealed a personal story from thirty years earlier that haunted him to this day. He described walking around a busy flea market outside of Philadelphia, strolling behind a mother and father with their two children. It was a beautiful day—music playing, crowds laughing—when suddenly a pickup truck pulled up behind the family. From his angle he could tell the big side mirrors on it might hit the family. He yelled out but instantly noticed people looking uncomfortably at him; after all, who screams in public? He started to shout out again but held back because of feeling self-conscious.
In that brief moment of hesitation, the truck’s mirror struck the two children, knocking them under the wheels of the truck.
“They died right in front of me,” Psihoyos says. His lips are quivering. “…and I realized that it was my weakness. This family was crushed; two lives were extinguished. And it was because I was too f—g embarrassed to scream in a crowd.”
Psihoyos brushes a tear with his finger, becoming more impassioned. “Now, if you believe that we’re losing half the species on the planet and it’s because of our behavior? If we’re burning oil because it’s cheap? We’re losing this world before we have a chance to understand that it’s here. I think about that family that died because I couldn’t speak up, and now I look at my whole world dying. Everything that we’ve known. I don’t mind being the guy screaming in the room at this point. If I can tell it in a beautiful, elegant way and take people on an interesting ride, I’ll scream as loud as I can.” Andy Isaacson; Wired magazine; “Attention Humanity!”; September 2015
Regardless of how one feels about Psihoyos filmmaking tactics or worldview, one can only admire his reflective transparency regarding a painful regret at a flea market thirty years prior…and his now impassioned efforts to shout to the world his critical environmental message.
That’s passion.
What might happen if we approached the news of the Kingdom with that same drive? “If I can tell it in a beautiful, elegant way and take people on an interesting ride, I’ll scream as loud as I can.”
Okay, perhaps without the screaming, but you understand.
Everyone needs someone or something to fight for, something to give their life to, something to die for. That’s why a self-focused life is so unfulfilling, why it never satisfies even the best narcissist. Think about it: you cannot die for yourself. It makes sense that Jesus said the greatest expression of love is when someone gives his life for another. If I don’t have anything to die for, then I really don’t have anything for which to live. In other words, if what I’m living for right now isn’t worth dying for, I’m already dead.
Dave Workman | The Elemental Group
Every healthy organization is marked by four essential traits: Integrity, Passion, Servanthood, and Imagination. With a practitioner perspective, author Dave Workman offers common sense guidance and tools to maximize leadership. Filled with insight, humor, and reflective exercises, this is an indispensable exploration of these four universal values. Check out Elemental Leaders: Four Essentials Every Leader Needs...and Every Church Must Have.
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