finding a purpose

today we saw good night, and good luck, a film george clooney directed (and co-wrote) about the newsmedia's attempt to report on the communist witch trials spearheaded by mccarthy during the early-mid 1950's. this movie literally blew me away. todd asked me afterwards what was my favorite part, and because it wasn't a comedy, i didn't feel i could point to a gag or scene that stood out. the entire movie created a sense of purpose and responsibility to our rights as american citizens. and i felt that it was this ability that made it a great movie and probably one of my favorites of all time. sure, the acting proved solid, and the direction was flawless. film of mccarthy was used in place of an actor to display how he truly was. and all of this made me feel that one person really can make a different. that ed murrow and fred friendly pointed cbs in the "right" direction, and they impacted society. and this is currently being debated today. how much should our newsmedia get involved? who should be controlling the media? should we only have so much say over what is aired, who is sponsoring it, and what gets left behind closed doors? how much of the information that gets to us is funnelled, sanitized, and cleansed for the purpose of some other higher organization?

i want to do just what the newsmedia at the time did. not lead cbs on some crusade or mission, but make an impact, affect change, be part of some socially conscious effort to produce a better future. now the question is, how do i do this? do i wait, being apathetic for a few years, until i can find a job that fulfills me on all fronts? or do i jump in somehow now? i'm leaning towards the latter, so for the next few weeks, i'll be researching ways to volunteer and get actively involved in making more of a difference in some aspect. not just donating money or one weekend a year, but something more longlasting. they say admission is the first step towards conquering a problem. well, ok. i'm a do-gooder, and i'm proud of it.