"So often it's our anxiety that trips us up from being our best selves. The great bulk of my life is a war with my nervous system. I think a lot of people feel that way." Such an honest, relatable comment.
This is true Ethan and Michael, its anxiety, a response to a threat (of being judged or humiliated in the process) that makes us fearful and we stop taking action.
@@michaelmeacham4517 i once dated a guy that asked me why i didn’t seem more confident .. he put me on this pedal stool . anxiety has plagued me my whole life x It wouldn’t matter how successful i seemed to be .. inside is a sinking abyss at times
He's got the best argument for pretentiousness that I've ever encountered. It's not about pretentiousness for the sake of outward appearance. It's about connecting with your personal hopes and dreams. It's about lifting yourself to the highest level of personal standard. It's not about being better than anyone else.
I've been accused of being both pretentious and basic, depending on how a person wants to "hate" on me lol. And let me tell u: I'd rather be pretentious. It at least connotes AMBITION. Tha'ts why. And Ethan hit it on the head: if you at least have SENSE OF HUMOR about yourself, that mitigates it. HA!
Before I post I scroll and 9 out of 10 times, someone has already posted what I felt or thought ... like you just did. Yep. Even for his age, he's not lost and distorted by his own ego and seems a thinker ( of a positive kind).
Although it’s even hard to catch his definition of ‘pretentious’, he has conviction and he believes in what he said. We can feel him. That’s the main thing.
I needed this. You can be interested in and strive in intellectual or artistic areas without being pretentious. The key to not being really pretentious is having a sense of humor and humility about yourself.
What I love about this guy is that he understands the difference between being a little pretentious and being arrogant. He’s definitely not arrogant! I was at Sundance film Festival a few years ago and waited in line at the Atticus coffee shop, which for anyone who’s been there takes forever when it’s during the festival. There’s a guy behind me waiting patiently the entire time and when someone actually cut in line in front of me while talking to his friends the cutter finally turned around to ask if it was OK and I turned to the guy behind me to ask if it was OK with him. It was Ethan Hawke and not only was he totally chill about it but he was a guy who could’ve easily sent a minion to fetch his coffee for him and instead he chose to wait patiently in line. Also behind him was Rosanna Arquette :-)
“It’s so often our Anxiety that trips us up from being our best self. A great bulk of my life is a war against my nervous system “ Wow... so he just summed it up. How refreshing, Thank you
I needed to hear this. From an early age, I was taught to "know my place" which really killed my confidence. I'm set on releasing my music and getting back into writing now, despite how a lot of it felt pretentious. I did tweak it a bit to shed a fair amount while keeping the essence of it, but I figure I'll keep some of the pretension because it defined certain periods of my life and served the themes I went with.
In short- "you have to hopefully create a little bit of balance of maintaining that "youthful hubris" or else you won't get anything done." Pretentiousness, if you are open to laughing at yourself, is a necessary ingredient to creating and achieving any kind of personal aspiration.
He's talking Cassius Clay pretentious. From an essay by Ali in '09- "In high school, I boasted weekly - if not daily - that one day I was going to be the heavyweight champion of the world. As part of my boxing training, I would run down Fourth Street in downtown Louisville, darting in and out of local shops, taking just enough time to tell them I was training for the Olympics and I was going to win a gold medal. And when I came back home, I was going to turn pro and become the world heavyweight champion in boxing. I never thought of the possibility of failing - only of the fame and glory I was going to get when I won. I could see it. I could almost feel it. When I proclaimed that I was the "Greatest of All Time," I believed in myself. And I still do." I would bet that most people laughed at him and that he laughed too, but he knew something.
He really is one of the few actors who can talk about art in a way that sounds authentic. He's not full of some false bravado, he can laugh at himself but at the same time he has a quiet and calm confidence. He's a very interesting man and unlike any other Hollywood actor I can think of. It's likely that he would have have excelled in an field he went into. My favourite actor.
He's not pretentious. I don't even think he is defining pretentiousness correctly. He's talking more about ambition/aspiration. Americans have faults but pretentiousness is quite rare. Come to the UK to see some good examples of pretentiousness.
in the US, pretention is more broadly defined, sometimes people conflate lofty aspirations with being too far up ones ass. for a society so driven by self help and indulgence, it's extremely keen on snuffing out those with ambition
@@Johnnysmithy24 that's lovely, I'm glad I impressed you with the "before trilogy " it's always a wonderful feeling for me when I get positive reviews from my fans and admirers of my works. Where are you from?
In some ways I think in a way confidence comes from not taking things too seriously. Having humor absolutely, setting and maintaining goals. Loving oneself, being genuinely kind to others and meaning it. But as a whole just accepting the deck of cards one is dealt and finding a way that really works. My anxiety has lessened a LOT once I realized that
I used to read long books that I didn't really enjoy, and I hated myself for being pretentious, but lately, I've realized that I was trying to get a better grasp on the English language. Linguistics is the only thing I ever had any talent for, so of course I wanted to enhance it as much as possible.
To be fair, it does take a certain level of pretentiousness to even BE an artist in the first place. Think about it: you are sitting by yourself, and an idea comes to mind, and you think it's so amazing and that other people would be interested in it...that you make it and then go out and promote it. "Hey everyone! Look at this cool thing I made!" Hahaha. Very simplified, but still quite accurate. You have to be a little vain to even see your ideas as something other people would give a shit about. Otherwise nobody would ever make anything.
theres so much to get from this and from most people speaking openly out of something other than their bum. mostly though is how valuable being honest is, how generous it can be. Whether its to strangers on youtube who listen because your an artist or your famous or whether its to people you know or people you want to know or even people you just met. Maybe its all he knows havin been open with his emotions to be good at what he does, being comfortable with yourself while people are watching knowing enough of yourself to do so. im grateful though for that thing that actors have whether it was once bravery or whether its just their nature its really liberating to learn from someone whose got nothing to sell you and nothing to gain except whatever you get from introspection and sharing that lil part of yourself in that moment.
Be pretentious, make a fool of yourself, aim high. What other people think doesn't matter, their stuck with opinions that applied to who you were 1 second/day/year ago, meanwhile you've moved on, you've learned, you've grown.
I found it refreshing that he didn’t feel a need to, when referring to his stage company work as “the great joy” of his life, tack on an obligatory “...with the exception of my children” or something along those lines. I think a lot of people say that sort of thing because it’s expected for fear of being seen as an insensitive parent with their priorities out of wack. When people are discussing their public life, their work life, how they’re contributing to whole, how they feel about and provide for their children has nothing to do with it. Maybe it just goes without saying that their kids are the most important thing to them or it may even be that (gasp) some people don’t feel like their role as a parent has to be their emblem.
I'm so glad that he didn't change in his mindset. You'd have to watch the beginning of his career to now but he's always been a very intelligent guy who was kind of stuck doing this stuff that only showcased part of his intellectual potential. And still you could see it shinning through.
There is no such thing as pretentious. There is only a failure to persuade. If I choose to express myself in a more formal or stylized manner, I have not chosen "pretentious" words or mannerisms, I have only chosen poorly. It is true the burden is on me if I am trying to convince you, or to express myself in a way that another person can relate to me, but in doing so am misunderstood. But words, manners, and deeds cannot be pretentious. As long as I believe the person to either side of me is my equal, I cannot by virtue of my equality to others be better or worse, and by that condition the dialog need only change.
I feel like Ethan is needlessly trying to make "pretentious" sound good, when there are already words that describe what he means better - aspirational.
I think he’s responding to a specific criticism that’s often leveled at him. It’s not considered “pretentious” to aspire to backpack the Appalachian trail compared to performing Shakespeare. I think he’s not only encouraging people to have aspirations, but also to not let other folks’ labels keep you from pursuing something that others don’t see the value in
@@stark8837 It's a general criticism of our current culture, the internet, and how they react towards anything that's intellectually or artistically aspirational. The label has been misused to such a degree that it's basically lost its actual meaning. Most people who toss it around do so without the intent or means to back it up. It's instead just a reactionary dismissal, which is itself pretentious. It'd be humorous if it wasn't so sad.
Being "aspirational" is not what he is talking about though. His point is it's not that serious if you happen to do something "pretentious" _while aspiring to something,_ especially when young and full of enthusiasm and hybris. If you worry too much about appearing authentic, down-to-earth, humble etc. at all times, you might be taking yourself too seriously to actually grow (artistically, that is).
Setting goals for yourself, trying for greatness, and having a healthy self of humor about yourself, never taking yourself too seriously is not being pretentious. I understand what Hawke is saying but the most important thing is that so long as YOU don't think you are god's gift to earth, and don't take yourself too seriously, then you're not being a pretentious jerk. Trying to do great things is not pretention, it is ambition. There's nothing wrong with ambition, dedication, and passion.
It might just be a response or an explanation to those who have called him pretentious in the past. He's clearly not bothered by the semantics so at the point in his life, maybe being called pretentious is just fine.
@@paulflaubert7355 After I read your comment I saw that the side pane has a video from the Team Coco (Conan O'Brien's verified channel) with the title, "Ethan Hawke Dropped Out of College..."
Good because Ethan Hawke said it’s ok, I will just continue in my pretentious ways. I’ve always laughed with others whether they are laughing with me or at me I’m just myself and people love that. People love Honesty even if they don’t get it.
The bottom line is this... Ethan Hawke was chosen, and would be nothing without a huge team of highly creative people behind him and he knows that about himself, so he's not really pretentious within the realm of his craft. Give him credit, he capitalized on the opportunity of his big break when it was presented to him. I knew so many exceptionally talented people in NYC who had so much to offer in the realm of film, theater, music etc... But for whatever reason they decided not to take their art forms to the next level of commercialized success. Many chose to remain true to themselves by staying somewhat anonymous. They were the ones who didn't sell their souls to the Devil so to speak. I have a tremendous amount of respect for all of those artists who were intelligent enough to know the downfall of what it means to be controlled and famous while losing all sense of privacy and personal space.
Hello there. Thank you very much for your lovely words, I really do appreciate it. Tell me what's your favorite movie of all my movies you have seen so far?
I was living in NYC in the early 90's working out of a place known as Circle Rep Lab, and people would often say to me that I reminded them of Ethan Hawke. I never met him until last summer under a weird set of circumstances, but I can relate to what he's saying here. If I were to advise Ethan, I'd say be yourself and that we have a lot in common, but what separates us is our willingness or unwillingness to become someone we're not in real life.
Honestly, any day I'd rather be around truly obnoxiously pretentious people than those people who boast about how little they know, and overplay the humble pie role. Regarding such folk who avoid learning about new things and avoid meeting new people to better project an image of humility, seems to me no less narcissistic and far more personally destructive.
his concept of pretentiousness and how it pertained to the acting thing, i feel so related to knowledge in the same scenario..... people 100% treating an educated knowledgable person who actually enjoys learning about a certain few large fields and as a result has a significant accurate knowledge pool, people dont like to hear true facts about things that are bizarre and unexpected as much as me i guess, forever will be Kurt, that guy whos sort've pretentious
Ambition and pretentiousness are not the same. It seems he's describing and defending ambition - which many falsely equate with pretentiousness. I know HE knows the difference and is just explaining it ina way that many who consider him pretentious would understand, but i think it's important to highlight that the two concepts are not the same. Edit: Actually, i just think the video is improperly titled. I don't think he would agree with pretentiousness being ok, but he would agree that it's ok to be (wrongly) PERCEIVED as pretentious.
I've been accused of being both pretentious and basic, depending on how a person wants to "hate" on me lol. And let me tell u: I'd rather be pretentious. It at least connotes AMBITION. Tha'ts why. And Ethan hit it on the head: if you at least have SENSE OF HUMOR about yourself, that mitigates it. HA!
There's some good points here, but I think he's twisting the word pretentious in order to have something to say about it. At one point it's like he's saying "it's okay to be pretentious if you aren't pretentious about it." Having lofty goals is not the same thing as being pretentious. If you have lofty goals and are open about it, people will call you pretentious. That's potentially their mistake.
@@ethanhawke8369 I saw the two movies you made of that romantic story with the woman you met in a train...and then your lives went separately, and at the end you guys meet again. Loved it! Very suggestive and smart, and very romantic. Thanks for replying!
@@gabyguala that must be the before trilogy, I'm glad I impressed you with that movie, it's always a wonderful feeling for me when I get positive reviews from my fans and admirers of my works. Where are you from?
@@gabyguala well South America is an entire continent, I live in the Brooklyn area of the United States, does your work involve creative art like mine?
Damn. I dont know much about Mr. Hawk, but i dont know if he speaks like an adoptee or a thespian. It's beautiful either way. Thank goodness for your words.
"To do anything artistically and especially to have the courage to put it out here... you have to take risks...coming off as pretentious is just one of the more minor ones" - Steve Lomprey
To be fair, everything that everyone does could be considered "X to an extent." The danger of making everything relative is that it becomes increasingly difficult to make important distinctions that matter. Let "X" be 'arrogant' or 'mischievous' or 'deceitful', etc., and you'll likely see how meaningless the frame of relativism can be.
thanks ethan for that last point especially. you have to maintain some youthful hubris, otherwise you won't get anything done. so true. i have often judged others for crafting some piece of this or that when it seemed they were naive and missing something essential in their creation - and this same judgement has halted me too often from actually finishing things and releasing them for others to engage with how they will. to have the courage and yet the humility to make things, oh my. we must!
This is going to sound totally pretentious but Is there anything more pretentious than a person who calls something/someone else 'pretentious'? How much self-importance does someone need to have to be the one who can apply this label to others?
He's right. His band Sugar Ray was never pretentious. They had a surprise hit song "Fly" that was unlike their other songs but they continued to write songs in that vein because that's what the public wanted.
Hello there. Thank you very much for your lovely words, I really do appreciate it. Tell me what's your favorite movie of all my movies you have seen so far?
h d it’s strange from everyone’s point of view, I feel like people are more ego centric than ever before. But also the most miserable at the same time. To each there own.
People tend to make some activities more important or special than it actually is and can also think themselves unimportant or less valid than they actually are.
pretentious. attempting to impress by affecting greater importance and talent than is actually possessed or merrited. in other words, if you can't dazzle them with you brilliance baffle them with bullshit in the hopes they'll confuse the latter for the former.
my favorite part of this is all of the comments from pretentious people, who clicked on this because they are pretentious, being pretentious by arguing that he's not pretentious
I don’t think I’d call this stereotypical pretentious. He’s not waving all his accomplishments around, he actually respects his craft as well as holds standards for himself, he’s well read and in touch with his emotions and what he wants. He also doesn’t drag anyone down when he’s exhibiting his passion.
Most of Hollywood is pretentious. Matter of fact it's what is built upon. Hollywood loves to create new young hot actors who take the entertainment world by storm. Then a number of them burn out. Ethan is so wise. He's learned a great deal from the aging process about himself. He's a wealth of knowledge about living a meaningful life.
For decades I hated on Ethan Hawke because i believed he was his character in Reality Bites - a real douchebag. But turns out, he's a really deep and down to earth guy - and maybe i'm the douchebag
People rarely reflect on their lives in public, they don't talk about themselves the way that Ethan does here because the media obviously promotes celebrities for economic reasons; thus actors appear more ego centric because people watch these interviews of them talking about themselves which is so foreign. Celebrities are ego driven because they need to be and after awhile they start believing that they are important and people want to hear about them. If he stopped getting roles and doing interviews, his vanity would turn to despair.
"So often it's our anxiety that trips us up from being our best selves. The great bulk of my life is a war with my nervous system. I think a lot of people feel that way." Such an honest, relatable comment.
This is true Ethan and Michael, its anxiety, a response to a threat (of being judged or humiliated in the process) that makes us fearful and we stop taking action.
Yes!
@@michaelmeacham4517 i once dated a guy that asked me why i didn’t seem more confident .. he put me on this pedal stool . anxiety has plagued me my whole life x It wouldn’t matter how successful i seemed to be .. inside is a sinking abyss at times
He's got the best argument for pretentiousness that I've ever encountered.
It's not about pretentiousness for the sake of outward appearance. It's about connecting with your personal hopes and dreams. It's about lifting yourself to the highest level of personal standard.
It's not about being better than anyone else.
Give me a break!!! LOL
@@darnellmajor9016 seriously
'You have to set goals for yourself, and they might as well be lofty'... What an incredibly important thought.
what an incredibly basic thought
@@PepsiFuture Back in my day, we just said "dream big".
@@PepsiFuture hahahaha
I've been accused of being both pretentious and basic, depending on how a person wants to "hate" on me lol. And let me tell u: I'd rather be pretentious. It at least connotes AMBITION. Tha'ts why. And Ethan hit it on the head: if you at least have SENSE OF HUMOR about yourself, that mitigates it. HA!
@@transp0rter1 yes
He's the kind of guy you'd want to befriend because he's so honest and sincere that you feel you can relax and enjoy the moment.
I know, boring and pretentious guy
HAHAHHA... He is an actor.. And he is acting in this video as well.
Before I post I scroll and 9 out of 10 times, someone has already posted what I felt or thought ... like you just did.
Yep. Even for his age, he's not lost and distorted by his own ego and seems a thinker ( of a positive kind).
@@carlosparra8976 It's okay to be pretentious. It's fun, and it's real.
I could listen to him talk for eternity
Me too
Now is it
I know.
Although it’s even hard to catch his definition of ‘pretentious’, he has conviction and he believes in what he said. We can feel him. That’s the main thing.
I needed this. You can be interested in and strive in intellectual or artistic areas without being pretentious. The key to not being really pretentious is having a sense of humor and humility about yourself.
He seems like someone that, even if I didn't like, I could still respect.
What I love about this guy is that he understands the difference between being a little pretentious and being arrogant. He’s definitely not arrogant! I was at Sundance film Festival a few years ago and waited in line at the Atticus coffee shop, which for anyone who’s been there takes forever when it’s during the festival. There’s a guy behind me waiting patiently the entire time and when someone actually cut in line in front of me while talking to his friends the cutter finally turned around to ask if it was OK and I turned to the guy behind me to ask if it was OK with him. It was Ethan Hawke and not only was he totally chill about it but he was a guy who could’ve easily sent a minion to fetch his coffee for him and instead he chose to wait patiently in line. Also behind him was Rosanna Arquette :-)
That sounds exactly like something Ethan Hawke would do and one of the reasons why I love him!
“It’s so often our Anxiety that trips us up from being our best self.
A great bulk of my life is a war against my nervous system “ Wow... so he just summed it up. How refreshing, Thank you
I needed to hear this. From an early age, I was taught to "know my place" which really killed my confidence. I'm set on releasing my music and getting back into writing now, despite how a lot of it felt pretentious. I did tweak it a bit to shed a fair amount while keeping the essence of it, but I figure I'll keep some of the pretension because it defined certain periods of my life and served the themes I went with.
Big hug
One of the most underrated actor and screenplay writer .. he should've won an Oscar for the "Before series" and Boyhood.
I wholeheartedly agree.
I can respect what Ethan Hawke is saying.
+Jonathan Vian Did anyone ask you ? You are irrelevant dust.
+Mehmet Erdoğan What a joy you must be to be around.
+Mehmet Erdoğan You are too so...
Yes DUST IN THE WIND. Thats what we all are.
And, or an angsty teenager on TH-cam.....oh hey Mehmet Erdogan didn't see you there!
In short- "you have to hopefully create a little bit of balance of maintaining that "youthful hubris" or else you won't get anything done." Pretentiousness, if you are open to laughing at yourself, is a necessary ingredient to creating and achieving any kind of personal aspiration.
D. Crp how Oh how very pretentious of you.
Gattaca, Most Underrated Movie Of Ethan Hawke, A True Masterpiece
Best sci fi film of all time
How beautiful is for an artist to listen to his words. In his movies, in his life, he is a healer!
He's talking Cassius Clay pretentious. From an essay by Ali in '09-
"In high school, I boasted weekly - if not daily - that one day I was going to be the heavyweight champion of the world. As part of my boxing training, I would run down Fourth Street in downtown Louisville, darting in and out of local shops, taking just enough time to tell them I was training for the Olympics and I was going to win a gold medal. And when I came back home, I was going to turn pro and become the world heavyweight champion in boxing. I never thought of the possibility of failing - only of the fame and glory I was going to get when I won. I could see it. I could almost feel it. When I proclaimed that I was the "Greatest of All Time," I believed in myself. And I still do."
I would bet that most people laughed at him and that he laughed too, but he knew something.
That said, how many people are full of themselves and never achieve their goals? I think there are a lot more of them.
He really is one of the few actors who can talk about art in a way that sounds authentic. He's not full of some false bravado, he can laugh at himself but at the same time he has a quiet and calm confidence. He's a very interesting man and unlike any other Hollywood actor I can think of. It's likely that he would have have excelled in an field he went into. My favourite actor.
He's not pretentious. I don't even think he is defining pretentiousness correctly. He's talking more about ambition/aspiration. Americans have faults but pretentiousness is quite rare. Come to the UK to see some good examples of pretentiousness.
in the US, pretention is more broadly defined, sometimes people conflate lofty aspirations with being too far up ones ass. for a society so driven by self help and indulgence, it's extremely keen on snuffing out those with ambition
@@stars19735 Interesting, thanks.
LOL I kind of agree.
i could listen to him forever he is so perfect
Thank you very much for your lovely words, I really do appreciate it.Tell me what is your favorite movie of all my movies you have seen so far?
Good stuff. I wish more movie stars were as thoughtful and genuine.
Hawke has great wisdom and talent. Very insightful, thanks for this.
he is just full of wisdom. I could listen to him all day
Thank you very much for your lovely words, I really do appreciate it.Tell me what is your favorite movie of all my movies you have seen so far?
@@ethanhawke8369 The Before Trilogy
@@Johnnysmithy24 that's lovely, I'm glad I impressed you with the "before trilogy " it's always a wonderful feeling for me when I get positive reviews from my fans and admirers of my works. Where are you from?
@@ethanhawke8369 You know no one is actually thinking this is actually Ethan Hawk right?
@@ethanhawke8369 bruh
I’ve been called pretentious, and I’m okay with that but I’m truly analyzing what people mean by that.
He's such a smart man. I love listening to him. ❤
Thank you very much for your lovely words, I really do appreciate it.Tell me what is your favorite movie of all my movies you have seen so far?
In some ways I think in a way confidence comes from not taking things too seriously. Having humor absolutely, setting and maintaining goals. Loving oneself, being genuinely kind to others and meaning it. But as a whole just accepting the deck of cards one is dealt and finding a way that really works. My anxiety has lessened a LOT once I realized that
I used to read long books that I didn't really enjoy, and I hated myself for being pretentious, but lately, I've realized that I was trying to get a better grasp on the English language. Linguistics is the only thing I ever had any talent for, so of course I wanted to enhance it as much as possible.
To be fair, it does take a certain level of pretentiousness to even BE an artist in the first place. Think about it: you are sitting by yourself, and an idea comes to mind, and you think it's so amazing and that other people would be interested in it...that you make it and then go out and promote it. "Hey everyone! Look at this cool thing I made!" Hahaha. Very simplified, but still quite accurate. You have to be a little vain to even see your ideas as something other people would give a shit about. Otherwise nobody would ever make anything.
I agree 1000% percent
What a pretentious comments section.
I'm not sure Ethan knows exactly what pretentious means.
M
Mox_au Thank you!
*P R E T E N T I O U S*
At least we have humour.
This Ethan Hawk video was like a breathe of fresh air or a dip in warm water - you just feel a little more alive after it.
nicolasap86 ...nope, still same aliveness as before.
What a pretentious comment! Well done...
Imagine someone like Chris Pratt saying those things....Ethan Hawke sound very clear and knows what he’s talking about.
Chriss pratt is an idiot to be honest
theres so much to get from this and from most people speaking openly out of something other than their bum. mostly though is how valuable being honest is, how generous it can be. Whether its to strangers on youtube who listen because your an artist or your famous or whether its to people you know or people you want to know or even people you just met. Maybe its all he knows havin been open with his emotions to be good at what he does, being comfortable with yourself while people are watching knowing enough of yourself to do so. im grateful though for that thing that actors have whether it was once bravery or whether its just their nature its really liberating to learn from someone whose got nothing to sell you and nothing to gain except whatever you get from introspection and sharing that lil part of yourself in that moment.
Lot of people have a crab in a barrel mentality. How dare you think you can do creative things. I can’t do them do you can’t either!
he's billiant. i'm happy to follow his work and admire him as one of the greatest
Thank you very much for your lovely words, I really do appreciate it.Tell me what is your favorite movie of all my movies you have seen so far?
I’m a big fan of his band “Sugar Ray”👍
Sugggaaaaarrr gaaaaaaaaay
Lol
Be pretentious, make a fool of yourself, aim high. What other people think doesn't matter, their stuck with opinions that applied to who you were 1 second/day/year ago, meanwhile you've moved on, you've learned, you've grown.
I found it refreshing that he didn’t feel a need to, when referring to his stage company work as “the great joy” of his life, tack on an obligatory “...with the exception of my children” or something along those lines.
I think a lot of people say that sort of thing because it’s expected for fear of being seen as an insensitive parent with their priorities out of wack.
When people are discussing their public life, their work life, how they’re contributing to whole, how they feel about and provide for their children has nothing to do with it. Maybe it just goes without saying that their kids are the most important thing to them or it may even be that (gasp) some people don’t feel like their role as a parent has to be their emblem.
Such an interesting and well-articulated perspective.
I'm so glad that he didn't change in his mindset. You'd have to watch the beginning of his career to now but he's always been a very intelligent guy who was kind of stuck doing this stuff that only showcased part of his intellectual potential. And still you could see it shinning through.
Anxiety is a thief of aspiration
There is no such thing as pretentious. There is only a failure to persuade. If I choose to express myself in a more formal or stylized manner, I have not chosen "pretentious" words or mannerisms, I have only chosen poorly. It is true the burden is on me if I am trying to convince you, or to express myself in a way that another person can relate to me, but in doing so am misunderstood. But words, manners, and deeds cannot be pretentious. As long as I believe the person to either side of me is my equal, I cannot by virtue of my equality to others be better or worse, and by that condition the dialog need only change.
Very well said.
Such a genius actor
Thank you very much for your lovely words, I really do appreciate it.Tell me what is your favorite movie of all my movies you have seen so far?
I feel like Ethan is needlessly trying to make "pretentious" sound good, when there are already words that describe what he means better - aspirational.
I think he’s responding to a specific criticism that’s often leveled at him. It’s not considered “pretentious” to aspire to backpack the Appalachian trail compared to performing Shakespeare. I think he’s not only encouraging people to have aspirations, but also to not let other folks’ labels keep you from pursuing something that others don’t see the value in
@@AcolytesOfHorror That's fair.
@@stark8837 It's a general criticism of our current culture, the internet, and how they react towards anything that's intellectually or artistically aspirational. The label has been misused to such a degree that it's basically lost its actual meaning. Most people who toss it around do so without the intent or means to back it up. It's instead just a reactionary dismissal, which is itself pretentious. It'd be humorous if it wasn't so sad.
@@trashmyego Nailed it, thank you.
Being "aspirational" is not what he is talking about though. His point is it's not that serious if you happen to do something "pretentious" _while aspiring to something,_ especially when young and full of enthusiasm and hybris. If you worry too much about appearing authentic, down-to-earth, humble etc. at all times, you might be taking yourself too seriously to actually grow (artistically, that is).
You are who you are. Don't apologize.
He is one of the most genuine Actors I've ever met and worked with
Setting goals for yourself, trying for greatness, and having a healthy self of humor about yourself, never taking yourself too seriously is not being pretentious. I understand what Hawke is saying but the most important thing is that so long as YOU don't think you are god's gift to earth, and don't take yourself too seriously, then you're not being a pretentious jerk. Trying to do great things is not pretention, it is ambition. There's nothing wrong with ambition, dedication, and passion.
It seems like he’s talking about being genuine, which is the opposite of being pretentious. I’m not sure he has the meaning of pretentious right.
It might just be a response or an explanation to those who have called him pretentious in the past. He's clearly not bothered by the semantics so at the point in his life, maybe being called pretentious is just fine.
He only went to elementary school....
@@paulflaubert7355 After I read your comment I saw that the side pane has a video from the Team Coco (Conan O'Brien's verified channel) with the title, "Ethan Hawke Dropped Out of College..."
This comment is so pretentious
Define Irony...only a few will get this comment lol
Good because Ethan Hawke said it’s ok, I will just continue in my pretentious ways. I’ve always laughed with others whether they are laughing with me or at me I’m just myself and people love that. People love Honesty even if they don’t get it.
Being selfish sometimes is even healthy too.
It’s always healthy. No one will ever take care of you the way you can for yourself.
Well you gotta be okay with pretentiousness if youre working with Linklater eight times in a row
The bottom line is this... Ethan Hawke was chosen, and would be nothing without a huge team of highly creative people behind him and he knows that about himself, so he's not really pretentious within the realm of his craft. Give him credit, he capitalized on the opportunity of his big break when it was presented to him.
I knew so many exceptionally talented people in NYC who had so much to offer in the realm of film, theater, music etc... But for whatever reason they decided not to take their art forms to the next level of commercialized success. Many chose to remain true to themselves by staying somewhat anonymous. They were the ones who didn't sell their souls to the Devil so to speak. I have a tremendous amount of respect for all of those artists who were intelligent enough to know the downfall of what it means to be controlled and famous while losing all sense of privacy and personal space.
hes so beautiful... soul and all
Hello there. Thank you very much for your lovely words, I really do appreciate it. Tell me what's your favorite movie of all my movies you have seen so far?
"Youthful hubris" I like that turn of phrase. Certainly found to be wanting lately in my own life.
I was living in NYC in the early 90's working out of a place known as Circle Rep Lab, and people would often say to me that I reminded them of Ethan Hawke. I never met him until last summer under a weird set of circumstances, but I can relate to what he's saying here. If I were to advise Ethan, I'd say be yourself and that we have a lot in common, but what separates us is our willingness or unwillingness to become someone we're not in real life.
Honestly, any day I'd rather be around truly obnoxiously pretentious people than those people who boast about how little they know, and overplay the humble pie role. Regarding such folk who avoid learning about new things and avoid meeting new people to better project an image of humility, seems to me no less narcissistic and far more personally destructive.
Agree, I can’t stand the “smart shaming” culture
Wow, this really speaks to me. Good guy Ethan
his concept of pretentiousness and how it pertained to the acting thing, i feel so related to knowledge in the same scenario..... people 100% treating an educated knowledgable person who actually enjoys learning about a certain few large fields and as a result has a significant accurate knowledge pool, people dont like to hear true facts about things that are bizarre and unexpected as much as me i guess, forever will be Kurt, that guy whos sort've pretentious
+Kurt M People are different. The thing is to treat everyone with respect and eventually you'll find someone else who sees things the way you do.
yeh and not to make assumptions because people are either incredibly transparent or absolutely unperceivable.
Ambition and pretentiousness are not the same. It seems he's describing and defending ambition - which many falsely equate with pretentiousness. I know HE knows the difference and is just explaining it ina way that many who consider him pretentious would understand, but i think it's important to highlight that the two concepts are not the same.
Edit: Actually, i just think the video is improperly titled. I don't think he would agree with pretentiousness being ok, but he would agree that it's ok to be (wrongly) PERCEIVED as pretentious.
Does anyone know the song at 1:29 ?
Love that! All of it true. I read his book when I moved out to Los Angeles..enjoyed it. Deep guy really.
My college crush- Ethan Hawke- this is my new favorite video. Sent it to my client.
His movies are so underrated
0:48 this edit was so perfect I laughed out loud...🤣
I've been accused of being both pretentious and basic, depending on how a person wants to "hate" on me lol. And let me tell u: I'd rather be pretentious. It at least connotes AMBITION. Tha'ts why. And Ethan hit it on the head: if you at least have SENSE OF HUMOR about yourself, that mitigates it. HA!
Bruh, I need Ethan Hawke to be my every day mentor.
I completely get what Ethan is saying.
Thank you very much for your lovely words, I really do appreciate it.Tell me what is your favorite movie of all my movies you have seen so far?
There's some good points here, but I think he's twisting the word pretentious in order to have something to say about it. At one point it's like he's saying "it's okay to be pretentious if you aren't pretentious about it." Having lofty goals is not the same thing as being pretentious. If you have lofty goals and are open about it, people will call you pretentious. That's potentially their mistake.
I like your style and your honesty. Handsome!
Thank you very much for your lovely words, I really do appreciate it.Tell me what is your favorite movie of all my movies you have seen so far?
@@ethanhawke8369 I saw the two movies you made of that romantic story with the woman you met in a train...and then your lives went separately, and at the end you guys meet again. Loved it! Very suggestive and smart, and very romantic. Thanks for replying!
@@gabyguala that must be the before trilogy, I'm glad I impressed you with that movie, it's always a wonderful feeling for me when I get positive reviews from my fans and admirers of my works. Where are you from?
@@ethanhawke8369 yes, it is indeed the trilogy, right! I am from South América. Where do you live, now?
@@gabyguala well South America is an entire continent, I live in the Brooklyn area of the United States, does your work involve creative art like mine?
Yup. Love this.
At first glance I thought it said: Ethan Hawke on why being pretty is ok. It totally made sense to me too.
Damn. I dont know much about Mr. Hawk, but i dont know if he speaks like an adoptee or a thespian. It's beautiful either way. Thank goodness for your words.
Oh, want more of this. Gratful!
he's so sexy it's effing depressing that he's old enough to be my dad :(
Dylan Collins isnt that the fun of it
And your comment makes me feel old 🙈
I have daddy issues so i definitely let him absolutely destroy me.
"To do anything artistically and especially to have the courage to put it out here... you have to take risks...coming off as pretentious is just one of the more minor ones" - Steve Lomprey
I was hoping that it would be a doc. on Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Therefore he's not pretentious. Magnificent.
Let's be fair. Everything you do is pretentious to an extent.
To be fair, everything that everyone does could be considered "X to an extent." The danger of making everything relative is that it becomes increasingly difficult to make important distinctions that matter. Let "X" be 'arrogant' or 'mischievous' or 'deceitful', etc., and you'll likely see how meaningless the frame of relativism can be.
thanks ethan for that last point especially. you have to maintain some youthful hubris, otherwise you won't get anything done. so true. i have often judged others for crafting some piece of this or that when it seemed they were naive and missing something essential in their creation - and this same judgement has halted me too often from actually finishing things and releasing them for others to engage with how they will. to have the courage and yet the humility to make things, oh my. we must!
DAMN. I got a huge crush on him. He's brainy and multi-tasked man....but he could be my dad hahaha
Daddy
This is going to sound totally pretentious but Is there anything more pretentious than a person who calls something/someone else 'pretentious'? How much self-importance does someone need to have to be the one who can apply this label to others?
Yep
He's right. His band Sugar Ray was never pretentious. They had a surprise hit song "Fly" that was unlike their other songs but they continued to write songs in that vein because that's what the public wanted.
i love him so much
Hello there. Thank you very much for your lovely words, I really do appreciate it. Tell me what's your favorite movie of all my movies you have seen so far?
Why did him and Uma split? They seemed good together.
The world's most polite brat.
1:20 Piano piece? Does anyone have the name?
Yes, he's pretentious, but in today's dumbed-down society, his snobbery is refreshing.
@kataisa3- couldn't agree more. And Michael Anderson, high horses today are overcrowded with the proudly stupid.
h d it’s strange from everyone’s point of view, I feel like people are more ego centric than ever before. But also the most miserable at the same time. To each there own.
Standards
People tend to make some activities more important or special than it actually is and can also think themselves unimportant or less valid than they actually are.
Saying being pretentious is okay is so pretentious.
ehh...
That comment is so pretentious
@@TheVertigo686 i never wanted to write a comment. It just made sense at the time.
pretenception
pretentious. attempting to impress by affecting greater importance and talent than is actually possessed or merrited. in other words, if you can't dazzle them with you brilliance baffle them with bullshit in the hopes they'll confuse the latter for the former.
I'd definetely buy Ethan Hawke as a director, I'd absolutely love that.
He is painfully underrated.
Man, there is so much wisdom packed into this clip. I figured he was a smart guy but damn.
I hate pretentious people, but I love authentic people. I think there is a difference, Ethan just forgot to point it out.
Wow this is great advice and strangely enough very humble advice 😊 thank you time and ethan! Very cool
my favorite part of this is all of the comments from pretentious people, who clicked on this because they are pretentious, being pretentious by arguing that he's not pretentious
I don’t think I’d call this stereotypical pretentious. He’s not waving all his accomplishments around, he actually respects his craft as well as holds standards for himself, he’s well read and in touch with his emotions and what he wants. He also doesn’t drag anyone down when he’s exhibiting his passion.
Most of Hollywood is pretentious. Matter of fact it's what is built upon. Hollywood loves to create new young hot actors who take the entertainment world by storm. Then a number of them burn out. Ethan is so wise. He's learned a great deal from the aging process about himself. He's a wealth of knowledge about living a meaningful life.
I think he is pretentious but I loved his Chet Baker movie. I also loved Reality Bites.
Thank you very much for your lovely words, I really do appreciate it.Tell me what is your favorite movie of all my movies you have seen so far?
Being Sugar gay is ok 👌
For decades I hated on Ethan Hawke because i believed he was his character in Reality Bites - a real douchebag. But turns out, he's a really deep and down to earth guy - and maybe i'm the douchebag
You're not though. You are self aware. You are beautiful.
Thanks.
People rarely reflect on their lives in public, they don't talk about themselves the way that Ethan does here because the media obviously promotes celebrities for economic reasons; thus actors appear more ego centric because people watch these interviews of them talking about themselves which is so foreign. Celebrities are ego driven because they need to be and after awhile they start believing that they are important and people want to hear about them. If he stopped getting roles and doing interviews, his vanity would turn to despair.