Just came across this at moviefone.com. Riotously funny take on how Facebook would have made some movies absolutely impossible. My favorite is An American Tail.

Paprika Poster

Satoshi Kon, director of Paprika and other such mind-bending anime films, passed away a few days ago, from pancreatic cancer.

For me, the pain is rather amplified by the fact that my father died of this same cancer, in much the same way: far too quickly after the diagnosis.

The world has lost not only a great animator, but also a great inventive mind. If (When?) I teach my course on music in anime, I will definitely spend time on his works.

AnimeNewsNetwork link.

In light of the tangents a recent thread on AMRC took, I find myself asking:

What is the difference between a professional and an amateur?

For me, a professional begins with someone being paid for the activity. So, a professional artist is paid for their work, a professional musician is paid, etc. For others, professionalism is defined by the level of engagement, i.e., a professional sports player going to practice daily, a professional writer being someone who has published, and frequently.

What, though, about people who are paid for their work, but work irregularly—i.e., the writer who puts out a novel every five years, and lives off his wife’s income otherwise? What about people who are paid in virtual currency, which is common on chat forums? Or someone who is trying to make it as an actor, but still works day shifts as a waiter?

Next question: does quality matter? I know a lot of professional musicians who aren’t actually great musicians. They’re constantly called back for work, though, because they’re great people, reliable, steady, and available. They aren’t “great artists,” but they are professional musicians. I also know plenty of people who are great musicians but don’t get a lot of work—are they professionals?

In studying popular culture, as we do in anime and manga, one common parameter against which things are judged is, of course, their popularity. But popularity can’t be a measure of quality, can it? There’s utter garbage on YouTube, for instance, that gets millions of hits because it’s funny, or novel, or attracts people somehow. Yet the creators of these videos aren’t professional… are they? What if they have ads on their site?

So, I guess I leave the question unanswered: What determines if someone or something is professional? Is it quality, popularity, amount of money earned, or an attitude toward the field?

Thoughtful comments welcome!