Beauty

I requested Man On Wire from Netflix and was pleasantly surprised. I vaguely recall his twin towers stunt back in August 1974. I was finishing up a summer school course (Social Psychology) at Buffalo State College to complete my graduation from SUNY Oswego.

I had been waitressing all summer to save money for my journey to San Francisco. Nixon was about to be impeached. I was reading Ken Kesey's Electric CoolAid Acid Test. New York City was on the horizon of my thoughts, as my college room mate, Darcy, had moved there after graduation. I had been there once on a college art fieldtrip. I knew The World Trade Center had become the world's tallest buildings.

They were actually just being completed when Philippe Petit and his crew managed to make their way to the top with a crate of tools and 450 pounds of steel wire to produce the event that had been planned for six years. The new documentary about the adventure is full of fantasic film footage of the construction of the twin towers and Petit rehearsing in the fields near his home in France.

A poet and skywriter, the artistry of Phillipe Petit shows us beauty and passion that is rare today. Man On Wire is likely to win an Oscar in the Best Decumentary category. I will be rooting for them!