The trope of ‘Older, non-maestro schemer ends the career/life of young, naive maestro’ always bugged me*. It happens, sure. But the trope’s not always compatible with the idea of a competent schemer, is it? An intelligent person – like the protagonist of ‘Reasonable Ambitions’ – could just as easily realize that you don’t kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, particularly when the goose is going to be ridiculously and profitably grateful for the way you take care of those annoying day-to-day distractions. The people normally interacting with the goose would probably be more grateful, too. Genius can be a bit much to deal with, on a regular basis**.
Moe Lane
*AMADEUS is an excellent movie that nonetheless has a lot to answer for.
**Twenty years ago, I would have made an arrogant joke about that; these days, I refrain. Mind you, I haven’t become humbler. I just have less of a need to remind people about how awesome I am.
** The idea of not giving a damn what others think is.. one many people discover eventually, often in middle age. For women, it seems harder to figure out, not sure what that’s about.
‘s very freeing.
Mew
Geese are A**holes. I can only imagine how insufferable a golden-egg goose would become.
I suspect most cases are actually “non-maestro does not stand in the way of maestro destroying their own life.” My understanding is that Mozart died young due to his self destructive, hedonistic ways.
Salieri and Mozart were, by most accounts, on good terms. But that’s not an interesting play/movie.
Never let reality get in the way of a good plot line.