I was labeled a gifted child somewhere around the age of 5. How this was discovered remains a mystery. I was sent to a counselor's office with my parents and being asked to listen to a story and then being asked questions about the story. I had little quizzes to take. I remember never having been in that room, it was stuffy in there, and not wanting to be there.
I was put into a "Gifted" class for 2 hours at a time on a Wednesday. All I knew was that I was happy not to be in class. Being reflective, I don't know how much I really learned there. It was very relaxed, and we got to do things we wanted like making new inventions or talking to each other. I got to get out or normal classes though and go do fun things like use computers, meet other kids who were different, and one time, our gifted instructor sat us down to watch a VHS movie called Dune.
It was magic. It was a live-action version of the serious cartoons I had envisioned in my head. I didn't know there were directors or actors at the time, I didn't understand the schematics of how they put on lavish costumes and worked with huge production puppets. Why were they calling me gifted again? Well, I assume every once in a while, one nerd slips thru the cracks.
David Lynch, one of my idols in personal and business sense, a decade or so later, would I realize was the director of Dune. And by critical accounts, hated for it. I couldn't understand it. The man was a genius. And his other work is part of my collection of most loved movies.
Every once in a while I'll go back and revisit the House of Atreides, Paul, and the spice melange. Yes, it's got a campy vibe at times, but the colors, the design, the magic is still there.
Also, in my teens, I realized that the spice was marijuana. I was way off with that thesis, but I'm pretty sure it made sense to me at the time.
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