Have you ever known someone similar to Sam Mraovich?

Yes. I knew a guy whose determination and ego far exceeded his actual talent. He wanted to be a comic book artist but his art was awful. Friends who were better artists offered to assist him, but he rebuffed them, thinking that his art was far better than theirs.

Honestly, I think "talent" is subjective. It really is all a matter of opinion. However, I've met some people who simply do not take any feedback or criticism. They insist on not accepting help, they can do everything themselves. They want all of the screen credits, all of the accolades. Unfortunately, that's a very counterproductive attitude to have, but not entirely uncommon.

On a related note, I try to avoid criticizing other indie filmmakers, since I know how hard it is to make a movie. And we may never know what Mr. Sam Mraovich's vision was with "Ben and Arthur" or what his true intention was (some people have even suggested that his film is a satirical parody of the whole gay marriage issue).

However, whatever his intention/vision was, he certainly garnered a reaction from his audience.

"Head Case" (4-Disc Limited Edition) - www.createspace.com/238911

Well I can't say I've known a person who is both narcissistic AND untalented, but I do know a similar real life example.

My father is a huge St. Louis Cardinals fan, and he thinks Rick Ankiel is the greatest center fielder in baseball. Not joking on that either, he SERIOUSLY believes that Rick Ankiel, with his .219 batting average, 6 home runs, and 24 RBIs in late July as of this writing, is the greatest center fielder in the game of baseball today. He was just totally robbed of the all star game this year, and he will probably be in the hall of fame in less than 10 years. This is seriously how he feels about this guy, when it is obvious he is a mediocre bench player at best, and about a 4th or 5th outfielder option on that team.

I'm not calling my dad similar to Sam Mraovich, but I am saying I can see times where that type of attitude is real for people, that they believe that whatever they made, or in this case whoever they root for, is simply the best thing on earth, even when it is so obvious by the numbers and the public reaction that said movie or person has absolutely no talent and is just making themself look stupid by continuing to say it.

Dad's a great man, but his statements when it comes to a player no one outside of St. Louis has ever heard of, that's a decent example of how people can and do have this type of attitude in real life. There's noting wrong with dad mentally; he just either refuses to acknowledge the truth, or he simply does not notice how every other outfielder in baseball has better numbers right now.

I think I've finally met someone who is somewhat similar to Sam. I haven't met him in person but he corresponded with me after I put up a Craigslist ad.

This guy has been putting up ads in the Craigslist music section for months now, looking for musicians to join his band. Among other things, he claims that it's pop-punk in the style of Green Day, that it's "professionally managed," and that they will be having an upcoming video shoot, gigs and studio sessions soon.

When you actually look at his Myspace, though, you see that he's about as "punk" as Fall Out Boy are a "heavy metal" band. His music is cheesy, generic '70s/'80s bar-band rock with the kind of raspy vocals that every hair-metal band had in the '80s. And the "professional management" that runs his band is nothing more than his own one-man company.

In the meantime, I'm putting a band together that plays more in the style of shoegaze, psychedelic and garage punk, influenced by bands like the Stooges, My Bloody Valentine, Velvet Underground and Jesus and Mary Chain. In my ad, I was very explicit about what music I wanted to play, what bands I was influenced by, and that I only wanted other musicians who wanted to play that style of music.

He ignored that and responded to my ad, and I sent a very sarcastic response telling him to go back and re-read the ad I put in. He wrote back and claimed that he was indeed into all the bands I'd listed in my ad, a blatant lie which was very obvious from reading his ads, hearing his music and seeing his Myspace.

This guy obviously hasn't found anyone yet and he's still putting out ads. I don't think he's ever going to find folks to be in his band.

Walk into any creative course in any college in America and you will end up meeting your fair share of Mraovichs. - Dr. Raymond Borin

"There is no knowledge without experimentation" - Myself, Dr. Raymond Borin

By that, I mean someone who is both narcissistic AND untalented. Someone who is deluded enough to think they have special talents they needed to share with us while having absolutely no clue how awful they are.

Someone had mentioned Christian Chandler and his Sonichu comics - which began as an amateurish mashup of Sonic the Hedgehog and Pokemon, then devolved into semi-autobiographical wish fulfillment and worse. Egged on by trolls, Chandler put videos of himself on YouTube which took a far stranger turn, going from defending his work and life to macking with inflatable love dolls.