It Ain't Like the Movies
After quoting The Wonder Boys yesterday, I decided to return with a couple more quotes:
Grady Tripp [Narrating]: She was a junkie for the printed word. Lucky for me, I manufactured her drug of choice.
and later . . .
Vernon: Why did you keep writing this book if you didn't even know what it was about?
Grady Tripp: I couldn't stop.
*****************
One of the reasons I love The Wonder Boys is it actually seems to show the writing life. He's a professor . . . it's a particular subset of writers, but his whole bewildering process through writing the book felt very real to me.
Unlike MOST movies. I don't know what universe script writers are from (oh wait . . . Hollywood), but they seem to get the writing life all wrong.
Let's take Martian Child. It is actually an admittedly awful movie that I happen to like very much since the child in question is VERY much like my Demon Baby. Pretty much anyone who knows him and sees the movie says, "Gosh . . . that kid is a lot like . . ." Yes, he is. However, Jon Cuszack as the writer labors over the sequel to his sci-fi novel and on the NIGHT of his gala party, thrown (for a sci-fi novel, no less) at an incredibly EXPENSIVE locale with glittering famous people by the hundreds, he tells his editor, AS SHE IS GIVING A SPEECH that, in fact, he did not write the sequel she asked for . . . but a different book, and does she mind reading it? She reads it, cries, he I guess goes on to more millions (the guy lives in a NICE house in LA). It could not be more fake.
All right . . . besides that, writers are depicted as either very wealthy and reclusive . . . or as depressives. I am neither. Well, not true. I am actually reclusive by nature and if I could get away with it all the time, I would. So perhaps it is healthier for me that I am not so wealthy that I can avoid contact with all other humans.
So . . . for a fun Friday . . . what is your favorite ridiculous movie about writers . . . and is there one you responded to because they seemed to have gotten it right?
38 comments:
I like the one about the hard-drinking, chain-smoking, coke-snorting, self-destructive literary genius who finishes his 2000 word quota every day no matter what, even on birthdays and holidays.
Wait a minute...that was Stephen King before he got sober. ;)
I think there's an element of truth to the Hollywood stereotypes. Sure, they're exagerrated, but bestselling authors really do have big launch parties sometimes and media escorts when they're on tour and all. And a lot of writers really are reclusive by nature and have substance abuse problems.
There was a movie in the 80s called Barfly that I thought was pretty good. I think the script was written by Charles Bukowski and was mostly autobiographical. Oh, and I loved Adaptation, which you recommended a while back.
Wonder Boys is the only one I've come across that seemed remotely similar to real life. My wife hated it, I loved it. I accused her of being afraid she was living it.
I'll tell you which ones didn't work well for me. Finding Forrester with Sean Connery. What dreck.
Cheaper by the Dozen. Now, I like the movie a fair amount, but she gets her memoir sold, it's getting published within about a month, they're flying her to New York City, then drop the bomb on her that, yes, as a matter of fact, your book tour is starting TOMORROW with Today, and then Oprah...
Star Trek is closer to reality.
And I swear, if I see another movie about an author writing on a frickin' manual typewriter... (this should be called the Hollywood Troika: In movies, anyone shopping at a grocery store MUST have a stalk of celery sticking out of the bag; any woman in a bikini whether on the beach, at the pool, or in the hot tub, MUST be wearing high heels; any writer, whether a novelist or journalist, MUST use a manual typewriter).
I'm making a list of movies to see as I read this post. I catch most of my flicks by accident when channel surfing...so it will be fun to have a reason to actually rent a DVD. Now, if I can only figure out how to work that DVD player.
The Soloist is about a journalist (although in real life he became a novelist) and all the reviews of the movie, along with the friends I saw it with, claim the beginning of the movie drags, is boring, etc. That's the part of the movie that depicts the journalist in search of his story - any story - and wanting to find something worth writing about, something that will capture his heart and his mind. His fixation and determination rang true with me. I found that part of the movie especially personal, touching, relateable and real.
I liked Wonder Boys, but one of the things I didn't understand was Grady using a Selectric throughout most of the movie (seemed like it was set in the late 70s/early 80s) and then he had a modern desktop computer at the end. Maybe I missed something, but the computer seemed like an anachronism to me.
Funny Farm comes to mind. Realistic in that Chevy Chase never gets published--but his wife does.
I love Nim's Island-- Jodie Foster as an agoraphobic writer. It may not be terribly true to life, but she is a great character.
I also love Castle--not a movie and not very realistic, but the dialogue is witty.
And I think that Cheaper By the Dozen seems more realistic after seeing the Jon and Kate Plus Eight fiasco.
Jude:
I know plenty of writers that fit the stereotype, but a lot more are working writers, approaching it professionally. I think things like Barfly romanticize dysfuntion.
E
Mark:
I loved the ORIGINAL Cheaper by the Dozen, and I have affection for the remake too. But I laughed at the whole writer thing.
E
Amy:
Actually, I really loved Julie and Julia because of Julia's quest to get her cookbook published--much the same sort of thing you're talking about. Granted, her cookbook wasn't fiction, but it was a labor of love, a longstanding project she was passionate about.
Jude:
I saw the typewriter as being a classic quirk of Grady's. He was so set in his stoner ways, and then in the end, healthier in spirit, it was time to move into the digital age.
E
Heather:
My daughter loved Nim's Island--ahven't seen it. I can't get through Castle (not realistic enough for me)--but I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE the guy in it. :-) Bring back SERENITY! LOL!
I think things like Barfly romanticize dysfuntion.
True, but most writers' lives are probably too mundane to make a very compelling movie.
I'll have to watch Wonder Boys again. I think there were scenes where other charaters were using typewriters as well. The whole thing just had a late 70s/early 80s vibe to me, until the end when the computer magically appeared. But maybe that's because Grady reminded me of one of my creative writing professors back then.
Jude:
Some things were changed from the book . . . (which I recommend!). And I think its locale and the wintery setting also leant a sort of drab feel to the bar scenes and so on. It did feel a little retro.
E
I don't watch many movies, mainly because I'm usually reading. With that said, the few movies I've watched that deal with writing, I usually find some take away element. For example, I liked Finding Forrester for one line (not exact quote here) "If you don't know what to write, start writing someone else's words and then when you start hearing your own words, write them." I may be goofy, but at the time I was stuck on a section of my WIP, and I gave it a try. It actually worked for me, got me past the place where I choked up.
So, no one picked the Shining?
My wife thinks it is realistic, but she has to live with me. You mileage may vary.
I loved Nim's Island! Omg, it was the sweetest thing. I totally connect with the agoraphobic thing, not because I'm agoraphobic, but because I'm freaky about the phone. (It literally took me four hours to call a campground and make a reservation yesterday. It is so silly. If it were in driving distance, I would driven there in a minute!) Plus she went to save a child, and she wrote heroines who were braver than her. It's just the coolest, sweetest story. EXCEPT the ending. I forget why, but the ending was cliche.
I loved Finding Forrester. The typewriter thing is annoying, but I liked that he pounded through first drafts by the sound of the keys clicking. I totally do that when the words get stuck: close my eyes and force my fingers to keep up the rhythm.
What was the one about the writer who goes insane? I think it's a King story. The Window? The Upper Window? Something like that.
I loved how nuts the writer gets in that, the deterioration he undergoes as he writes. (my house does the same thing, like now.)
But I don't identify with writers in films. I might be a little bit eccentric, but I don't have the luxury of submerging myself into my art like I used to when I painted BK. (Before Kids.)
Hi Beth:
I often take something away even in a sea of bad movie-dom. LOL!
E
Allen:
You're scaring me. ;-)
E
I love Sideways. The obsessive nature of the main character is SO fitting.
The only other one I can think of right now is Stranger Than Fiction, and I can't stop thinking how fun it would be to have an actual person acting out the thoughts in my head.
SS: That was Secret Window, with Johnny Depp. Cool story with a great twist at the end.
Ah yes. Johnny Depp. SECRET WINDOW. I liked it. I like him. Sigh. Yummy.
Ahem.
I'm sure he had NO BEARING WHATSOEVER on my affection for the film.
I thought Sideways was great.
My wife and I always laugh ... it seems so often that whenever a nerdy, disheveled, ugly, neurotic character appears in a movie or TV, they turn out to be a writer.
Adaptation was wonderful.
Castle won me over the moment he put on a bullet proof vest with WRITER on the front and back. His all access pass to crime scenes isn't realistic, but the references to writing, at least to me, is on closer to the truth of the writing process.
Romancing The Stone is one where I think they got somewhat close and really it was a great, cheesy film.
Oh, and I have to mention Stranger Than Fiction. Yes, the whole typewriter thing is unrealistic, especially with someone who has money, but the scenes where she's imagining how she will kill Harold is kind of how I see my scenes. When I'm stuck I try to play it out in my head i.e. suddenly I'm staring off into space like a zombie. If nothing else, the way they captured how she got the idea for the perfect way to kill Harold is on point.
Sidenote: Loved Finding Forrester.
I saw Wonderboys when it came out but these references make me want to watch it again.
I liked Stand By Me. The narrator was writing the book throughout the whole thing and at the end, still took time to go play with his kids.
XX/XY, starring Mark Ruffalo. Nuff said, right? ;-) Although, I think he wrote commercials if I'm not mistaken. You know, sometimes I get caught up by other things.
Cheaper by the dozen slaughtered the publishing process. I can't watch it anymore without gagging.
Scene One: I'm editing my book!
Three months later: OMG, Oprah's people are coming.
Umm...what?
I highly doubt I'll ever be within a hundred miles of Oprah - Ellen maybe - but Oprah is a major stretch.
Okay ... here's one. "She Devil" with Rosanne and Meryl Streep. Streep plays a romance writer, complete with floppy hat and affected manner. Talk about total cheese. I thought it was hilarious.
Personally, I liked "Finding Forrester" ... and not just because it was Sean Connery - although I could watch him anyday.
I agree ... "Cheaper by the Dozen" was aweful.
Anyone watch Bones? It's a tv show that comes on about a forensic scientist that works with the FBI to solve murders. She's also a writer and they love to mention her money and do things like have her walk out on a famous interviewer so she can meet the FBI agent.
The personality doesn't gel though because she is logical like Spock and doesn't "get" the whole interpersonal relationships-- friends, lovers, family--none of it. So how is her writing on the bestseller list?
Natasha:
I didn't love Finding Foreester--mostly because the plot reminded me of Scent of a Woman. I mean, almost to an exact plot point by plot point at times. But . . . the typewriter thing tends not to bother me because I know plenty of writers with unusual quirks or who write in longhand on particular kinds of paper and with particular pens. So why a typewriter would be different . . . .
E
Melanie and Jon:
LOL! I liked Sideways too. I had forgotten about that one. And yeah, writers are always the schlubby ones . . . unless . . . as Starbucks pointed out . . . they are Johnny Depp. ;-)
E
Melissa:
I felt like Stranger than Fiction nailed some of the process. Odd movie. I think it mostly would appeal to writers . . . . .
E
Nadine:
Another good one. I actually don't mind voiceovers like that. Did you see Big Fish? Same thing. That Billy Crudup did the voiceover didn't hurt, either. :-)
E
JT:
LOL!!! Yes. Oprah's on her way!
E
Liz:
OMG, I forgot that awful movie!!!!!
E
Richmond:
I watch that show in re-runs. I "think" her books are nonfiction . . . . which gels then. I like her character's odditiy. Mark knows more about the show . . . I am a recent watcher and only reruns.
E
Tried to watch Scent of a Woman, but gave up. Maybe that's why I love Finding Forrester. Stranger Than Fiction - loved it. So quirky.
(Not liking this tiny box to type in. Google screw up this morning?)
Loved the original Cheaper by the Dozen. Loved! Never watched the remake.
Love Miss Potter. I know there are others, but can't think of them right now.
OK. Blogger's back to normal now.
Mmm... I'll take Johnny Depp shlubby or not shlubby.
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