It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” ā some novel, you know?
So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.
And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it ā I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.
There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.
I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury ā he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” ā and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging ā I was with her at that moment ā she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.
But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy namedā” “Yeah, sure ā you want his phone number?”
My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher
“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that Iām on the phone with you now, after all thatās been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didnāt seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. Thereās not a case of that. He wasnāt using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had ā if that were what the accusation involved ā the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. Iām not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, āYou know, itās not this, itās thatā? Because ā let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. TimesĀ piece, thatās what it lacked. Thatās what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.
~ David Simon
My thoughts are with you and your friend, David. Stay strong, take care of yourself.
10th Anniversary this week of my mother’s death as well DP.
Friends dropping like flies to cancer this year as well.
Been quite a shit one as years go.
Let’s drink to the dead.
Amen.
Condolences to you and your friend, David.
COndolences Dave & to your friend. It hasn;t happened to me yet but it terrifies me.
I don;t know what’s in the environment this past year but cousins, friends and friends’ kids are getting cancer, my best friend’s 2 year old. Obscene. And we still can;t do real Stem cell harvesting in the USA.
There is a horrible panic that runs through you when you become a parent and that’s having to die one day and knowing how hard it will be on your kids. I used to fear death before I had another’s life in my hands. But now, I want to be here as long as possible.
I know what it will mean when I finally do go and how painful it will be. I even silently practice what I am going to tell my child when the time is near (that is, anticipating I will have the opportunity) and what I would say is this: The loss of someone you love like that never goes away. It’s going to hurt for a long time. It will hurt like you can’t believe. You will get angry at me, you will miss me, you will wish I was around to mark the big moments with you. In a weird sort of way, I am still here. I will never completely go away. But one day, the pain won’t be so unbearable. And feeling better doesn’t mean you’ve forgotten me. It just means that time has helped you to live your life better. And that’s what I want most for you.
So there you go, the world’s most depressing speech, practiced in my head. I hope your friend’s mom got to say something similar to help ease the agony. š
This is why people join cults. Somebody pass me a dixie cup of Kool-Aid.
Hang in there Dave and JBD…
My condolences to you and your friend, David. Once again, I reminded of something Francois Truffaut wrote: “Each year we have to cross out names from our address book, and a moment comes when we realize we know more dead people than living.”
Thanks to all… for me and JBD… and more importantly today, for my friend…
I skipped the marriage and birth part and went right to the dying parents part 13 years ago. Even if it had happened in the proscribed order, nothing can really prepare you for it and I still feel aftershocks of it to this day.
Over the years I’ve consoled myself with the fact that it’s a part of life for most people and for what it’s worth, it’s less tragic than a parent losing a child. I also like to remind myself that some people are not lucky enough to have parents worth missing. I did and for that I’m greatful.
It’s inspiring David to hear that you were able to take a bad and channel it into a positive. I’m still working on that part all these years later.
Wow, that was way more about me than I originally intended. I got all worked up with the preface and dropped the ball before the original point which was condolences for your friend, you and anyone who has been through it.