By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com
Ya Know…
Does it tell you anything that even Denise Brown is sick of obsessing on OJ?
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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” — 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 — 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 — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — 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 named—” “Yeah, sure — 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 I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s 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 didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — 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. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s 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
two things on your asides:
did manilow not know hasselbeck was on “the view” when it was originally booked? it’s not like she’s new to the show
and let’s please not put sean penn up as an icon. he declared hussein and chavez as not so bad, all the while declaring bush to be a dictator and tyrant. that could be an nbc show “tyrannt or no tyrannt with sean penn”
On behalf of my homie living in Venezuela under Chavez; fuck Sean Penn. That visit was not cool man. It was not cool. Nevertheless; I could give a crap about OJ part III (part II being the civil trial). He was either entrapped, or had an epic level moment of stupidity. Which ever one it is… I could give a shit. I never got caught up in the bloodlust for the guy. Nor have I ever believed he acted on that night alone. Unless he was tweaking out of his money to such a high degree. Whateverthecase; the hell with OJ, the ignorant new woman on the view, and Michael Bay’s feathery hair. How dare his hair be so damn feathery.
Declaring yourself above the fray just calls attention to the fray.
did you not notice the fray before?
So what does adding nothing to the conversation other than to comment on having the conversation at all do, AC?
It’s weird. I think you have a point in there, but it strikes me – endlessly – that the deflection of any serious self-examination is exactly why we are in this increasingly deepening quagmire… because smart people like you choose to not only look the other way but to complain when anyone else doesn’t do likewise.
Or maybe I am misreading you…
DP, you have a point.
So why is it that nobody ever seems to get it?
Jeff; the circular construction of Heat’s posting could be frustrating to those who are more accustomed to linear thinking. Personally; I love a brother who gets a running start before he actually gets to the point. That’s good soup.
Yes, we know what you think about linear thinking.
I think–repeat, think–that the point Penn was trying to make (badly) is that Bush is a tyrant who goes around yammering about democracy and liberty and freedom, whereas Chavez and Hussein never pretended to be anything but dictators. It’s not the crime, it’s the hypocrisy.
DP – very much appreciate these sentiments. When today’s media attempts to provide a window to the human condition it is far too often a harrowing panorama. I think more people need to speak up about it, protest, burn their TV Guides, their microwave popcorn, etc.
Re Mr. Manilow & The View, I’d say the whole show is moronic ditziness, and to try to divide it into liberal or conservative moronic ditziness, and then take sides, is beside the point.
On a side note, let’s look at this tendency to Tivo The View. While laudable in its way, and acknowledging your acknowledgement of niche views – I’d suggest that looking to The View to grasp even the nichest notion of women’s views would prove as enlightening as looking to Sumner Redstone to grasp the notion of esprit de corps.
The effect of a regular diet of such verbage boggles the mind, perhaps literally. It would explain what appear to be certain brain burps re women in an otherwise seemingly intelligent mind, for example, confusing bloated pics of superheroes w/ certain bloggers, and the curious notion you once expressed in passing, that “No Reservations” might be a sleeper hit with women.
Fine, Tivo it, but i’d say you’re skating a fine edge by actually watching it…
Jeff; come the fuck on brah. Come the fuck on.
I’m with Alan on this one.
I hear about this shit from 300 other media outlets, i don’t need to hear about it on a website where i come to read and discuss cinema.
You can justify pointing and snickering at shit like Finke vs. Wells, because at least that circus freak sideshow is related to the topics covered here.
But this? This is just silly.
Sean Penn is endlessly entertaining to watch. One week he is in New Orleans DURING Katrina, the next week he is riding shotgun with Chavez. The balls on this man could wrap around the equator. Twice.
cadavra:
hypocrisy is worse than the crime? i trust this is not a position you hold to.
tofu:
you might recall the katrina trip did not turn out so well for him. boat sprang a leak. with all his publicity people and cameras, hardly any room in boat for actually katrina victims.
Bad news, Anghus… the column, the sites, the blog, have never been as narrow as you like.
And it’s when people like you can’t fathom how this all connects is when I feel more compelled to keep doing it. We are in a powerfully evolutionary moment in media and it’s ALL connected.
And if we remain disconnected from how the future evolves, it will evolve solely based on revenue models.
In point of fact, your attitude about it is exactly the trouble. You are one person amongst tens of thousands who come to this blog and you are bitching because your personal tastes are not being serviced. But that kind of “customer service” leads no where but to Britney’s vagina, because a show of hands will always lead to the lowest common denominator, by definition.
Unfortunately, more and more, ignoring the people who comment in here is becoming a requirement for me to invest the energy to deliver the content they/you wish to comment upon. Maybe this is the beginning of the end of the communal blog experience. Sounds like another column that would irritate you
David, do you really want to hear from every person who disagrees with your choices? I think that you have successfully clamped down on a lot of that over the last few years.
“hypocrisy is worse than the crime? i trust this is not a position you hold to.”
Correct. Explaining, not endorsing.
I wouldn’t think of telling you what to discuss or not to discuss on your blog, DP. Whatever you think is interesting, knock yourself out.
If you want to discuss the larger ramifications of the whole event and why the media covers such non-news, I’m right there with you… except that it’s been done, ad nauseam, for so long that at this point, I think it’s best for people just to lead by example, so to speak, instead of talking about the terrible state of news today. It’s like this whole MoveOn thing… I haven’t even seen the ad everyone’s so “upset” about (and I expect most people haven’t either, at least before the brouhaha), but I’m certain it’s all crocodile tears for more attention.
Again, feel free to discuss what you like, I just think that it’s a circular argument and you’re pretty much preaching to the choir on this subject anyway, I’d imagine.
Dave,
i think your post is a little bit of an overreaction. All i said was reading about OJ on here seemed kind of silly, but if you’re going to try to paint some kind of grand picture and tell me that OJ getting arrested somehow interconnects with everything else in the entertainment world, well, then you kind of lost me.
i wasn’t bitching about my personal tastes not being serviced at all. In fact, from the hundreds of other posts i’ve made over the years, i think it would seem quite evident that my tastes are being serviced, or i wouldn’t keep coming back.
Just because i don’t agree with you or something posted doesn’t mean it’s an indoctrination of the site as a whole. And your point about my attitude makes little to no sense, as me complaining about seeing stuff like OJ on the blog is, in fact, hoping that it doesn’t get to a point where we see Britney’s Vagina.
How many posts have i made rallying against the tabloidization of entertainment journalism, and how much i loathe it?
it’s another side effect of the new age of media: short term memory. you’re online persona is only as well formed as your most recent post.
I’d ask you to clarify your point about someone saying ‘who cares about OJ, this is a movie/entertainment site’ being a show of hands that would lead to the lowest common denominator, but it hardly seems worth the effort. If you’ve got an axe to grind on responding to people who don’t always share your same view, then fine. But that was a pretty weak post in which to build the foundation of your arguement.
To this day, i never understood why disagreement is seen as decension. I like the site. I like the content. I think OJ stories are best left for sites like Perez Hilton. But by your logic, eventually all sites will one day feature shots of vaginas next to weekly box office revenue and reviews of the latest releases.
how depressing.
Disagreement is not a problem in here, no matter how many times people say it is. Dismissal of the conversation because it isn
“I wish we would get a bit on new blood posting in here. Some of you are getting a little too frat/family for discourse to be as strong as it once was.”
Or maybe you’re not getting a lot of new blood because newcomers aren’t impressed by what they read? (And before you have a snit fit David — no, I don’t mean just what you write.)