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
“Have we forgotten that the progressive comedy of Norman Lear started with a bigot named Archie Bunker, his dry cleaner, George Jefferson, and his cousin Maude
Great analysis, I should add. You provide a heck of a lot more context than Barnes does, and get to the main issues in a way he doesn’t come close to. You have to wonder what his editors were thinking (or weren’t) when they ran a piece that has essentially no evidence at all for its claims. A journalism prof would give this an ‘F.’ But this is the NYT, they don’t need to worry about trivia like that.
Ha, I was going to say the same thing, Blackcloud.
Aside from that, agree, agree, agree with Poland. Great piece. Perfect. Bravo. Dy-no-mite!
The stupidity of the movie’s critics is so vast and profound (for example:
Indeed, very good piece Dave.
The quote about New Orleans is pretty idiotic, but I can see why some people have a problem with the Prince being light-skinned and/or latin. It’s pretty common for black actors or actresses to be given a latin love interest in a movie rather than another black person (e.g. Will Smith and Eva Mendes in Hitch) so it won’t be thought of as a “black movie” and limit the audience.
http://www.urbanmecca.com/artman/publish/article_228.shtml
Thanks, Blackcloud.
Bitte, David.
I think you’re being a little hard on Barnes. Are you certain he even chose the headline? The headline on the very top of my browser reads, “Does Tiana, Disney’s First Black Princess, Conquer Stereotypes?” I mean, look at the headline YOU chose to go with for your entry.
I love the last quote of the Barnes piece. To me, self-righteous hyper-sensitivity toward race is as offensive as racial ignorance.
And people never take into account Original Intent. Bob Clampett went to see a performance of Duke Ellington’s “Jump For Joy” when it played in L.A. in the early ’40s. He was so impressed with the show that he went backstage afterwards to congratulate everyone. Several of the musicians mentioned that they could never get work in the movies. Clampett promised to do something about that, and promptly hired them to do the soundtracks for two cartoons, TIN PAN ALLEY CATS and COAL BLACK AND DE SEBBEN DWARVES, both now considered classics by animation fans…and both were withdrawn from circulation decades ago because they’re considered “racist.” But Clampett made them to CELEBRATE the great music of that era, and he was as far from a racist as one could get.
Yeah, but COAL BLACK AND DE SEBBEN DWARVES is undeniably racist when viewed today, so the point is rather moot. As a piece of entertainment for children, it simply isn’t acceptable except in an educational environment.
“Dis gon’ be GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!”
Seriously?
My point was that they were not INTENDED to be racist, even if they seem so now. Times change, attitudes change. Even something as simple as smoking now looks odd in pictures as recent as a decade ago. One needs to be able to take into account the era when the film was made before passing judgment on its creators.
I think a lot of that stuff really was meant to be racist…maybe not “fuck you” racist, but “fun” racist.