By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com
The Nikki Thing: Episode 7438 – A Hollywood Fairy Tale
There is an ancient story which agents, execs, journalists, and wannabes throughout Hollywood will tell their children tonight as they go to sleep. Here is the translation that my great-great-grandpappy, Plainas Noseonface, left to me:
So there is this hack journalist who wants to get across the river to fame & respect. And there’s this billionaire who thinks he can get them there together. So they agree to make their way across the river. As they cross, the hack journalist invites worker bees (expensive ones, but the hardest workers of all) onto the billionaire’s back, where they thrive on the fumes of all that money. And as they work, the worker bees let off a scent that makes the hack’s ego inflate as others mistake their scent for hers. As the hack’s ego gets bigger and bigger, it weighs on the billionaire’s chapped ass. But the billionaire has a big money-back and enjoys the attention. People think he must be really smart.
Halfway across the river, there is this busted-ass publication hanging from a branch. It’s near death, but it was once very, very famous. So the billionaire invites the publication onto his back as well. (He’s kind of a fame whore.) In order to make room for the publication, the hack journalist’s ego has to be deflated a little… but the hack doesn’t much like that idea. As they swim, the publication gets healthier – even as the billionaire removes limbs in a haphazard way – taking up more and more of the billionaire’s money-back.
The hack really hates this. The billionaire assures her that he can see the other side of the river and they are almost there, but the hack knows better. She knows that he doesn’t really know where the other side of the river is. Neither does she, but with her giant inflated ego, she figures she has just as good a chance to get there as he does.
Hack: I don’t need you anymore. That THING over there is taking up too much of your back. Don’t you know that I am what is important?
Billionaire: You are very important to me, hack. But that thing over there doesn’t call me up screaming at 3 in the morning.
Hack: You knew what you were getting into when you took me on this ride.
Billionaire: I did. And it was fun. But I am a young billionaire and that makes me very, very smart and very, very handsome and you can’t make me any more famous or rich and I don’t fuck fossils, so get off of my back, literally.
Hack: Literally?
Billionaire: You know what I meant!
Hack: You meant “figuratively,” you fucking imbecile!
Billionaire: Here’s $1000… shut up now.
Hack: I’m going to get off your back, literally, if you don’t do what I want!
Billionaire: Yeah… and give up your brand and all your worker bees?
Hack: I don’t need you. I don’t need them. I am still big… the internet has gotten smaller.
Billionaire: I don’t get it.
Hack: Get what?
Billionaire: Call me later… I have a meeting at The V.
Hack: I will not!
Billionaire: Sorry… can’t hear you over the poor people on Wilshire! Bye! (click)
So hack journalist starts to poke the billionaire with a stick until he throws her off his back. That way, she has just as good a chance to get where she is going AND she gets to play the victim.
But without the worker bees emitting their scent, the ego that is carrying hack journalist across the river begins to deflate. Hack is drowning on her own Twitter feed. An multi-millionaire swims by and picks her up out of the water. But she knows that she will have to kill him in time. (Much easier to poke a millionaire to death than a billionaire.) Maybe he will build a boat with a former friend turned enemy whose billionaire may also have lost patience. Probably not. All those sexist pigs in the world would just call them hacks. But mostly, she’d getting too old for this shit.
Nonetheless, she will try with all her might to become important again. Why? Bad childhood, probably. But that’s another story. Right now, it’s her nature.
Meanwhile the billionaire, the publication, and the worker bees continue to wander around the river. The worker bees can just fly away when their contracts end… or not… they’ll be fine. And the publication… well… time will tell. Billionaire will probably get bored in time. Publication will never be as exciting as the insane hack journalist. So he’ll find another toy. Because that is his nature.
THE END
Note: If you tell your child this story and they can’t ever sleep again, call a doctor. And keep calling doctors until you find one that will write a scrip for children’s sleeping pills without requiring an examination. Won’t take long… it’s Hollywood.
Looks like there’s a Civil War brewing on the Deadline site. A line has finally been drawn in the sand, and There Will Be Snark.
Couldn’t resist the chance to take a cheap shot at Variety, eh, David? LOL. This post will be so funny to read in another 5-10 years.
To my mind, Variety is better under Penske.
As for Finke, this isn’t the end. And in a way, none of us really want that right?
She’s way too much fun.
Fun?
She’s a horror. A hateful mean spirited cunt who makes her money reporting on the film industry, and she hates movies.
I keep trying to think of an equivalent. Is there a famous Sports reporter who hates sports?
I guess I’m confused. I probably follow movies more than 99.9999% of people, and I don’t read Deadline or care about Nikki Finke, or think Variety really matters anymore to anyone outside of people who actually live and work in Hollywood (and whether it even matters there anymore seems to be debatable), and would have never heard of Jay Penske if I didn’t read this blog.
She wouldn’t even probably have a website if her box office wasn’t linked from Drudge. The NYTimes writes about her and how much weight she carries, but if I had to name one thing that she has actually done, I’d probably spend 30 minutes looking for some reference on a closed website.
What is all the hype about-there is nothing there. The only thing people can agree on is how much they hate her, and she doesn’t do anything except talk about how powerful she is without doing actually doing anything to demonstrate power, and tout herself as a godsend. Where is the journalist to actually fear? Did someone send a memo one day to all the execs in Hollywood and say “we need to fear this woman”, and accidentally put the wrong name or something?
Please explain…
Is there such a thing as a loving, sweet-spirited cunt?
Cadavra: Well, I know there’s such a thing as a lovable, sweet-tasting cunt.
Joe: I presume the sweetness is in the barbecue sauce?
Or a nice Beaujolais.