I don't want to get sucked into debates that are not worth the energy and thought that might go into them. Especially when neither side will change its position. This applies to religion, politics, and even art.
The fact of the matter is, some people really love the world as it is. Not everyone shares the point of view expressed in the title song "Far Cry" from Rush's Snakes & Arrows album. "It's a far cry from the world we'd thought we'd live in..." I thought we'd be a heck of a lot more evolved, and technology would've pushed it farther along. But truth be told, that's why there are movies made to appeal to every clientele. Some people like crazy, silly movies, some like horror and graphic violence, and some like drama and romance. Some like it hot...
Ironically, I'm a huge Batman fan but didn't like "The Dark Knight" when I saw it at the theater because I'd been used to watching innocent "kid movies" with my children. Though I saw it alone, I was sensitive to their POV as if they were sitting beside me. I eventually got over it, and with the exception of it being a little long with the circumstance on the two ferries (and the fact Hollywood still can't cast someone who actually fits the Batman description), I think it's as close as they've ever come to the comic.
I promised when I started my blogsite in the "You've Got Mail" post in December (http://publishing-literaryagentswatch.blogspot.com/2009/12/youve-got-mail.html)
that I'd do a comparison between "American Beauty" and "The Ice Storm." So this should serve as a preface to that undertaking perfectly. How my comments are received depend greatly on what type of person you are, and what you expect. That line from "Return Of The Jedi" is just as true now as it was in 1983. "Luke. You're going to find that the truths we cling to depend greatly upon our point of view."
It was 1997 and I was taking a course in screenwriting at UCLA with Judy Burns. I can't say enough good things about her, her contributions to television and film, and the class. What she taught us has made a huge impact on the content of these blogs, and the way I've created stories as a writer. The one book she was emphatic about was Lajos Engri's The Art of Dramatic Writing. "The rest of Hollywood uses it, so you may want to as well." I would add Ray Bradbury's "Zen & the Art of Writing" to that list.
The funny thing was, when The Ice Storm came out at this little theater just west of the 405 on Santa Monica Boulevard, she and I both ran to see it before the next class met. She spoke about this movie extensively.
I read an article at that time where Katie Holmes' mother cried when she read the script her daughter was going to act in, shocked at its content. I might be rationalizing, but the theme of the picture had such a valuable lesson, it's portrayal of its characters though full of questionable vices, it was so real and worth the ride. But the film, directed by Ang Lee, fit Judy's formula for writing to a tee, of which I described in my first blog.
When American Beauty surfaced in 1999, two years before meeting my future wife, I was employed as a nanny and babysitter through a service in L.A. One of my repeat clients and his wife had just seen it, and made an intersting comment. This is how he put it. “I don’t care what people say, that was the best movie I’ve ever seen.” So I went to see it the following week at a theater just off Ventura Blvd. on Van Nuys.
What ruined it for me was a Mom there with her two young children. I knew from the rating it would be inappropriate and asked her why she’d brought them. “Well, their uncle had worked on the film.” Another person in line, who obviously read Huxley’s “Brave New World” and subscribed to descensitizing children by letting them run naked in the courtyards together, resented my question and asked how it was my business. But the whole movie, and you know what I’m talking about if you’ve seen it, I was overly conscious of the fact there was a 7 and 9 year old girl watching.
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