Recently, The Economist outlined How to Make a Good Biopic in light of the slew of biographical and semi-biographical films being released in the coming weeks. The article wrote, “Oscar voters love them because the ‘based on a true story’ tag gives them a veneer of seriousness…” The article goes on to discuss a number of critically-acclaimed films from the biopic and partial-biopic subgenre, all which certainly fit the “seriousness” that is applauded by The Academy year after year. But just last year, the Oscar-nabbing film The Social Networkstirred up controversy when its portrayal of its subjects was called “a complete work of fiction” by, well, its subjects. Since the people portrayed in the film were all public figures, it was technically fair game to not bother with changing character names despite a good chunk of the movie being largely fictionalized.
Of course, this particular case is a little more interesting since the people portrayed are not yet dead or even far removed enough from the news item that is now being packaged for the big screen. Moviegoers saw this happen yet again with Moneyball although Paul DePodesta did request that his name be changed (Peter Brand played by Jonah Hill) after finding the script to be more “Inspired by Real Events” than “Based on a True Story.” These labels are like the film industry equivalent of FDA regulations regarding our country’s love for Frankenfood (as demonstrated by Taco Bell’s beef vs. meat vs. meat product vs. not-meat-at-all fiasco earlier this year) and with technology allowing a quicker turnover between conception of an idea and its accessibility to an audience, it may not be too surprising if the litigious ultimately push for stricter terms of use for these labels.
Law and Order and its many spinoffs boast that their stories are “Ripped From the Headlines,” and rip they do. Their most popular spinoff, SVU, has covered pretty much any and every special victims news headline from the last three or four decades (and considering most of the series takes place in present-day Manhattan, those who don’t reside here are left to believe it’s easily the most dangerous place in the world). There are times they do little in changing the original news story with episodes parading characters like Billy Tripley, a shameless rip of Michael Jackson with the only differentiations being in name and career (Tripley is a toy company CEO). In their Domnique Strauss-Kahn episode (announced just two months after the incident), they pretty much ripped the headline when the headline was hot off the press and even had one of the detectives call it “another Dominique Strauss-Kahn situation” (like some sort of self-loving nod to the fortune of receiving this headline right before the new season).
So for lack of better exclamations, what’s up with that? It’s one thing to change names to protect the parties involved (or protect one’s own ass), but what’s the deal with being a clear rip of a story but also acknowledging the actual events within the storyline?
And how about the opposite of this occurrence of not changing characters/real people’s names and placing them in original/fictional/offbeat/obsessive situations? Once upon a time, FanFiction (or for those opposed to the extra syllable, “FanFic”) was contained within the science-fiction community in hopes of extending the lives of their favorite fictional characters. Eventually, this broke beyond sci-fi and into mainstream/more popular television shows and many took it upon themselves to create the storyline they wanted but were never given.
A visit to sites like WattPad and one will see that FanFic is no longer exclusive to fictional characters (preteen girls seem to find it cathartic to write and read about average suburban girls somehow ending up with Justin Bieber). Most are far from great literary works (hell, most can’t be called literary) but a surprising amount of these pieces have legitimately interesting plotlines and are well-written (take it from a person who knows not of Justin Bieber but somehow read a couple stories… in the name of research). The stories are free and available on the site with no need for download but the concept is reminiscent of the free-for-all self-publishing world that Amazon introduced with Kindle Direct Publishing years ago. Anyone can publish just about anything which means anyone who writes or blogs about anything remotely literary (as I occasionally do) now have inboxes/mailboxes full of ARCs and free books. One that recently crossed my path appeared particularly relevant to today’s discussion. If you thumb through the indie-published Hidden Gem books by India Lee, you’ll find it peppered with “articles” and “blog posts” by fictional entertainment magazines and bloggers. If you are well-versed in celebrity gossip, you’ll find these “fictional” bloggers are clear rips of the popular ONTD, Perez Hilton, JustJared, among others, using similar memes and vernacular as the individual bloggers do. But just as SVU did with the whole “referring to the thing we’re totally ripping from,” Lee refers to D-Listed and ONTD as competitors in searching for the Lady Gaga-esque protagonist’s true identity (the plotline, from what I gather, is pretty much Hannah Montana for the Gossip Girl crowd) and the tweeny, celebrity-laden story refers to real celebrities as well as what I believe are fictional ones (there’s just no way to tell anymore, I’m not hip and I’ve come to terms with that). And as Gaga has her Little Monsters and Justin Bieber has his Beliebers, a character by the name of Tyler Chase (undoubtedly based on Bieber) has his “Tyler Chasers.” The books are not free like the FanFic on WattPad (unless you’re on the Lit Drift staff, in which case you can find the ARCs on my desk) but considering it’s subject and publication method, is that pretty much the only thing that sets it apart?
So tell me – “Based On a True Story” vs. “Inspired By Real Events” vs. “Ripped From the Headlines” vs. “Fan Fiction” – where do you draw the line?
In this amazing short by UK filmmaker Tom Jenkins, a lonely desk toy longs for escape from the dark confines of the office, so he takes a cross country road trip to the Pacific Coast in the only way he can – using a toy car and Google Maps Street View. This is stunning.
Someone said that art reveals much more of the artist than it ever does of the subject. That is especially true when it comes down to writers. Being that literature is not a visual art, every sentence that we read or write, every place, every character is ultimately filtered through the author’s own unique perspective. We may look at a painting and find it ugly, boring, or see no meaning in it whatsoever. However, in literature, we find whatever the author describes as beautiful, beautiful. No matter how plain the thing may actually be, once it is put into words, we have never known or experienced it any other way. As words are laid out on the page, the writer has exposed a piece of their own heart, by showing us the things that they find are the most valuable.
For that reason, writing is the truest, most direct form of communication. Every single person who has read Lord of the Rings knows Frodo’s exhaustion as he climbs Mount Doom, and every Harry Potter fan knows the slippery, silky feel of an invisibility cloak. Even if you’ve never had Turkish Delight, you know after reading The Chronicles of Narnia that it’s pretty much the most delicious thing ever. Writing is the great equalizer in art; it creates an experience that everyone can share, something that we can all understand the same way. Most importantly, it connects our hearts to everyone who has ever held the same book in their hands. So while writing, as an art, does expose the heart and mind of the writer, it also provides an experience that connects all of its readers. The subject, the truth of the story itself, lies somewhere between the perception of the writer and the interpretation of the reader.
There is a place where great screenplays go to die. Dialogue that had been analyzed for days – three or four words that had been written and rewritten to get the feeling just right – can meet its gruesome death on the lips of an unprepared actor that wasn’t right for the role to begin with. That beautiful moment between the protagonist and his mother (a pivotal point in their relationship where they realize they can get along after all) dies in the arms of a gaffer who is also the assistant director and script supervisor and doesn’t know how to light a scene for shit. An emotional monologue meant to soften our views of a villain isn’t even given the chance to live because it seems the audio file was deleted when the stressed director/editor realizes he is out of memory and formats a hard drive prematurely.
While I’ve seen many screenplays that were terrible on their own before it hit the set of a student film, I find that even some of the best scripts I’ve read can suffer under the often stressful and hectic conditions of a student shoot.
So, when a student film comes out that was not only able to preserve the integrity of the original screenplay but goes so above and beyond that it should really no longer be labeled a student film, a nice round of applause isn’t really enough.
Adriano Valentini graduated from NYU’s undergraduate film program in 2008 – the same year he produced his short film, Clubscene, about a turning point in the life of twenty-something Montreal bartender, Gabe. I had the pleasure of reading the script before it went into production and held my breath in hopes that the shoot would do the script justice. Adriano turned out to be as good at directing as he is at writing and the movie went on to receive the Wasserman/King Finalist Award and NYU’s First Run Screenwriting Award the following year, allowing Adriano to present his film at the DGA Theater in Hollywood. He chose not to abandon the project upon graduation like many film students do and continued to work with the characters of Clubscene, releasing even shorter short films focusing on one character at a time – specifically “The Bartender” and “The Underager.” His hard work was rewarded with The Bartender becoming an official selection at the Brooklyn International Film Festival this year and becoming a finalist for The Chris Columbus/Richard Vague Fund to pursue directing a feature.
Perhaps it’s envy or perhaps it’s awe, but something was needling me and prompted me to find out what goes on in that brain of his. What set Adriano apart from the other students (myself included)? Below, we talk a little about inspiration, the writing process, cultural influences, and how the characters make the story: Read more »
I don’t understand this anxiety about TV supplanting literature as the main cultural vessel for our stories. Why does it matter? To me, TV and literature are on the same team. It’s the stories themselves that matter: good stories are good stories, regardless of what medium they reach us through, and there are television shows on the air today that way down the line will be treated with the same level of legitimacy that the “classics” receive now. What’s really interesting is that I would bet that the few television shows that do endure will share the same basic themes as many of our most beloved and respected books. In fact, there have even been a couple of times that the most popular shows of our time have expressly borrowed or paid homage to “great” works of literature, adapting them for a modern audience. Here are a few of my favorite examples:
I wore his shirt – crisp and fresh from the laundry basket as I hung my own rain-soaked clothes to dry. The conversation was sparse but the air was gravid with an intangible emotion. By the end of the day, we had not touched once and he saw me off at the door, wearing my own clothes again.
He was merely an acquaintance but years after that moment he still represents the most romantic day of my life. Those who know me know that I have trouble accepting traditional notions of romance and the labeling of anything as “romantic” is kind of a big deal for me. Guys I’ve dated can tell you that I have wrinkled my nose at their many attempts to be romantic. Guys I’ve dated can also tell you that my response to the first “I love you” is usually shoving something in my mouth that takes a really long time to chew. It’s something that I’ve always felt really bad about – especially as a writer. Falling in love is such a common theme in storytelling that the Anti-Romantic can really feel left out.
Over coffee with a friend earlier this week, we discussed the impracticality and inconvenience of falling in love. Science has found falling in love akin to mental illness so… yikes – what do I need that for? My friend and I conceded to the fact that like any common virus, lovesickness will find its way to us one day regardless of how ready we are for it. He added that the only thing we really have to fear regarding falling in love is if it were unrequited. Read more »
I have always suspected the missing links between the scattered parts of my being lay within the life of my maternal grandfather.
My paternal grandparents are open books – my grandmother with her inexorable tongue and my grandfather with eyes that can’t betray a single emotion. My maternal grandmother is a storyteller on speed – something always reminds her of something else and various tangents can be made within a single sentence. My paternal grandfather, however, was a little less clear in his communication. My uncle used to joke that all it took to keep my grandfather happy was his daily newspaper and a bowl of mixed nuts. For years, I believed this to be the case – but as I got older, I suspected something much more existed within his alleged simplicity.
After he passed away in the fall of 2005, my aunt emailed our family scanned photos she found of him. The photos dated back to the forties and consisted mostly of posed portraits. I was excited to find that I looked quite a bit like my young grandfather since I grew up looking not quite like either parent.
It was, however, in a photo where his face was less visible that I found myself identifying with him most: in the middle of Piazza San Marco, stood my grandfather in an ascot and a three-piece suit – tall and full of quiet confidence. Though we all knew that my grandfather suffered from a hushed case of wanderlust, we never knew he ever had the means to treat it. Read more »
True or False: New York City has a full-time paid storyteller.
Answer: True! So exciting and unbelievable. Apparently there’s this woman, Diane Wolkstein who was a teacher and a pantomime in the U.S. and France in the 60s. She dreamed of being a storyteller when she got out of school, but didn’t think this wasn’t a real or viable career. Later she was hired by NYC’s Parks Department to run a summer program for kids and became renowned in the neighborhood for her stories. Her first public storytelling session got a ton of press and led to her getting hired by the Department as the city’s first and only official storyteller.
She’s been telling stories now for 42 years. Here’s Wolkstein herself from a recent article:
“I read a lot,” Wolkstein said. “I have to read 100 stories to find one I can use. You have to find a story that moves you, because if it doesn’t move you it won’t move anyone else. That’s what stories are about, sharing your heart,” she added. “You cloak it with words, but what you’re really doing is exchanging love.”
You can check out Diane’s personal website here for more information on her upcoming appearances.
I apologize if the combination of this picture and the post title brings to mind disturbing images. It was unintentional
I took a walk this morning because the weather was simply too beautiful and I realized it’s been a couple days since I bought a lottery ticket. Near my apartment is a New York Lotto vending machine, tucked away in the corner of a deli next to a stand of stale looking powdered donuts. Last night, during one of my now common bouts of insomnia, I did a little research. According to NYLottery.org, the “White Ice 8′s” scratch-off ticket has the highest probability of winning you some cash. Just imagine: your investment of just $2.00 can come right back at you as $20,000.00. For those of you whose minds haven’t been blown by the possibility, let me repeat: that’s 10,000 times the amount of money you originally put in! Can you imagine??? Two bucks! I have two bucks! Do I have two bucks? Wait, now. C’mon. I know I hadtwo dollars tucked in between that receipt for my Starbucks Vivanno and that other receipt for a pack of Moleskines. Whoa, did I really order three extra shots of espresso in my Vivanno at 55 cents per extra shot? What the hell is wrong with me? I’m definitely in no position to be spending money on overpriced “designer” drinks and notebooks, let alone throwing away a single penny of it on scratch off tickets. It’s a sad realization – considering just a year ago, successful self-employment had me feeling pretty great about my financial status. Great enough to buy multiple drinks from Starbucks in a day. Great enough to be okay with a twenty dollar lunch. Great enough to drop five hundred dollars on a pair of Jimmy Choos. Great enough to sign a two year lease with my 750 square foot apartment in the East Village. Of course, just a year later I make the decision of taking a break from “the greatness” of being a 23-year-old entrepreneur and find myself unemployed in this fun little recession of ours, wallowing in the disgust I harbor for the poor financial decisions I made the year before.
A friend of mine recently referred to this second year out of college as a “sophomore slump.” Considering myself a sophomore when I’m no longer a student is rather unnerving. This friend and I had both experienced very successful first years out of school, so how did we suddenly end up back at square one? And why doesn’t square one have padded walls and provide sedatives?
Pretty much everyone I know loves and has a crush on Ira Glass. Yeah, you know him, the host of This American Life, the radio series (and now TV series) broadcast every Sunday on NPR affiliates around the country.
The show, a favorite since childhood, picks a theme each week and presents a story or many stories expounding on that theme. Many celebrity writers have built a name by producing shorts for TAL, including David Sedaris and Sarah Vowell, but many other voices add to the mix.
People are obsessed with this guy — he’s probably the most well-loved indie guy of all time. Somehow he’s made it trendy to be awkward. But more importantly, the show has brought back the shared experience of radio — millions of people tune in each week to hear stories.
So I was thrilled to discover Glass’s video series on storytelling tips. Check out the four-part series below: Read more »
There is a place where great screenplays go to die. Dialogue that had been analyzed for days – three or four words that had been written and rewritten to get the feeling just right – can meet its gruesome death on the lips of an unprepared actor that wasn’t right for the role to begin with. That beautiful moment between the protagonist and his mother (a pivotal point in their relationship where they realize they can get along after all) dies in the arms of a gaffer who is also the assistant director and script supervisor and doesn’t know how to light a scene for shit. An emotional monologue meant to soften our views of a villain isn’t even given the chance to live because it seems the audio file was deleted when the stressed director/editor realizes he is out of memory and formats a hard drive prematurely.
I wore his shirt – crisp and fresh from the laundry basket as I hung my own rain-soaked clothes to dry. The conversation was sparse but the air was gravid with an intangible emotion. By the end of the day, we had not touched once and he saw me off at the door, wearing my own clothes again.
Pretty much everyone I know loves and has a crush on Ira Glass. Yeah, you know him, the host of This American Life, the radio series (and now TV series) broadcast every Sunday on NPR affiliates around the country.
