Writers

A couple months ago I sat in on a class where Nicole Holofcener talked. She was so, well, lovely and amazing. She had the knives out for bullshit, especially industry bullshit, she sounded like she had a lot of her priorities straight, she was capable of not talking shit about people or sounding impossibly conceited, she was realistic about what she is able to accomplish artistically vs. paying the bills, she pays the bills, and she writes movies for a living. In short, sitting in a room hearing her talk for an hour and a half or so made me think that it really would be possible to write for the pictures and have a semi-normal life too. A Galadriel phial of hope.

Then in James Bond class the other night this writer came in to talk who was the most poisonous bundle of obnoxious arrogance I have ever learned to hate in such a short space of time. Within 45 seconds of introducing himself, he was mudslinging on Ben Stiller. Names a-plenty were dropped and credit was taken. Particular character names and specific lines were repeated and declared funny, proclaimed unfunny previous to his re-write, and declared funny funny funny once again. The nerd anger was so strong in this man it came off like stink lines in a comic book. Never have I wanted to be a writer less than listening to him.

Just like your mom said, "everyone's different". Let's all raise a glass to not turning into a complete asshole.