plus: i am instructed by one who knows.
None. And I've noticed that on the days I don't get up and run, I sleep. Hmm.
The second class I'm taking at UCLA Extension this quarter is Sneak Previews, the class where you get to watch a movie and then listen to the filmmakers talk about the making thereof after it's over. USC had this class too, but I never took it; I had better things to do with 4 units a quarter.
The class didn't start until last night--three weeks into the quarter--and the guy who runs the class, Stephen Farber (movie critic for Movieline), started off with a whole bunch of announcements, not the least of which was that he had tried, but failed, to get Episode One for the class. George Lucas's secretary sent back a heartfelt note explaining that George would be very, very busy for the next few years; perhaps they could get together then.
The first movie of the class was a British import, Get Real, which opens tomorrow. It's a coming of age story, this time the story of a gay youth, Steven, who knows he's gay and is happy about being gay--he just doesn't want anyone except Linda, his next-door neighbor to know. He falls in love with his school's Golden Boy, John--who, surprise surprise, returns his affection but is even more worried about anyone finding out about them.
I didn't like it.
On a micro level, the movie fails: the script was adapted from a play by the playwright and much of the dialogue is earnest, just terribly earnest, and it falls leaden and flat. "On-the-nose" describes much of the dialogue. The direction is also terrible, with actors indicating emotion all over the place (is that even allowed in the British acting method?) and wrenching their hands and shamelessly playing to the camera. The pacing is also badly handled: there's not much fluctuation in the tension and the film meanders along more than anything.
On a macro level, the movie fails too. We have a gay teenager who can pick up sex partners at the men's toilet in the park, but who doesn't want anyone at home or school to know he's gay. (He's not furtive or ashamed about these encounters, mind you--he thinks they're really keen.) Then he manages to get the school BMOC all crazy about him and everything's really keen about that too, except the BMOC doesn't want anyone to know about them. So Steven does what any normal teenager would do: he comes out at an awards assembly in front of the whole school.
It felt so contrived. I think there's a place for a coming-of-age story about a gay teen; this wasn't it.
I did not stay for the discussion with the director or screenwriter. I felt myself drifting off throughout the movie (not just because of the movie) and I wanted to go home and sleep.
I slept until 9:30, about 10 hours. So I was right.
I was quite surprised recently to receive mail from Barbara Bretton, a published author of several romances--her web page says she has 8 million copies in print! eeek!--on the topic of romances and what goes into them. Like the primal stories, the back bone of the basic romance:
- Cinderella (usually works)
- Guardian/protector
- Friend to lover
- Secret baby (extremely popular)
- Marriage of convenience (popular no matter the time period)
- Second time around
- Coup de foudre
- Amnesia
- Wrong side of the tracks
- Girl next door
- Pregnant and alone
- Beauty and the Beast
Yes, I recognized several from books I've been reading recently. And she's right; they do work.
I learn the darnedest stuff from readers.
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Copyright 1999 Diane Patterson
Send comments and questions to diane@spies.com