i ask this seriously.
"There is, in fact, nothing about religious opinions that entitles them to any more respect than other opinions get. On the contrary, they tend to be noticeably silly. If you doubt it, then ask any pious fellow of your acquaintancee to put what he believes into the form of an affidavit, and see how it reads.... 'I, John Doe, being duly sworn, do say that I believe that, at death, I shall turn into a vertebrate without substance, having neither weight, extent nor mass, but with all the intellectual powers and bodily sensations of an ordinary mammal;... and that, for the high crime and misdemeanor of having kissed my sister-in-law behind the door, with evil intent, I shall be boiled in molten sulphur for one billion calendar years.'"
(Don't send me your answers. This is just a little way to expand your horizons. Honest.)
I'm thinking about quitting one of the screenwriting lists I'm on, mostly because two of the three most frequent posters are two of the most annoying posters there. (I always want to shake frequent posters and yell, "Think! Do you really need to send this? Honestly?" Their fingers move faster than their consideration.) I happen to dislike these posters because of several things they've said, but truth be told, they probably don't like me either, so that's neither here nor there.
There's a strain among these posters that I've found among several of my USC compadres as well, and other as-of-yet non-pro screenwriters I know. It's cynicism about Hollywood. Every time I hear about how evil the system is (I paraphrase, but this is the gist I get from them), I want to ask, seriously, without intent of causing a to-do, "If you are so cynical at this point, why do you continue?" I honestly want to know. What are they getting out of it? Why are they still pursuing this brass ring if they hate the system, they have no respect for the people running it, and everyone who doesn't recognize their genius is a moron?
(You see why I can't ask this question. Because despite the fact that the last sentence there is meant to be a reflection of the things they've said, it sounds like I'm digging into them over and over again. And I know that things would spiral rapidly out of control, because it would be easy not to be polite.)
If a girlfriend kept telling me about how abusive her boyfriend was and how unhappy he made her, I would say, "For God's sake, stop dating him and don't even think about marrying him!"
My mentor Len is rather cynical, but he also talks quite a bit about the up side of this business. He's had both, and I understand why he continues: he knows the best it's possible to get. (He started out at the top, actually: he and his brother had the biggest spec sale at that time with their first script, The Yakuza.) He's dealt with some real sharks, not this penny-ante crap the posters on the list mention.
I don't see any point in being cynical. (I say this as a former purveyor of cynicism.) I believe in being realistic, but I don't equate that with cynicism. Cynicism I see as being an attitude of world-weariness, of being jaded. Of being hip. That's what I think the cynics are trying to convey: "Oh, I am so knowledgeable, there is nothing I don't know, I am well-girded against the forces of evil." (Which, of course, begs the question of whether there are "forces of evil," or perhaps a whole bunch of people trying to make the best movie they can make, or the most successful movie they can make, or whatever.
If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. There are no gradations of experience in the cynical worldview, which leads me to ask, How can you know what's bad when you think everything is bad? Some things have to be worse than others and some things have to be good (so as to point out what's bad)--there are gradations of experience, and you should acknowledge that.
Cynicism is an attitude that denies excitement, denies the power of shared dreams (which is what movies are), denies that anything good can come out of the process. Which you may feel. But if you do, why do you keep trying to break in? Is it the money? Go into high tech. Is it the power? Go be a director.
If you're this cynical now, how are you going to feel after actually working in the industry and having a breadth of experiences to talk about?
Maybe there's a taboo in our society about being excited and happy and positive. As though if you're positive, there must be something you're missing. Perhaps you're just a twit. But honestly, what's wrong with expecting the best outcome? If nothing else, it'll brighten your day. There's nothing wrong with being careful and making sure you're not being taken advantage of, but there must be a way of doing that and coming off as positive and willing to work on the project, rather than saying, "This is hopeless and you're a moron."
I also think that the cynicism is like wearing a chip on your shoulder, and who the hell likes to work with someone with a chip on his shoulder? And these annoying posters have chips on their shoulders the size of Mt. Rushmore. I wouldn't want to work with them either.
Of course, the heart of the matter is this: what is it about these cynics that are leading them to have negative experiences? As Len advised us toward the end of USC, if you haven't gotten anywhere in Hollywood in five years, sit down and figure out what you're doing wrong. Are you not marketing enough? Not writing good enough scripts? Not listening to critics about how to improve your work?
(Of course, talk to me about how I feel about this advice in four years.)
Know thy fellow man Dept.: Check out the user reviews for these books on Amazon.com.
The answer to yesterday's question: Russia has started bombing Chechnya, the area where the Russians lost a brutal war a few years ago. Chechen rebels (who are Islamic) are supporting a revolt in nearby Dagestan. Perhaps Russia thinks it's easier to deal with Chechnya than the mountainous and treacherous Dagestan region.
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Copyright 1999 Diane Patterson
Send comments and questions to diane@spies.com