I had a rather interesting e-mail from a reader that I'll address at the close of this weeks segment...But I want to finish the thoughts I want to share about the film and entertainment business in Hollywood.
The film industry has evolved from the silent movies to... the talkies when MGM's publicity department let the world know that "Garbo Talks" in 1930's 'Anna Christie'... eventually there was a movie made about a fan of Greta Garbo called 'Garbo Talks'...
yours truly read for the Ron Silver role but alas was not cast... the one thing that has remained the same more or less in Hollywood is that people audition for roles and are either cast or not... movies are made and are either good or bad, the audiences either like them or they don't... they are or are not nominated for or win awards... and then there are the fans... but I'll get back to all this in a minute.
Since the advent of sound and dialogue and color film and the evolution of special effects and advanced editing from computers and technology what can be created seems infinite...
Almost everything can be created and even sometimes things or situations that don't exist can be created from vision and imagination (and or course technology)... I've had a conversation for many years that life does not imitate art but art can imitate life... that's why films that are sometimes created about war or death can impact us deeply even if we have never been involved in battle or experienced the loss of a loved one--- but then again... the character George in the movie "Shampoo" was loosely based on Jay Sebring and the guy who was doing my hair in the 70's tried to base his life on the George character from the movie played by Warren Beatty (except with guys) so maybe life can imitate art and art can imitate life.... over the years movies have taken me places emotionally that have compelled me to visit a far off land or think about people and circumstances not my own in a different light with a sometimes greater understanding or a drive for more knowledge... sometimes though I just want to sit in a darkened movie theatre and be entertained and nothing more; all the genres of film cast a wide net to capture our imaginations one way or another... One of the things I hope you will consider if you don't already is that each film is a sum of all the parts that make the whole from the actors, to the sets and costumes and the crew that help put the whole thing together.
Going back to something I mentioned last week about the Academy Awards in 1970... almost everyone I knew thought that "Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid" was going to win for Best Picture and that George Roy Hill would take home Best Director for it as well... there was a lot of buzz that night that his direction was impersonal and did not have the stylish trademarks known by other revered award winning directors... I could not disagree more, but he was known for not doing the talk show circuit to promote his movies or grant many interviews but perhaps most importantly he kept the press off of his working sets and many people felt all of it worked as a disadvantage for him the same as it did for Barbra Streisand with the Academy and critics... Mr Hill won Best Director for 'The Sting' in 1974...
I don't know many directors that I did not actually work with but I knew Mr. Hill from the early 70's until his death in 2002... I always had a secret wish that we would have a chance to work together someday (I came so very close once but had a scheduleconflict I could not get out of due to a contract obligation) mainly because we understood each other and "got" each others sense of humor... both of which are extremely important when working on a set and I had hoped it might be the material that Mr. Hill and Paul Newman and Robert Redford were pursuing over the years as final piece of their trilogy... sadly it never happened for any of us.
Mr. Hill first came on my movie radar with 'Throughly Modern Millie" and then "The World Of Henry Orient" both of which fall into movie favorites in the charming and entertaining category for me...
I watch this movie at least once a year when I need a little pick me up that only this one and it's performances can fill...but it also serves as a reminder that I had a stalker starting (that I became aware of it) the summer before my last year of High School.... to make a long story short... two girls from school had a crush on me and became somewhat obsessed with my whereabouts and my life and although it was uncomfortable for me at times my family dismissed it as harmless and not unlike the girls in the movie a few years earlier in 1964... until it went way too far and the two girls made their way into our house in into my bedroom and went through my things (and some of my most personal things) this is about the time I started going commando and I stopped wearing undergarments on a regular basis a couple of years later. ( I still can't have a housekeeper go through my things or put away my clean laundry as a result of this ... and there is a lot more to this crazy story but I won't go into it (because it's creepy and had a not-so- happy ending).... the reason I brought it up in the first place is like everything else in Hollywood there are always fans and some that will go too far... like all of the other things that have changed (like having to go through airport like security and screening to go to the Academy Awards)... the real BIG change is when celebrities started hiring bodyguards... it started with the murders of Sharon Tate and built steam when John Lennon was murdered and finally hit a peak when Rebecca Schaeffer opened her door expecting a script from Francis Ford Coppola on 18, July 1989 and was gunned down by John Bardo; an obsessed fan.
Although a young life and a promising career were tragically cut short ... Threat Management Units are part of police training... there is now a law that restricts the DMV from releasing an individuals home address (which is how Bardo found Schaeffer) adopted nationwide in 1994 and there are now stalking laws that criminalize threatening behavior that were nonexistent in 1989... for many people the memory of Rebecca Schaeffer has faded but the phenomenon of celebrity obsession has not only grown but metastasized and social media seems to perpetuate the problem further... Any celebrity who exists as a public image has these issues in their mind most all of the time in public situations... so with all of this... I have never been a big fan of the shadows the limelight can cast and I am happy (and hopefully safe) working behind the scenes now.
Now in regard to the e-mail I received this week. Someone thought the movies were better when they were censored and controlled and went so far as to say my life as a nudist and some of the photos I post in this blog promoting it are obscene and pornographic.... First of all I can't post images of graphic nudity or detailing sex or this blog will get a warning and disclaimer before you can open it and will only be able to be read and viewed by people over the age of 18... Secondly naturism and nudist activities encourage self-respect and respect for others and the environment and can only be practiced legally privately or in sanctioned areas (ie a clothing optional beach)... and finally I don't consider the human body obscene... I don't even consider pornography obscene as long as it only involves and is viewed by consenting adults...
I consider war and the people who have to live with it on a daily basis obscene... I also think it's obscene that people should have to live without health care and health insurance... So if you don't agree and you don't like my blog I'm sure there is much you can find elsewhere on the internet and in all the far corners of the world... but thank you for stopping by and sending in your viewpoint because you are entitled to it whether it's my writing or Hollywood movies even if we disagree...
As for the rest of you... enjoy your day whether you are wearing a three piece suit or your birthday suit... see you next week.
