Annie Proulx thrashes Crash

[LynneSin]

http://books.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1727309,00.html

Blood on the red carpet

Annie Proulx on how her Brokeback Oscar hopes were dashed by Crash

On the sidewalk stood hordes of the righteous, some leaning forward like wind-bent grasses, the better to deliver their imprecations against gays and fags to the open windows of the limos - the windows open by order of the security people - creeping toward the Kodak Theater for the 78th Academy Awards. Others held up sturdy, professionally crafted signs expressing the same hatred.

The red carpet in front of the theatre was larger than the Red Sea. Inside, we climbed grand staircases designed for showing off dresses. The circular levels filled with men in black, the women mostly in pale, frothy gowns. Sequins, diamonds, glass beads, trade beads sparkled like the interior of a salt mine. More exquisite dresses appeared every moment, some made from six yards of taffeta, and many with sweeping trains that demanded vigilance from strolling attendees lest they step on a mermaid's tail. There was one man in a kilt - there is always one at award ceremonies - perhaps a professional roving Scot hired to give colour to the otherwise monotone showing of clustered males. Larry McMurtry defied the dress code by wearing his usual jeans and cowboy boots.

The people connected with Brokeback Mountain, including me, hoped that, having been nominated for eight Academy awards, it would get Best Picture as it had at the funny, lively Independent Spirit awards the day before. (If you are looking for smart judging based on merit, skip the Academy Awards next year and pay attention to the Independent Spirit choices.) We should have known conservative heffalump academy voters would have rather different ideas of what was stirring contemporary culture. Roughly 6,000 film industry voters, most in the Los Angeles area, many living cloistered lives behind wrought-iron gates or in deluxe rest-homes, out of touch not only with the shifting larger culture and the yeasty ferment that is America these days, but also out of touch with their own segregated city, decide which films are good. And rumour has it that Lions Gate inundated the academy voters with DVD copies of Trash - excuse me - Crash a few weeks before the ballot deadline. Next year we can look to the awards for controversial themes on the punishment of adulterers with a branding iron in the shape of the letter A, runaway slaves, and the debate over free silver.

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[DS1]

1. Sore loser

Lost all credibility when she called it "Trash"

That's what Bill O'Reilly does

[LynneSin]

3. I'm still torn over this

I've seen both movies and both movies made me really think about stuff. I thought they were both deserving

[Richard Steele]

10. You know, I hated 'Crash' with a passion...

...and I made that clear to everyone here.

But she DOES sound like a 'sore loser', even to me.

Maybe she's tired of working in Hollywood?
This foolish little rant should certainly
lighten her workload a bit.

NOT smart, hun.

[Montauk6]

57. I just call it "Rehash"

See: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115964/ and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0175880/

She may be a sore loser but, at least, she's honest about it. I get so sick of the fake modesty. Either the winner saying, oh I SO don't deserve this (I still cringe at the spectacle of Ving Rhames giving his award to Jack Lemmon); or the loser saying, I'M SO HAPPY FOR so-and-so!

FOR ONCE, I'd love to see one or more of the losers just lose it and exclaim, "F&*! this!" and just bolt out of the auditorium (hmmm, I heard McCartney did a variation of this at the last Grammys when he lost to U2).

but that's just me...

[ohiosmith]

2. Sour Grapes

[Fenris]

4. "Trash - excuse me - Crash"

:eyes:

[skygazer]

5. Wow, she's got crass... excuse me, class

What a weenie.

[petronius]

9. Well played!

Whatever happened to "It's an honor just to be nominated, and we are deeply grateful to all the people who worked so hard to make this movie a success, and all the movie-goers who opened their hearts to our story."?

[ghostsofgiants]

6. I'll agree with her about one thing...

Fuck the Oscars.

Contrary to popular belief, the Oscars are not the best of the best. The true best films are often competely overlooked by the Oscars. The winner for best picture is never the ACTUAL best picture of the year.

Crash IS a really good film though, and it's really rare that I actually like a Best Picture winner.

And one last thing: I don't think the person who wrote the story on which the film is based is the most reliable judge as to whether the film deserves the Oscar. Might be a slight bias, there, I'm not sure.

[no name no slogan]

17. elitist indy snob

why do you hate America?

:P

[ghostsofgiants]

23. The freedom mostly.

I mean, shit, you guys can do so much shit that no one in the world can do, like whine incessantly about something as meaningless as the Oscars.

[JohnKleeb]

26. God Bless America eh

Seriously though who the fuck cares who won best picture, I think Brokeback had an impact and whats what should matter to Prioux. Americans also care a lot about American Idol too, I would too if they only showed the bad people on the show.

[WeRQ4U]

30. There ARE only bad people on that show.

The talent level on that show is always so low. But that's what they're looking for, I guess.

[eyepaddle]

7. Does anybody else find her books to be

mindcrushingly dull and plodding? Okay, all I've struggled through was The Shipping News but that was all I could take.

I figured that with Brokeback being translated onto the screen by Ang Lee that's where the magic would come from.

[flamingyouth]

13. Thank you

Count me as one who does. I fell asleep during The Shipping News. Totally boring... :boring:

[Fenris]

15. Well, in this case, her writing was complimented...

By Lee's equally boring direction. :evilgrin:

[LynneSin]

20. I actually found the article a bit tedious of a read

Perhaps that's why someone else made the screenplay instead of her

[tigereye]

21. I loved The Shipping News

her writing is like a wonderful desert....

[Bridget Burke]

34. I managed to finish Accordion Crimes..

I'm interested in ethnomusicology!

As I began each chapter, I began to wonder what hideous thing would happen to the next owner of the accursed instrument. Doom, doom, doom....

[eyepaddle]

38. That actually sounds moderately interesting

Maybe it was where I was when I tried to slog through The Shipping News; I was on an offshore oilrig, and I was alternately completely on edge worrying about my equipment breaking down, or killing time while problems which weren't mine got sorted out. There were DAYS I spent with nothing to do except fight sleep on my shift (12 hours at a stretch). Proulx didn't really help my efforts in that respect.

[Bridget Burke]

47. As I said, I found the musical aspect interesting.

Basically, the book tells the story of each owner of one accordion, over many years. But it was definitely gloomy.

Not to say that Proulx isn't a fine writer--I did finish the thing. But her recent statement indicate she doesn't know how Hollywood & The Oscars work.

I haven't seen Brokeback yet--I just don't go to many movies. But I'll definitely check it out. After all, Larry McMurtrey co-wrote the screenplay. Somehow, he manages to write fine fiction, non-fiction AND screenplays.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

52. I read "At Close Range"

"Brokeback Mountain" the best of the lot. The other stories teetered somewhere between dull and downright unreadable. I wouldn't consider reading one of her novels.

[CBGLuthier]

8. I am starting to think I will never see Brokeback

It's one things for fans to whine but when the author gets on a high horse and starts taking cheap shots (trash I mean crash!!!) it makes me think maybe her work isn't all that great.

I mean damn it all to hell the film did damn great and all this whining is just souring what it did achieve.

Number of nominations does not a lock on best picture make. if it did they could cancel half the ceremonies as there are always films that have more nominations than others.


Oh well. Once all this passes maybe I will still see the film. I am an Ang Lee and Jake Gyllenhall (sp?) fan.

[LynneSin]

22. Don't think like that and here's why

She wrote the book. She did not write the screen play - that was Larry McMurtry and his partner (whose name escapes me).

Don't NOT see the movie because of what she said - everything else about the movie is the vision of the script writers and Ang Lee and is definately worth the viewing

[Shakespeare]

11. I am SO SICK of hearing that Brokeback was "robbed"!!

Every one of the five films nominated was excellent and dealt with important social issues. Every single one of them. I'd have been happy no matter WHICH one won, and to suggest that homophobia had something to do with Crash's winning, or that Crash was in any way a bad movie, is just outrageously wrong. Hey, I thought "Syriana" was the best, most important movie of the year, but I got over it when it wasn't nominated for best picture. And I don't find it necessary to tear down the other films just because my favorite didn't win.

Brokeback was NOT robbed. The awards this year were spread out pretty democratically (all of the "important" movies were recognized in some way), which seems pretty fair to me. Roger Ebert's take on the Brokeback backlash (somebody linked to it here yesterday) was spot-on. And Annie Proulx diminishes herself by carping about it.

[Beware the Beast Man]

12. Waah.

:eyes:

[Frank Cannon]

14. I would have been happy if either Crash or BBM had won

They were both well done and deserved the award. Crash won; end of story. BBM has won a ton of awards and has had a great reception at the box office. And when all is said and done, it's really the $$$$$$$$$$$ that gets movies made, not whether a picture has won an Oscar or not.

Proulx diminishes herself greatly with these comments. I'm sorry, Annie, but I read your short story that BBM was based on, and it wasn't all that and a bag of chips. If it weren't for Ang Lee, Heath Ledger, and Jake Gyllenhall, you'd be looking at publishing your spew in xerographed literary magazines for the next ten years. I'm sure the movers and shakers in Hollywood are touched by your show of appreciation.

[no name no slogan]

18. Either in xerographed literary magazines, or on her blog

:hide:

[tigereye]

24. oh no!

she is a wonderful and gifted writer, if a little cranky in this case.... ;)

[Yollam]

16. What pathetic sour grapes.

Makes me even more glad that Crash won.

It was an excellent film, and Proulx shows an unbelievable lack of class by not conceding gracefully. Brokeback was widely recognized - it got best director. Get over it Annie!

[EstimatedProphet]

19. If there was a movie that was robbed this year...

it was Good Night and Good Luck, not Brokeback Mountain which received Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Score. Aren't 3 oscars enough? Good Night and Good Luck ended up with NOTHING, and it was far too engaging and important a movie to get shut out. Fuck the Academy and fuck Annie Proulx' sour grapes.

[LynneSin]

25. I agree except that best actor came from Capote

Philip Seymour Hoffman won Best Actor for his role in Capote. But I agree that GNAGL was definately a worthy contender

[EstimatedProphet]

27. Oh. Forgot that one. Editing.

[Radical Activist]

32. I agree.

It was an excellent movie, and if any movie had an agenda that threatened the owners of the movie industry, it was Good Night and Good Luck.

[Bombero1956]

44. correction

Our man George won best supporting actor. Not best actor, but nothing to sneeze at either.

[EstimatedProphet]

45. Yeah, but he won it for Syriana

I haven't seen it yet, though I want to.

[GirlinContempt]

48. Man this journals thing is great

I woulda missed that otherwise
WOO!

[Ravenseye]

28. She even cuts on Hoffman?

"But which takes more skill, acting a person who strolled the boulevard a few decades ago and who left behind tapes, film, photographs, voice recordings and friends with strong memories, or the construction of characters from imagination and a few cold words on the page?"

Oh whatever. Honestly BBM was pretty low on my list. I would have voted for both Crash and Good Night and Good Luck ahead of it, had I a vote. One thing that makes me twitch is when people imply that if you didn't like BBM the best of all the films that you're a homophobic. Most dont' come right out and say it, but that's what they mean. Guess what. The 'gay thing' doesn't bother me....what bothers me is when I keep checking my watch during a movie because it feels tedious to me for the same reasons that watching a James Ivory picture makes me want to put a bullet into my brain.

BBM just felt like it was made as an Oscar movie. Like they were planning on marketing it as an Oscar contender with just the script in hand and signing on Ang Lee..."Ok Ang, lets make a best picture winner!" Those kinds of movies tend to irritate me as well.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

33. I take particular umbrage at those comments.

By almost ALL standards, portraying a well known real life figure is MUCH more difficult than portraying an unknown fictional one. People have specific expectations with real life figures, and as an actor, you are SHREDDED if you don't meet them. With a fictional character, the actor gets to decide a great portion of how the role is played and NO ONE has expectations if it's an unknown work (which Brokeback was prior to the movie release).

[Ravenseye]

39. Yeah seriously

those comments were kind of wacky.

[XemaSab]

40. Word.

I think there's something wrong with making the "Best Picture" competition a race to be more liberal than thou.

It's a MOVIE, and if it's thought provoking then that's good, but making it into a contest to determine whether racism, the Arab/Israeli conflict, homophobia, or censorship is the most pressing social issue of the time really just divides us.

And FWIW, I thought Proulx's comments were very tacky.

[Ravenseye]

42. Come on XemaSab...

...are you ever wrong?
:hi:

[XemaSab]

43. Not so far, no...

:D :hi:

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

29. Annie, grow the fuck up. (nt)

[Radical Activist]

31. So race is an issue of the past?

Like slavery, free silver and the Scarlett Letter? What a bunch of insulting, ethnocentric bullshit. Anyone who thinks race isn't a serious problem and a major contemporary issue has their head up their ass.

[JohnKleeb]

36. I saw that too man

I thought it was very ignorant and naive to compare racism to issues of past like slavery, free silver, and the Scarlett Letter.

[Radical Activist]

37. well of course you did

welcome back.

[ghostsofgiants]

53. Dude, it's a scientifically proven fact taht racism was obliterated...

The day Lincoln freed the slaves.

</sarcasm>

[JohnKleeb]

54. lol I thought it was when LBJ signed the civil rights bill of 1964

Seriously you gotta be a damned fool if you think its gone, some local racists here had a meeting in a Hyatt Hotel and it was in the local paper, plus the fact that the local minuteman chapter had Tom Tancredo who appeals to peoples bigotry speak at their meeting.

[Katherine Brengle]

35. Ew, now I am glad it didn't win--

Crash was a great film, and if she didn't like losing, well, that's not unique--nobody likes to lose.

Get over it Annie.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

41. Ang Lee was the first Asian (indeed non-white person) to win best director

Why can't she be proud of that, rather than the banile "won 3, same as King Kong" bollocks. (& primate1 is 100% correct - the Oscars are complete bullshit & increasingly meaningless.)

[KFC]

46. Proulx - Nominee for shittiest writer

I'm not sure if she passed 7th grade creative writing.

===========================================

"On the sidewalk stood hordes of the righteous, some leaning forward like wind-bent grasses,"

"The red carpet in front of the theatre was larger than the Red Sea."

"Sequins, diamonds, glass beads, trade beads sparkled like the interior of a salt mine."

[SteppingRazor]

49. My thoughts: Yes, she's being a sore loser. And yes, Crash sucked...

But no, she's so far from a bad writer it's absurd to even suggest it. A hundred years from now, when college students are studying late-20th and early 21st-century essayists, they'll read Proulx. She says in 2,000 words what it takes novelists to say in 50,000.

Brokeback Mountain was 15 pages long, and told the entire story shown in the movie. Nuff said.

[Frank Cannon]

51. The fact that the BBM short story told the entire story of the movie...

may have less to do with Proulx's economy of storytelling and more to do with the fact that Ang Lee took a 15-20 minute film and stretched it out to over two hours.

I liked the movie, but I had a lot of friends who thought it was slower than grease rot.

[Skittles]

50. oh dear, Ms. Proulx

you come off as very petty. I agree that Crash was in no way the superior movie but you just sound just plain mean.

[tjdee]

55. BBM was a plain ole love story. Ho hum.

Take out the "OMIGOD THEY'RE GAY" factor, and what would you have? A good film with good performances. An extraordinary film? I don't know.

Seems to me that some people think that the Academy should have been more about sending a message than reward the actual film, and that's a matter of opinion. But the author coming out with this tired and immature tirade about it? Come ON, get a grip. It's one award show.

And that she is now a fan of the Spirit Awards? Does she think her film, put out by a major movie house, is independent? This is all such sour grapes. Yuck.

[realisticphish]

56. EXACTLY

the academy shouldn't give two shits about the "message," or the social impact. The award is for best film, as in best combination of all the factors that make up quality cinema. Personally, I was rooting for GNAGL, but you don't hear Clooney whining about it not winning.

[TahitiNut]

58. "Love means never having to say you're sorry."

:rofl:

Personally, I think "Same Time Next Year" was probably a more inventive story of love and infidelity. :shrug:

[pitohui]

59. that is not attractive

i am normally a fan of proulx's but dissing the other guy who beat you out in a fair contest is not attractive

any studio seeking to promote its work will "inundate" the voters w. dvd copies of the work, if her studio didn't do it for "brokeback" that is not the fault of lionsgate