Write What You Know

There's an old adage that is oft spoken to new writers: write what you know. It's what all the best authors have always done - a story grounded in one's own experience gives it an air of authenticity that can make even the most seemingly mundane moments of life, moments of a narrative, sparkle.

I've seen two movies in the past two days that have made the truth and the wisdom of that statement almost painfully obvious. The first movie was Aurora Borealis. It was actually written by a guy from my hometown, and a main part of the plot is about losing a grandpa to Parkinson's and dementia, so it hit close to home on two counts, and I've been wanting to see it ever since my grandma sent me the article from our hometown paper interviewing the screenwriter, Brent Boyd.

Overall I thought the movie was pretty good - solid script, well-cast, well-framed, with some beautiful shots of the Cities. It was a story about growing up, coping with loss, being pushed outside yor comfort zone, taking responsibility for yourself and others. Duncan (the lead) is chronically unemployed, has been piddling his life away since his dad died ten years ago. Though his life is not perfect (constantly losing jobs, his successful yet philandering brother always borrowing his apartment for rendevous' with the mistress), there's a certain level of comfort and realibility to the places he inhabits and the people he inhabits them with. The growing up is precipitated by his spending more time with grandma and grandpa (who is daily losing ground to Parkinson's and dementia), and falling in love with grandpa's home health care nurse.

There are two geographical details that I'd quibble with: first, there's no way the grandparent's apartment could have THAT view of the Minneapolis skyline AND a view of the St. Paul skyline (a couple times, characters in the movie claim that it does); second, it is highly unlikely that people living that close to downtown would drive all the way to the Mall of America to do their Christmas shopping (though I realize the MOA is probably more recognizable to a national audience, and a more lucrative "product placement" than, say, City Center or Nicollet Mall). But, unless they have a highly attuned sense of the geography of the place, the average viewer isn't even going to pick up on that.

What the movie did very well - to the point that I have been feeling kinda homesick ever since watching it - was capture the essence of life in Minnesota, even down to nuances, like the fact that people who live in Minneapolis don't often venture across the river into St. Paul, and vice versa. Brent Boyd took a people and a place that he knew, that he understood very well, and he wrote a beautiful story about them - a story not uncritical of them - but a beautiful, authentic story all the same.

The movie I watched today was called Searching for Bobby D. It was a comedy about four actors from Brooklyn who are sick of being typecast in bit background parts, so they set off to make a movie of their own script, starring themselves. Through various connections, they get a meeting with Robert DeNiro's production partner, who is willing to look at the script, but says they have to raise at least $500,000 to make a decent indie movie. The lead's cousin moved to the Poconos and claims he's got a rich investor who will front the money for the movie - so the four actors take off for PA to raise the funds. Let the hilarity ensue. . .

Except, that it really wasn't that funny. I mean, I realize it was meant to be a stupid comedy, so capturing the nuances of life in rural Pennsylvania was not exactly their top priority. But every character from PA was so two-dimensional - the vast majority were portrayed as dumb hicks, and half of them spoke with Southern accents (hello! we are ABOVE the Mason-Dixon line! there IS a distinct accent and speech pattern in rural PA, but it sounds nothing like a southern drawl)!

It felt completely like a parade of a New Yorker's worst stereotypes of rural people, which was ironic considering the plot-driving goal was for the characters to prove that Itailian-Americans and African-Americans are more than just goombas and thugs. I did try to give them the benefit of the doubt for a while, thinking that maybe this is a really sarcastic commentary on stereotypes in the movies (they do have a scene where they play into their worst sterotypes in order to raise some of the funds) - but then I realized, no, this movie is not that deep.

So, a thumbs up to Aurora Borealis, and a disappointed thumbs down to Searching for Bobby D. And screenwriters, please, for the love of all that is good and true in this world - write what you know. And if you're going to write what you know nothing about, please, at least put a little effort into some research, and don't write your most shallow stereotypes into the script. Is that too much for this humble country paisan to ask?

Peace,
Catrina