Annie Proulx: Poor Sport?

[+ Hoover42]

According to CNN.com, Annie Proulx (author of the short story, Brokeback Mountain) wrote the following in a column in Saturday's Guardian newspaper:

 

"Rumour has it that Lionsgate inundated the academy voters with DVD copies of Trash -- excuse me -- Crash a few weeks before the ballot deadline,"

 

For more, see:

 

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/15/film.proulx.ap/index.html

 

Sigh.

 

I read Brokeback Mountain when it came out in the New Yorker, I bought the collection of short stories as soon it was available, I followed the news of the movie for two years before it was released, and Brokeback Mountain was my favorite movie of the year. I've already ordered two copies of the DVD.

 

Nevertheless, my respect for Annie Proulx has just plummeted.

 

I hope CNN was wrong or I hope Annie Proulx apologies.

 

...Hoover

[BgMstr4u]

Thanks, Hoover. My sentiments exactly. Proulx is a wonderful writer, but over the top on this one. Brokeback Mountain is a fine film, but so is Crash, in a very different way.

 

I lived in and around LA for two decades or so, and I think that Crash captures something important about the disconnected-yet-not-random nature of LA. It is, after all, a place where if you run into the same person by accident (to use Crash's dominant metaphor) twice in a week you have legitimate grounds to suspect that you're being stalked -- a joke, but not a joke at the same time. Crash evokes LA at a deep existential level. For me it was the opening sequence in which two intelligent young black guys hanging out in a restaurant in a white area do a riff on "why do whites always think that if two young black guys are in a white area they're about to steal something" ... and then steal something. It was hilarious and true and set the tone for the edgy LA of the movie, as well as setting the sequence of random-yet-connected events in motion. I loved it.

 

Brokeback Mountain is so different. I think of it as image music more than story. It approaches the mythic. I think it will prove to be a more significant film in the long run, but that doesn't have to take away from Crash, which in a different way is also very fine, and probably much closer to the daily experience of most of the LA film community.

[+ Tom Isern]

Almost all of my friends who are movie junkies considered "Crash" a second-rate, made-for-television kind of movie. As I've only seen it once, I don't really have much to say about it, but maybe Annie Proulx simply thought the same as my friends, in which case there is no reason to dis her, unless writers aren't "supposed" to have strong opinions. God knows, engaging the mind can be very dangerous these days...

[+ deej]

I pretty much agree. All this shows is that she's human.

 

What I find curious is that she's dissing Lionsgate for spreading around DVDs. Why didn't "her" distributor do the same? Isn't that who she should be slamming?

[camshaft9]

1.Sending copies of films to Academy members is not a new thing.

It's been going on for years. The Screen Actor's Guild does the same thing.

2. "Crash" was no longer playing on any screens in the United States. This was their way of getting their product to you.

3. "Brokeback Mountain" only had private screenings available to union members. The producers wanted most people to pay to see their

so-called "important" film.

4. Bashing "Crash" is so over.

[+ Lucky]

Annie Proulx is entitled to voice her opinion without being labeled a poor sport. Brokeback Mountain was a victim of Academy homophobia. SHe has every right to be pissed.

[Guest FallenAngel]

>Annie Proulx is entitled to voice her opinion without being

>labeled a poor sport. Brokeback Mountain was a victim of

>Academy homophobia. SHe has every right to be pissed.

 

Rubbish! Whinning after the fact only cements in place another overlook in the future, if there is another opportunity in the future. Whinners are not looked upon favorably anywhere, esp in Hollywood. I'd like to see your facts Lucky that support your claim.

 

God, I'm so sick about hearing about this film! Saddle up and move on!

[+ Tom Isern]

My goodness, what a bunch of "whinging" going on here! Now I'm very confused. Does Annie Proulx stand accused of "whinnying" or of "whining"? "Whinning" does not appear to be a word. Clearly she wasn't "winning," and that's what started this strand, and some here apparently would like to see her star "waning" and all of us "weaning" ourselves off the film. But if you'll allow me to "winnow" away the possibilities, and hopefully "ween" you in the process, without letting you become "wan" or "wanning," perhaps we can settle the matter. Ms. Proulx does not "whinny," "whine," "wan," "wean," "wane," or "whinge!" Thank you very much!

 

Brokeback Mountain deserved the Oscar.

[Guest verymarried]

I agree with Ms Prouix. But Brokeback Mountain didn't need any awards to prove its worth. It will long remain my heart and mind a it will with many people who were profoundly moved by it. I recently saw Crash and aside from some interesting vignettes involving racial confrontation, I have almost forgotten about it already.