Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum

BBC World Service Book Club - Annie Proulx's Newest Revelations!

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optom3:
Oh my!!!
I found myself literally shouting at the computer.If you don't want the attention, do not allow your work to be turned into  a movie. It seems to have escaped her attention that many many more people will have read other of her works as a consequence of BBM the film,
So fan fiction may annoy her, but is she so coldhearted as to be, not even slightly moved by how many people's lives have been touched and in many ways vastly enhanced by BBM. I remember at the time of the press junkets, she was fullsome in her praise of the film, even saying Heath became Ennis.She seemed so genuinley pleased by the film and the reactions to it.
Perhaps if she wants no attention, then  she should just write for her own pleasure and no longer have her work published.After all in her own words she finds writing very easy.

When I think of all the endless interviews the cast had to do and yet I never felt they were anything ,other than moved by the impact of the film.
The radio interview has left a bitter taste in my mouth, probably brought on by the bile professed by Proulx, and the curse of BBM.

I will continue to love the film and probably the s.s. I will however give the rest of her works a very wide berth, heaven forbid that I would like any of them, or be affected or moved by them.

retropian:
Well, Annie P. is pretty cantankerous, not that that's a bad thing. She admitted long ago that BBM was difficult for her to get out of her system after completing it. Jack and Ennis of all her characters really stuck with her. It may be a hassle now to be continuously reminded of BBM. I'm sure she'd like readers to pay attention to her current writings rather than returning to BBM. She reminds me a little of say, Leonard Nimoy who was frustrated for years about being typecast as his most famous and beloved character; Spock. It took him many many years to accept and come to terms with his "alter ego" Spock. Anne P. might be going through something similar. she may be worried that as an author she'll forever be associated with BBM and her other works will be ignored. But, lets face it, for now at least BBM is her Masterpiece. she'll have to create something to exceed or equal it, and that may not ever happen, and she knows it. I look forward to reading her new stuff soon.

SFEnnisSF:
I saw this in the local gay rag and came here to post about it, and found this thread and it seems it's already being discussed.  (Why is this thread a sticky.  No one see's the sticky's at the top of the page IMO...) 

http://www.sfbaytimes.com/index.php?sec=article&article_id=9083
Article is at the bottom of the page


Brokeback Fans Torment Author Proulx

Brokeback Mountain author Annie Proulx has told The Wall Street Journal that her short story, which was made into the hit movie of the same name, has become a “source of constant irritation in my private life.””There are countless people out there who think the story is open range to explore their fantasies and to correct what they see as an unbearably disappointing story,” she told the newspaper. “They constantly send ghastly manuscripts and pornish rewrites of the story to me, expecting me to reply with praise and applause for ‘fixing’ the story. They certainly don’t get the message that if you can’t fix it you’ve got to stand it,” she said. “Most of these ‘fix-it’ tales have the character Ennis finding a husky boyfriend and living happily ever after, or discovering the character Jack is not really dead after all, or having the two men’s children meet and marry, etc., etc. ... Beneath every mangled rewrite is the unspoken assumption that because they are men they can write this story better than a woman can.”

Marge_Innavera:

--- Quote from: retropian on September 30, 2008, 11:10:29 pm ---Well, Annie P. is pretty cantankerous, not that that's a bad thing. She admitted long ago that BBM was difficult for her to get out of her system after completing it. Jack and Ennis of all her characters really stuck with her. It may be a hassle now to be continuously reminded of BBM.  . .  But, lets face it, for now at least BBM is her Masterpiece. she'll have to create something to exceed or equal it, and that may not ever happen, and she knows it.

--- End quote ---

First, there are a number of discussions on this subject, and predictably, a writer making statements that arguably amount to spitting on one's fans has been referred to as "blunt", "not mincing words", "cantankerous" and "opinionated."  Unfortunately, none of that precludes the objects of the verbal spitting from saying exactly what they think -- hostile 'honesty' tends to produce responses in kind.

Second, some of these statements remind me of popular musicians of many years standing who go on tour and insist on playing only their new stuff.  That almost always ends badly.  The cantakerous, blunt and opinionated truth is that works of art, when they develop a significant following and a lot of fame, might be subject to legal copyright but in a sense the artist loses control of them.  They might not like that, and might react with peevish and spiteful remarks in public but that won't put the toothpaste back in the tube.

I'd be curious to see what stories these purported gay male writers have sent her -- most of the fanfic I read is written by women.

Finally, I think I've posted this elsewhere in the forum, but if I ever get the opportunity to meet Annie Proulx or hear her speak, I'll feel that I have to keep being a Brokeback fan a deep-dark secret.  Ironic considering the subject matter.

optom3:
Proulx may well be associated for some considerable time with BBM, maybe even for ever.I cannot see why that is such a problem for her.To have millions of people fall in love with your work, via either the story, the film or both, is a complement surely.She even admits she find writing easy.So not only is she presumably handsomely rewarded for doing something she loves, but also finds it as easy as hopping off a log.
Oh that the rest of us had such problems.
I realise that she would want to get her new work out there, but she is now in a much better position to do that, based on the success of BBM. I had never heard of her, until someone I knew gave me the story to read.
Her reaction is akin to Leonardo Da Vinci, if he were still alive, saying, I wish people would stop going on and on about the Mona Lisa.In fact do you know some charlatan art students, have had the temerity to study and copy it !!!!
Except of course he would not say it exactly that way, as he was Italian. !
I believe the phrase is, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.I still stick to my original thought though, as in, if you don't want attention, don't put yourself in the spotlight.
I suspect many an aspiring author would make  a pact with Faust to have that sort of notoriety, or even an acceptance letter from a publisher.Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.

Still, it's a free world she is entitled to express her view,I just wish it was not quite so scathing.It almost makes me feel silly for falling in love with the story and film so much.

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