Author Topic: Annie Proulx's still pissed...  (Read 79920 times)

Offline louisev

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 16,107
  • "My guns and amo!! Over my cold dead hands!!"
    • Fiction by Louise Van Hine
Re: Annie Proulx's still pissed...
« Reply #50 on: May 05, 2009, 01:34:43 pm »
Money's a point, I would guess. Literary writers, even some good and well-known ones, often aren't rich. Unless they're Stephen King or his ilk, they generally have day jobs, teaching or whatever. As far as I know (and I may be wrong), Proulx doesn't teach. Her work is loved by her fans, but it's not to everybody's taste (including mine, to be honest). So it's possible that despite misgivings, she's willing to let her work get movied for the sake of the film rights and increased sales.




yep, most of them are.  Although I think she made her pile before Brokeback was movied, but yes, publication usually entails buying and optioning the movie rights so she probably had little or no say in how "Shipping News" was filmed.  She got a say in "Brokeback" because that's how it was negotiated and the screenwriters and producers actively sought her approval of the script.

That does happen sometimes, but it usually is something the owners of the options do as a consideration to the author, because they want the cooperation and the endorsement.
“Mr. Coyote always gets me good, boy,”  Ellery said, winking.  “Almost forgot what life was like before I got me my own personal coyote.”


Offline Kelda

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,703
  • Zorbing....
    • Keldas Facebook Page!
Re: Annie Proulx's still pissed...
« Reply #51 on: May 05, 2009, 01:37:22 pm »
I think Annie Proulx is a very private person who's worried about her losing her privacy.

She says, "And one of the reasons we keep the gates locked here is that a lot of men have decided that the story should have a happy ending.  They can't bear the way it ends...."  Maybe some people have shown up in her town looking for her.  Maybe some have even learned her exact address and shown up on her doorstep or left things for her, and she's found that too close for comfort.  Most likely, these people's intentions are good and they just want to compliment her for her story and tell her how much it moved them and how they wish it could have had a happier ending and that they wish they could know that Ennis did find happiness after Jack's death, but to her, these people are still intruding on her privacy and, let's face it, her time.  Maybe (because of what happened to the character in Stephen King's Misery) she's worried about her personal safety. Maybe she's crabby and just wants to be left alone.

While she does come off as a little mean and hurtful in this interview and in the "pornish rewrites" one, I think she's shown us that she's not one to sugar-coat her words to spare anyone's feelings, whoever they are, even at the risk of disappointing some of her devoted fans.  While we can wish she'd be more respectful to Brokies, that's not how it's going to be.  She's obviously moved on and doesn't want to keep revisiting Brokeback Mountain.  But she does have the right to make that choice, as disappointing as it is.




I think you've probably hit the nail on the head there, but still its a bit..  ??? isn't it?
http://www.idbrass.com

Please use the following links when shopping online -It will help us raise money without costing you a penny.

http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/idb

http://idb.easysearch.org.uk/

Offline Front-Ranger

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 30,266
  • Brokeback got us good.
Re: Annie Proulx's still pissed...
« Reply #52 on: May 05, 2009, 01:40:43 pm »
A couple of points. AP may have "moved on" from Brokeback Mountain but recently she revisited it and wrote the libretto for the opera that will debut in Spain in 2013, something I'm looking forward to very much.

In her audio interview with the BBC (I've been trying to find the link to it without luck) AP said how disappointed she was with The Shipping News...with the movie and also with the book, even though it won the pullet surprise. She was influenced by public feedback on her work to add a happy ending which she did grudgingly and she added "if you can define happiness as an absence of pain." A very complex and inscrutable person! With my training and degree in journalism, I respect her need to tell stories about rural life as it is and was. There's a need for entertainment, but there's also a need for what she gives us, like it or not.
"chewing gum and duct tape"

Offline Jeff Wrangler

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 31,154
  • "He somebody you cowboy'd with?"
Re: Annie Proulx's still pissed...
« Reply #53 on: May 05, 2009, 01:53:47 pm »
She says, "And one of the reasons we keep the gates locked here is that a lot of men have decided that the story should have a happy ending.  They can't bear the way it ends...."  Maybe some people have shown up in her town looking for her.  Maybe some have even learned her exact address and shown up on her doorstep or left things for her, and she's found that too close for comfort.  Most likely, these people's intentions are good and they just want to compliment her for her story and tell her how much it moved them and how they wish it could have had a happier ending and that they wish they could know that Ennis did find happiness after Jack's death, but to her, these people are still intruding on her privacy and, let's face it, her time.  Maybe (because of what happened to the character in Stephen King's Misery) she's worried about her personal safety. Maybe she's crabby and just wants to be left alone.

She very well could be, at least at some level. She herself admits that she's not popular in Wyoming. Or she could be speaking figuratively.  :-\

That, too.  ;D

Quote
While she does come off as a little mean and hurtful in this interview and in the "pornish rewrites" one, I think she's shown us that she's not one to sugar-coat her words to spare anyone's feelings, whoever they are, even at the risk of disappointing some of her devoted fans.  While we can wish she'd be more respectful to Brokies, that's not how it's going to be.  She's obviously moved on and doesn't want to keep revisiting Brokeback Mountain.  But she does have the right to make that choice, as disappointing as it is.

You can say that twice and mean it!
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline Jeff Wrangler

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 31,154
  • "He somebody you cowboy'd with?"
Re: Annie Proulx's still pissed...
« Reply #54 on: May 05, 2009, 01:55:22 pm »
A couple of points. AP may have "moved on" from Brokeback Mountain but recently she revisited it and wrote the libretto for the opera that will debut in Spain in 2013, something I'm looking forward to very much.

In her audio interview with the BBC (I've been trying to find the link to it without luck) AP said how disappointed she was with The Shipping News...with the movie and also with the book, even though it won the pullet surprise. She was influenced by public feedback on her work to add a happy ending which she did grudgingly and she added "if you can define happiness as an absence of pain." A very complex and inscrutable person! With my training and degree in journalism, I respect her need to tell stories about rural life as it is and was. There's a need for entertainment, but there's also a need for what she gives us, like it or not.

Bravo, FRiend Lee!  :D
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline LauraGigs

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • BetterMost 1000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 2,447
    • My Design Portfolio
Re: Annie Proulx's still pissed...
« Reply #55 on: May 05, 2009, 02:26:34 pm »
Yes, it was apparently male fanfic writers who were sending her things and maybe even dropping rewrites off on her porch.  I would certainly be infuriated at the condescension of that — of people who were implying "here's how your book should have ended", etc.  One can't blame her for being angry at that.

But how many of these people could there have been?  She goes and makes these sweeping statements, wishing the whole book and film had never been made.  Whether she's exaggerating or not, she's completely disregarding the thousands of readers who do "get it".  She could easily vent about the handful of annoying folk without potentially alienating everyone else.  As an author, she should be capable of making such a basic distinction.

Offline CellarDweller

  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • ********
  • Posts: 38,256
  • A city boy's mentality, with a cowboy's soul.
Re: Annie Proulx's still pissed...
« Reply #56 on: May 05, 2009, 02:56:42 pm »
Annie Proulx is not the only author to view fan fic in a less than gracious light.

I seem to remmber hearing that Anne Rice is even more against fan fic, and that a number of "Vampire" fan fic authors have had legal action taken against them.


Bottom line is that Ennis Del Mar, Jack Twist, Brokeback Mountain, and all associated characters are hers legally.

As someone who has tried his hand at fan fic (an incomplete story that has pretty much dried up) I can respect her opinion of someone reworking characters she owns the rights to.


I say that with all due respect to slash authors....I've read a number of stories and enjoyed them.


Tell him when l come up to him and ask to play the record, l'm gonna say: ''Voulez-vous jouer ce disque?''
'Voulez-vous, will you kiss my dick?'
Will you play my record? One-track mind!

Offline Jeff Wrangler

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 31,154
  • "He somebody you cowboy'd with?"
Re: Annie Proulx's still pissed...
« Reply #57 on: May 05, 2009, 03:03:37 pm »
Yes, it was apparently male fanfic writers who were sending her things and maybe even dropping rewrites off on her porch.  I would certainly be infuriated at the condescension of that — of people who were implying "here's how your book should have ended", etc.  One can't blame her for being angry at that.

I rather suspect it's less condescension than simple total cluelessness. Anyone clueless enough to send Annie Proulx a manuscript of how she should have written her own story probably, in his or her own mind, thinks he or she is doing Annie a favor. And possibly he or she, in some twisted (no pun intended--well, maybe), Law-and-Order, stalker sort of way, is expecting approval from Annie in return.
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline twtplanner

  • Brokeback Mountain Resident
  • ****
  • Posts: 230
Re: Annie Proulx's still pissed...
« Reply #58 on: May 05, 2009, 03:08:36 pm »
I rather suspect it's less condescension than simple total cluelessness. Anyone clueless enough to send Annie Proulx a manuscript of how she should have written her own story probably, in his or her own mind, thinks he or she is doing Annie a favor. And possibly he or she, in some twisted (no pun intended--well, maybe), Law-and-Order, stalker sort of way, is expecting approval from Annie in return.

I agree.

terry

Offline Monika

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • BetterMost 5000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 6,587
  • We are all the same. Women, men, gay, straight
Re: Annie Proulx's still pissed...
« Reply #59 on: May 05, 2009, 03:13:01 pm »
And a quick peruse of most of the fan fics here and on DCF will reveal most of the authors of such loaded up their piece with crude sex scenes and more boyfriends for Ennis, completely misunderstanding the nature of her work and characters.



I think you perhaps misunderstand the nature of fan fiction. Fan fiction is not mainly about copying AP or to follow her intentions regarding BBM. Fan fiction is about being inspired by certain characters and wanting to explore them further - and the nature of these explorations take on various forms depending on the writers various interests.

I hope AP changes her attitude towards fan fiction