We are imagining car accidents

Maybe because of the writers strike dominating the news and preying on (some of) our minds,  I’ve noticed tons of movies about writers on cable lately.  Last week alone I caught chunks of three of my favorites: Romancing the Stone (ever notice Joan Wilder writes for Avon?), Shakespeare in Love, and my new favorite, Stranger Than Fiction.  I always worry whether movies will get it right.  Having given up on movies rendering archaeologists accurately, I’m putting all my cinematic eggs in this basket.  And, probably for obvious reasons, the movies about writers get closer more often.

I can’t not watch Stranger Than Fiction, when it’s on.  The scene that gives this blog its title is one of my favorites:  a drenched, shivering, and miserable writer sits uncovered in the rain, smoking a cigarette, staring at traffic on a bridge.  Her publisher-assigned assistant, warm and dry under a cheery umbrella, asks “And what are we doing here?”   The answer is a lofty “We are imagining car accidents.” 

I love this. 

Not because it’s how I work—and it’s not how Karen Eiffel, the writer character, works best, either.  It turns out that all of her real inspirations come from the few, bare interactions she allows herself with the outside world: buying cigarettes, walking to work, etc.  She immures herself in her office/mausoleum; when she has her breakthrough, it’s on the bus.  Her forays to find gruesome ways to kill her characters always end with her imagining herself as the victim, not words on paper.  A suicidal tragedian who would visit her various “deaths” on her heroes, it’s people and mundane occurrences (an apple falling) that ultimately make her write.  Like Will in Shakespeare in Love hears a preacher ranting to a crowd about the evils of theater and steals a line for Romeo and Juliet.  Like the rest of us, her best stuff comes when she connects with real life, but even in her attempts to force inspiration, she puts her self into her work. 

I also love the scene because she’s being totally unselfconscious about what she does.  She doesn’t think about what it might sound like to a civilian.  We’ve all had the experience of talking animatedly about death and mayhem when the cocktail party racket suddenly dies down and the horrified stares begin.  The other night, two bartenders at a restaurant I frequent were joking about stabbing someone with a corkscrew; I said, nodding, “I killed someone with one of those, once.”  Turning to my husband, “When was that?” 

I swear to God, I thought they knew I write. 

The other moment in the movie that totally rocked my world was when Karen (Emma Thompson*) meets the character, Harold (Will Ferrell) whose life she’s been narrating—and dictating.  They’re discussing whether she should continue her masterpiece, which will result—inevitably—in his death.  It’s something every writer, especially mystery writers, have to decide:  we’ve created characters who in many senses are now real to us.  We love them.  How can we possibly destroy them?

The scene when she asks him, now knowing that he’s actually real, what she should do—and his response—is breathtaking.  For me, it’s practically mystical, that moment, the ultimate definition of the relationship between writer and character—and the movie nails it.  I’m not a mystical kind of girl, but damn.  It really sums up one of the most amazing parts of this job.

So.  What are your favorite movies about writers?

(*N.B.  In the spirit of full disclosure, I long ago decided that Emma Thompson would play me in the movie of my life, if it’s not done as an anime.)

Comments

[Charlaine Harris]

I loved that movie too, and I always wished I could be as unselfconscious about what I'm thinking as the Emma Thompson character is. I think I often mask that part of myself; either because I won't have any friends if I expose it, or because it's so private.

[danacmrn]

It is a weird road we travel, Charlaine, turning what are often incredibly personal ideas and memories into something for public consumption. Another thing I loved was that after she finished the book, she willingly left her seclusion to go *talk* with the professor about her work. Everyone in the movie changes because of her daring; a happy thought.

[Karen]

American Dreamer! Two writers for the price of one. Plus, you get Tom Conti.

[danacmrn]

I'll have to check it out! Thanks, Karen!

[mary]

Another vote for American Dreamer here! Oh, I love that movie. Stranger Than Fiction looks like something I need to check out. Will Farrell makes me nervous, but if Emma Thompson is in it, I'm sure I'll like it.

[danacmrn]

Mary, don't worry about Will. I'm not into his brand of humor either, generally, but he commits to his drama with the same intensity that he commits to his humor. You'll love it.

[Kris Neri]

Dana, I wasn't familiar with Stranger than Fiction, so I rented it last night, and loved it. Really imaginative and there was so much I could relate to. I'm not a Will Farrell fan, either, but he did a good job, and Emma Thompson is always great. As for Hollywood getting it right...they won me over when they used a realistically-sized manuscript, which we saw when Harold read it on the bus. Usually, when they show a novel manuscript, it's the size of a TV episode script. It's a minor point, but that's one of my pet peeves.