Last month, I talked a bit about the portrayal of writers in movies. Several of you suggested other names of movies that portray writers in today’s society. During the days that I couldn’t get out my front door because of all the snow, I spent my time catching up a bit on my movie watching. I loved Wonder Boys — in fact, I went back and reread the novel. I watched The Dark Half. So Stephen King. I liked Stranger Than Fiction. I also liked Adaptation. In one way or another, all these films offered glimpses of a contemporary writer’s life — whether it’s academic woes and writer’s block found in Wonder Boys or the challenge of bringing a book to the big screen — a problem explored in Adaptation. Still, in my creative writing class, I think I am going to show clips from Throw Momma From the Train and maybe Room 1408. I think I can find short segments from both these films that display problems in writers’ lives — most of the other movies that I watched are a bit too complex for me to make due with just a short clip. I’m eager to see what my students say about the portrayals found in the films.
Classes started today; my creative writing class meets tomorrow. I love the frenzy of a new semester.
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