6 ms·
A fun read rife with lyrical, bilious insults....but he doesn't really explain the economics of "packaging"
by leroy_masochist 8y ago
A fun read rife with lyrical, bilious insults....but he doesn't really explain the economics of "packaging"
- JdeBP 8y agoThere is other stuff to read: * https://www.webfilmschool.com/movie-money-part-8-6-packaging-agents-the-30-50-million-deal-im-repped-by-6/ https://www.webfilmschool.com/movie-money-part-8-6-packaging... * https://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-wga-vote-code-20190331-story.html https://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-wga-vote... * https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/gavin-polone-tvs-dirty-secret-783941 https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/gavin-polone-tvs-dirt... * https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/what-exactly-are-packaging-fees-a-writers-agents-explainer-1198974 https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/what-exactly-are-pack...
- leroy_masochist 8y agoThanks!
- Angostura 8y agoI thought that for a good writer, that was actually terribly written. An author intoxicated by the ebullience of his own verbosity.
- wyldfire 8y agoIndeed. "fuckbonnets"? This article would have been much better without these.
- schrectacular 8y agoTo each, his own, I suppose. I thought that was hilarious and didn't detract anything from the message. I can see why it would be off-putting though.
- empath75 8y agoThis guy wrote The Wire, which famously had a scene comprised entirely of two detectives saying ‘Fuck’ in different tones of voice while examining a crime scene. I’m not sure what you would expect.
- uhhhhhhh 8y agoNot everyone can match this guys brilliance, that's for sure.
- EliRivers 8y agoI disagree. This is an excellent way for the author to express himself. The meaning is clear, and the author avoided cliche and in doing so ensured that I would respond freshly to the word. If he'd simply said "fuckwad" or "bastard" or some other word I read a lot, my response would have been muted. It also makes it clear to me that his feelings towards these people are raw and fresh. The author has achieved excellent communication; I can literally feel his anger towards and frustration with these people (I'm feeling it right this second, as I type), rammed into my mind with a pithy "fuckbonnets" - it's almost like a kind of emotional punctuation. The article is much better with this.
- sevensor 8y agoPersonally I avoid profanity in my writing, because I don't think it would add anything. But this essay illustrates that it can add quite a lot, if you know how to use it. Deployed with expert timing and creativity, in the context of other effective rhetoric, it conveys the depth of Simon's outrage and disgust. I still don't think I would achieve anything by peppering my comments with f-bombs, but I think he has earned them.
- Cthulhu_ 8y agoIt's not so much an article as a personal anecdote. The main difference that articles generally lack something of the author itself.
- scott_s 8y agoDavid Simon has earned the privilege to write that word with a straight face. (I think Stephen King could also pull it off, for different reasons.)
- parksy 8y agoI enjoyed reading it. The creative language implies a seething rage and firmly sets an emotional and moral agenda based on a perceived sense of outrage, something a vast majority of articles these days try to avoid or hide and for that reason, it is immensely refreshing to read in an increasingly neutral, dull and grey landscape of fence-sitting rhetoric. I'm sure there's other more rational, balanced and nuanced articles but I am dead certain that's not what this particular writer wanted to convey, and the language to me seems intentionally polarising, not accidentally so. It is sure to ruffle some feathers, more so than a nuanced essay, which likely would have garnered little more than a "hm" from most people. Sometimes shouting in the street gets attention, and when you have that attention is when you hit with the logic. This is from the guy who wrote "The Wire" (appeal to authority notwithstanding) so I'm willing to lend him some credibility that he understands how to use language, and accept that he has creative freedom in expressing opinions on a subject matter which has personally affected him and other creatives in an industry he deeply respects. That is not to say I don't think that there needs to be other more balanced and informative essays written on the subject, I just don't think that this article is meant to achieve that purpose.
- bovermyer 8y agoI guess you were reading as a writing critic instead of trying to understand the point of the article. Interesting.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- taneq 8y agoWell I liked it.
- mcguire 8y agoI'm still pondering "fuckbonnet". See michaelbuckbee: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19571258 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19571258
- nickelcitymario 8y agoThat word was my favourite part of the article. The whole thing was fascinating, but "fuckbonnet" is poetry.