I don't even know where to begin when thinking about Steve Almond's lecture- for me, it was the best lecture yet. Steve's intelligence and acute awareness of the world makes him a great writer and I was immediately inspired to buy all of his stories after the lecture (unfortunately my bank account prohibits that!). I definitely got at least one of his books :)
His story "Skull" and the question/answer period afterwards inspired me. As a screenwriter, I love taking love and throwing it into odd contexts to test the boundaries and examine something that doesn't really get looked at. The screenplay I wrote and am producing right now is about androgyny- what happens when the societal construct of gender is thrown out entirely in a society? Is someone stuck in the prejudices of the old society able to adapt and see a person, in an intimate and personal way, for who they are? In writing and in film you can really escape from reality, construct a metaphorical world in which the tensions and issues faced in society are dealt with in an extreme or exaggerated fashion. Almond's story "Skull" does that, and I loved that he chose to read it although he usually wouldn't. I think "Skull" and my screenplay are similar and it was cool to see that.
I wish there was more time with Steve Almond- all of his answers to people's questions were insightful, devoid of bullshit and funny. He is genuinely hilarious and could be a stand up comedian, in my opinion. For all his funny moments he was also really serious about love, writing about it, and acknowledging that sex is always awkward. I couldn't have agreed more with that- sex is a really heightened act, both physically and emotionally, and the way our culture treats sex just exaggerates that.
No comments:
Post a Comment