Resentment and Jealousy

I try not to be resentful and jealous of those who have more success and opportunity than me, but it is hard.

This Curry Barker dude (who looks like Anthony Michael Hall's insane cousin... and who is only 26... when I was 26 I was an Assistant Store Manager at Blockbuster, substitute teaching during the day and try desperately to acquire my first full-time teaching gig... I was also writing novels that never got published and screenplays nobody has produced) has two original horror movies coming out (both at major studios) and is being handed the reigns to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise (which, IMHO, is a singular film that never should have been a "franchise", but what do I know).

But I love when James Wan and Jason Blum say in a joint statement, “With Obsession, Curry did what only a handful of filmmakers manage in a generation: he made something wholly original that connected with a massive audience, and that connection is what we care about most."

Whoa, hold on.

"Wholly original"... Obsession is just "The Monkey's Paw" but done with twentysomething actors... portraying other twentysomething characters, all of whom are terrible human beings. Throw in some "crazy girlfriend" stuff and you've "connected" with the late-teen/twentysomrthing (and possibly thirtysomething) demographic who (surprisingly) will give up their cash (instead of pirating it off the Internet) and see it in theaters (instead of streaming it in a few weeks). 

And then there's Scott Becks and Brian Woods. They are writing an "event" movie for Amblin and Spielberg.  

I guess, good for them.

Spielberg "event movies" were cool when I was a kid (and I still love Jaws and Jurassic Park), but as a grown man they don't really appeal to me.

But I want to talk about Beck and Woods for a minute.

First, they were the celebrity judges in a horror screenplay contest (Screencraft) that I submitted to in 2018. I placed (moved up in the ranks) but didn't ultimately win.

Don't know how much they had to do with that decision, but I digress.

I kinda liked their movie Haunt... It's a bit like Hellfest (which I hated), House of 1,000 Corpses (which I have a back-and-forth history with) and You're Next (which I've come to love).

I loved Quiet Place, but haven't read their original screenplay for it yet. So, really I have no idea how much of what I love is from them, or from John Krasinski.

Anyhow, their dinosaur movie 65... I fell asleep during when I saw it at the Alamo Drafthouse years ago. Been meaning to re-watch it. But the fact that I haven't found the motivation to do so, and fell asleep during it in the first place, says volumes. 

I don't know.

Beck and Woods are both 41 (so only 5 years behind me), so that gives me hope that Hollywood doesn't just want material from angst twnetysomethings and influencers.

But news like this does tend to bring me down. Sure, it is petty to be so jealous and resentful of others who enjoy great success. I've worked hard for 20+ years to get my work published and produced. Perhaps I have sacrificed as much as I could have. Perhaps I have not had the resources and support (in various forms) that these guys have had. Perhaps I didn't go to a big enough college and make lots of vital networking connections.

I have no idea.

 But, in the end, I vent about it here, but really I just need to ignore it and soldier on. 

Which is precisely what I intend on doing.