Movie Adaptations: Kirn and Orlean
I haven’t read Susan Orlean’s books but I’ve liked many pieces by Walter Kirn. These writers discussed film adaptations of their books @bhtv. It went on too long, but it is an interesting subject: writers and pop culture.
Kirn pointed out to Orlean that because she admired “The English Patient” Elaine (Seinfeld) wouldn’t like her. You gotta love Kirn.
About having their work adapted by the movies:
Orlean despaired that being anointed by Hollywood is perceived by some as being a better writer. She is right. Kirn felt movie interest means that he “created a character”, and that is an affirmation he appreciates. Kirn thinks that if the movies have a character they “can find a story”. Kirn is wrong about the centrality of character. Movies are storytelling machines. The characters stay with you because of the acting. Story and directing is what makes a movie.
Kirn was quite effective in describing the shallowness of movies — their skeletal narrative capacity — and at the same time accomplished the hat trick of admiring the adaptation of his own books. He seemed sincere.
Orlean said she doesn’t look at all like Meryl Streep, who played her in a movie which was based on her book. But she said that people are so benumbed by the movie form that they overlay Orlean and Streep. Strange effect the movies have. Orlean does belong to the same gene pool as a Seinfeld character however: a woman who dated Kramer but drove Elaine crazy, describing this character as so enthusiastic she was like a “game show contestant.” This is the character who thought everything was “really, really great” — the actress does resemble Orlean, although Orlean is nothing like that ditzy character in manner.
Kirn said he wasn’t looking foreward to Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” — comments that reflect my own sentiments. Burton is limited — an illustrator attempting to inhabit a masterwork of imagination. Movies lately, in their imagery, have adopted a video game gothic kitsch; very well done as an expression of craft, but dreary as engrossing visual material.
Avatar is a huge industrial project, said Kirn. He feared movies would become like Avatar. They already have.
