Minnesotans, particularly the ones in the local media, have an obsession with claiming anyone who has made a name on the world stage, whether that person was born here or spent a few minutes here. Bob Dylan, Garrison Keillor and Walter Mondale are examples of those who grew up here before becoming famous. Hubert Humphrey, Kevin Garnett and Mary Tyler Moore were born somewhere else, but made their names here.
These days, it's all about Diablo Cody, who has just picked up a Golden Globe nomination for writing the screenplay for the film Juno. The Chicago-born writer and blogger (real name Brook Busey-Hunt) spent a few years in Minnesota working as a stripper, which she parlayed into a blog and later a memoir titled Candy Girl: A Year in The Life of an Unlikely Stripper before moving to the bright lights of Hollywood. If you've read any of the articles, you already know that.
Juno, which is about a teenager's unplanned pregnancy, has been getting rave reviews from nearly every movie critic there is. But it also tells us a lot about supposedly liberal Hollywood's
attitude toward the subject of abortion. Are they as ambivalent about it as the rest of us are, or are they kowtowing to the Religious Right?
Being in Minnesota, we're getting plenty of articles about Cody in the local newspapers, magazines and websites. If there hadn't been a writers' strike, she'd be on every late-night TV show. In addition to all the screenplays Cody is working on and all the connections she's made (Steven Spielberg?), she's added a gig as columnist for Entertainment Weekly.
We're not here to be jealous of Diablo Cody's success. We've read her articles in City Pages, and found them to be original, funny and not as self-important as the rest of the paper is at times. Most of all, Cody is an inspiration to people who churn out poorly written blogs like this one.
But isn't Cody in danger of overexposure, personally and professionally? Hollywood, as we all know, is the kind of town that chews you up and spits you out. It can even take a toll on marriages, as Cody announced the breakup of hers on her website.
Only time will tell if Cody reaches the heights of Keillor, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sinclair Lewis and other famous Minnesota authors. We're not putting that kind of pressure on her, are we?
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3 comments:
She strikes me as a pretentious moron and I'm sick to death of her already.
Nice balls, "anonymous." Cody is in danger of nothing but a backlash that will happen/is happening perhaps as quickly as her rise to fame, only to be dissolved once she sinks her slip-on vans into Hollywood's side. The hype will sizzle in a couple of months and what will be left is the unwavering skeleton of her colossal talent. I think she's here to stay and everyone will calm down, including all of Minnesota, when we realize she's a staple in the screenwriting community.
I think she's a talented writer but she needs to pull it back BIG TIME. She's gonna "Norbit" herself out of the oscar. I too am tired of the too cute quips and non stop profiles.
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