Tag Archive for 'The United States of Tara'

Diablo Cody Gets New Gig

Published
by
Melissa Silverstein
on September 23, 2009
in Women Writers
. 4 Comments

diabloSeems that Diablo Cody is continuing to beat the odds.  Even though the Jennifer’s Body box office was weak she seems to have gotten her next gig.  Let’s also keep in mind that Toni Collette won a surprise best actress Emmy on Sunday night for the United States of Tara which Cody created.

She is adapting and producing a film based on the Sweet Valley High books for Universal which outbid Fox for the project.  Story is about identical twins Jessica and Elizabeth with opposite personalities. One gets into trouble, the other gets her out of trouble.

What was awesome to me is that I first heard about this through a breaking news email from the Hollywood Reporter.  You gotta be big to warrant a breaking news email.

This could be very interesting.    Lots of girls (I am a bit too old) read Sweet Valley High.  Dang there are over 150 books and it was a TV series for several years.  Could be another potential franchise in the making.

Don’t think Sweet Valley High will be quite as sweet after Cody gets hold of it.

Diablo Cody Takes on Sweet Valley (Variety)

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Tags: Sweet Valley High, The United States of Tara, Toni Collette

Diablo Cody IS a Feminist

Published
by
Melissa Silverstein
on September 9, 2009
in Feminism and Movies
. 17 Comments

diabloDiablo Cody is one of the figures who gets both the love and hate especially from other women.  On the one side she used her sexuality (her stripper book and pole-dancing life) to get her break in Hollywood and I bet that meetings in Hollywood with Diablo are nothing like meetings in the past with female screenwriters.

On the other hand she used what she knew and broke into the boy’s club and now in two years is kicking ass up and down the street with a new movie (Jennifer’s Body- out September 18) and a successful TV show The United States of Tara.  She has figured out what works (like so many guys have) and has run with it.  Her success opens the door for other women.  Her success also opens the door to lots of scrutiny and because there are so few other women at her level, she has a lot of responsibility to continue to be successful cause you know the saying (in Hollywood) when one women fails — we all fail.

I know that women and lots of feminists have issues with Cody and her work.  But I am impressed with her.  She stands up for herself and her beliefs and for women and feminism.  Who the hell else in Hollywood admits so publicly and proudly that she is a feminist and that everything she does is layered with feminism?  Let me think.  No one.

Here’s some stuff she said in a great interview on The Frisky:

My feminist hat is permanently welded to my head—I definitely can’t take it off! It’s so important for me to write things from the female perspective and in service of women and in the right roles for women. That’s usually what I’m thinking going into it. Obviously, the story goes first. But then my next priority is how am I going to sneak my subversive feminist message into this?

The Frisky: Do you always think the female perspective is the feminist perspective, though?

DC: No, not always. But I think representation is obviously the first step to equality, so if women aren’t being represented in a diverse way in movies, they’re going to remain marginalized.

You have to listen to her on Elvis Mitchell’s show, The Treatment.  She’s humble, smart, in awe of the opportunities she has gotten, and is a true lover of pop culture.

Now I haven’t seen Jennifer’s Body yet (I will at the end of this week.)  I have never been interested in the horror genre before but I want to see this film because Cody wrote it and because it is directed by Karyn Kusama.  (Cody also has an executive producer credit on the film.)  Who knows if the film will be feminist.  Just because the person who wrote it is a feminist doesn’t mean that the film will be feminist even if it stars women.  This is a mainstream Hollywood movie.  It was bought by Fox Atomic (which doesn’t exist anymore) and now is being released by big Fox.  It’s opening wide which means 2500 plus screens.  It could potentially gross 30 million or more on opening weekend.  It’s going to attract young men and young women.  The men cause Megan Fox is hot and the women cause young women seem to love horror films.

Here’s what the NY Times had to say about women and horror:

And yet recent box office receipts show that women have an even bigger appetite for these films than men. Theories straining to address this particular head scratcher have their work cut out for them: Are female fans of “Saw” ironists? Masochists? Or just dying to get closer to their dates?

Jennifer’s Body is a film created to appeal to both men and women (I think it will skew young).  If they can manage to pull it off it will be a big deal.

“Jennifer’s Body” was designed with both feminists and 15-year-old boys in mind, a seemingly eccentric blueprint that, as Ms. Kusama points out, is in line with the best movies of the slasher tradition. “It may be one of the best ways for a young male audience to experience a female story without feeling like they have been limited by a female perspective,” she said.

I think that women, feminists, need to stop beating up on Diablo.  We love to eat our young.  Sure her feminism is different but does that mean it’s not feminism?  Just the fact that we are having a conversation about feminism in a horror movie to me is a step forward.

Here’s the trailer:

The Fempire (Women & Hollywood)

Taking Back the Knife: Girls Gone Gory (NY Times)

Exclusive Q&A: Diablo Cody Talks Megan Fox, Therapy, And Doing “The View” With Courtney Love (The Frisky)

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Tags: Jennifer's Body, Karyn Kusama, The United States of Tara