Uncompromising, especially from an extreme viewpoint, and unwilling to agree. It appears often during NFL draft season and always during a presidential election season, and it afflicts millions of pontificating people.
David Simon has had an incredible writing career. He started with The Baltimore Sun and worked there for twelve years. He's made two of the best TV shows ever (The Wire and Homicide: Life on the Streets) as well as a number of other terrific series and miniseries. (Oh, and he also wrote this brief, magnificent anecdote about Idris Elba.)
Simon's most recent show was Show Me a Hero (whose cast included friend of The Dailies Jim Bracchitta). Towards the end of the show, there was a disagreement between writer, director, and actor about a specific line. Simon wrote it about the experience, and it's fascinating:
Note: some adult language peppers the story.
Having contemplated the whole of the story for months with great care, Oscar Isaac was nonetheless unconvinced even by this sardonic reading of the line and after revisions were published, he mentioned his concern, to which I replied, with all the manipulative and false equanimity to which an executive producer is entitled: “Okay. We’ll get it both ways.”
Behold, the ultimate argument against committing too early to either a writer’s or actor’s choice. Why decide now? Let’s wait for the close coverage of a line or action in question and then film it both ways. Yours and mine. Then, when film editing the whole of the narrative later, we can assess the storyline and our execution of it, and make the proper choice.
The only problem from the actor’s point of view is, of course, he has to trust in the wit and taste of the director and producer; he won’t be in the editing room to participate in the final decision on which take to use. By offering the variations in the first place, he’s opening the door to differing outcomes. What if the writer is unwilling to kill one of his writerly lines, even if it impairs performance? What if a director is unwilling to kill a more dramatic moment, or worse, a pretty shot, for the sake of a real or authentic one? What if someone’s special, blessed baby needs to be murdered in the crib and no one has the stomach to do the deed?
Simon's story is fascinating because a) it's an awesome read, b) it's a terrific example of working with extremely talented creative professionals, c) it's shows how to work together and sometimes compromise on issues. And it also brings to mind Guillermo del Toro's comment about the movies that are released:
When 1 movie gets made, 3 get released:
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) October 26, 2015
The one the audience wants.
The one the studio sells.
The one that was made.
Sometimes they coincide
WritingTVDavid SimonShow Me a HeroIntransigenceA line by any other name would not sound as sweet