Here are my theories about what's going on with author Bret Easton Ellis: 1) He's masterminded an increasingly weird public publicity campaign to generate attention for himself, and by association, his incomprehensibly-awful-looking Lindsay Lohan vehicle The Canyons, 2) he's holding out hope that someone will hire him to adapt Fifty Shades of Grey for the big screen and he thinks his best shot at getting the gig is being as controversial as possible, 3) he made a very, very bad decision to go cold turkey on a much-needed mood-balancing medication.
I mean, the guy has been on a serious roll lately, and not in a good way. I used to think he was such a talented author -- I loved American Psycho and Less Than Zero for all their bleak, satirical ickiness -- but now he just sounds like a cranky Internet troll. His latest target? Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty director Kathryn Bigelow, against whom he delivered an obnoxious, misogynistic Twitter rant yesterday.
Ellis isn't exactly known for keeping his opinions about his fellow Hollywood moviemakers to himself. After publicly declaring his intention to write the film version of Fifty Shades of Grey, he blasted writer Kelly Marcel for landing the coveted job:
Kelly Marcel?!? KELLY MARCEL?!? Kelly Marcel is WRITING the script for 'Fifty Shades of Grey'?!? THIS is the movie they want to make? ARGH (...) Kelly Marcel: the creator of (gulp) "Terra Nova" and a Mary Poppins bio-pic has been blessed by EL James and no one can stop her. Dear God.
Way to take the high road, dude.
He stirred up more controversy back in September when he voiced his support for Paris Hilton's recorded conversation in which she opined that all gay men are “disgusting” and “most of them probably have AIDS." According to Ellis:
I kind of agree with Paris Hilton.
Clearly Ellis has no problems speaking his mind, regardless of the consequences. Still, I'm pretty surprised he would go so far as to theorize that the only reason Kathryn Bigelow has enjoyed success as a filmmaker is because of her looks. Here's what he posted on Wednesday night:
Kathryn Bigelow would be considered a mildly interesting filmmaker if she was a man but since she's a very hot woman she's really overrated.
Wow. That's just ... wow. So the early praise for Zero Dark Thirty is because of her tits? The audiences her movies have pulled in would have stayed home if she didn't have aesthetically pleasing features? REALLY, ELLIS?
Of course, he didn't stop there:
Kathryn Bigelow: Strange Days, K-19 The Widowmaker, Blue Steel, The Hurt Locker. Are we talking about visionary filmmaking or just OK junk?
Well, I guess we can all agree that the Oscar-winning The Hurt Locker is in fact no Canyons. Just as a quick reminder, here's what we can look forward to from Bret Easton Ellis's deft wordsmithing and visionary talent:
Do you think Bret Easton Ellis is just a hotheaded loudmouth -- or is there something else going on with him lately?
Image via Whistling in the Dark/Flickr
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Comments 6
He might be bitter that once upon a time he was an accomplished writer and now he hasn't really pulled up anything mildly entertaining so he's resentful towards the "newer' talent. Whatever is going on with him he needs to realize that these rants (ESPECIALLY via social media) are going to end up hurting his career rather than propelling it. Still love ya BEE!!
wow, he just sounds terribly bitter.
i have a better idea - we should stop paying attention to every little 'rant' someone posts on twitter. if we started treating them like the obnoxious FB statuses everyone hates so much, maybe people would stop caring about what self-entitled people think of the world around them for every minute of the day.
This womans movies are about war, specifically men in/at war. The fact that she's an attractive woman directing that subject matter might bring some additional "buzz" about the movie, but it likely means they're scrutinized more too. Buzz only helps the opening, they fizzle really fast if the audience is disappointed.