Question for the day: is it wise to leave food waste in
your kitchen bin for days on end when the temperature in your house is reaching
35 degrees (that’s 95 in old money)? No, didn’t think so. I may have to run out
and buy some of that stuff TV cops smear under their noses when attending
post-mortems!
I fear
I may have committed a faux pas during email comm’s with an actress over here.
Without going into lengthy explanations, basically my book idea is about older
actresses - what are the challenges and frustrations for an actress over 50 who
is looking for work in film and television? How much pressure is there to appear
as young as possible? What parts are out there, and are they well-written/any
good? In the past 30 years, have things improved, stayed the same, or gotten
worse? What is the industry’s attitude towards a working actress (i.e. not a
‘star’) once she has turned 50? So, I prepared a set of ‘prompter’ questions as
a means of getting an interview subject thinking and a conversation started
(it’s what I did for the Marathon book). While it’s essential for me to be at
all times respectful and act with integrity, among the wide range of issues I
want to explore is attitudes towards cosmetic surgery, whether that means nips
and tucks, botox, fillers, eye lifts etc. Yes it’s a tricky subject, but there
does seem to be a mix of those that will/did and those that won’t/haven’t. I
have been emailing back and forth with a US TV actress for a quite a while,
someone that, depending on your age, you might well recognise. It’s clear that
she has undergone a number of procedures, and while I of course haven’t
bludgeoned her with the question ‘why did you get all that work done?’ I have
included the issue in my prompter questions (not specific to her, more general
views). Can’t say for certain, but suspect this might be why her agent came back
and told she had ‘passed’ on the idea. That said, others are willing to have a
conversation – am thrilled to be meeting a rather (for me) iconic actress this
afternoon – will be resisting the urge to actually bow and kiss her hand in
deference – and have three more meetings set for the remainder of my trip, plus
an on-going email conversation with the manager of another, plus a number of
Skype sessions planned for October and November.
All
this and yesterday I spent the afternoon at the American Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences Library, pouring over a range of extremely useful
books. No time to read them in full, I jotted down titles and a few notes.
I
do enjoy dealing with people who work in specialist libraries. They are, so
often, at once both extremely helpful and rather disdainful, as if you are going
to run around and knock all the books off the shelves, or get pages grubby, or
scribble in the margins. Meticulous security set up – ID required, which they
took in return for a temporary membership card, pencils only, one pad in which
to write, lap tops but no cases, etc. Something so deliciously peaceful and calm
within its environs, oblivious to the hustle-bustle of outside, although a
particularly officious young woman reprimanded me for ‘reshelving the books’. I pointed out that I was
putting them back exactly where I had found them but NO! Apparently, if you
touch a book, you then have to put it on a special desk, so they can monitor
what is being looked at. Makes sense, although, as I haughtily, and with maximum
posh English accent, said “well, I’ve looked at at least thirty books. Do you
need all of them on your special desk?” She retreated. I
was eventually driven out as it was so bloody cold! I may yet return and dig a
little more, as I’d like to do some scene setting for the book i.e. provide
historical context e.g. in terms of roles in film, in the 1940s there was a
fashion for strong, professional female characters, but changing social values
meant that into the 1950s, these were replaced by ‘dumb blondes’ and sweet,
compliant types aspiring towards marriage and motherhood. Also, although I am
not writing about ‘stars’ as such, there’s something interesting about the
career trajectories of the likes of Bette Davies, Joan Crawford, Barbara
Stanwyck or Katherine Hepburn as they got older.
Hmm…
have just checked this place’s listing on AirBnB. No mention that a second room
is also let (apparently this appears on a completely separate listing!). The
three Slovenians have now departed, but who knows who I’ll be sharing a bathroom
with next! Mind you, the Slovenians were charming, three twentysomethings
touring the US and trying to fit in as much as possible. They even left me their
email addresses and invited me to Slovenia!
Oops,
have gotten behind on my fat giraffe exercises, so better crack on!
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