Login
Forgot Password?

OR

Login with Google Login with Twitter Login with Facebook
  • Join
  • Profiles
  • Groups
  • SuicideGirls
  • Photos
  • Videos
  • Shop
Vital Stats

hecklongtree

Syosset, NY

Member Since 2004

Followers 236 Following 1985

  • Everything
  • Photos
  • Video
  • Blogs
  • Groups
  • From Others

Monday May 17, 2004

May 17, 2004
0
  • Facebook
  • Tweet
  • Email
This morning I received my coverage (evaluation) from the Slamdance Screenplay Competition for my script "Jilted." While it contained some very favorable comments ('law school...is often lampooned brilliantly "), it also comments that really upset me. There's a line early in the script ("We're reformed Jews. In fact, we're so reformed we're practically Nazis") which the script reader says I lifted from a "famous Woody Allen stand-up routine."

I never had heard this supposedly famous routine, but a few months back (long after I had written my script), I saw it on a Yahoo Woody Allen Group post. Woody's joke is something like "My Rabbi is from a reform order. He's so reformed he's a Nazi."

The genesis of my line is this: I read, in a book of Lenny Bruce's stand-up material, a joke that went something like: "In my family, we're reform Jews. In fact, we're so reformed, we're ashamed to be Jewish." I took Lenny's set-up (we're so reformed) and added my own punchline (we're practically Nazis).

So I didn't steal Woody Allen's joke, which if it is famous--it's unjustly famous. Reform order? Catholics have orders--not Jews. Anyway, I bet Woody took the set-up from Lenny, same as I did.

The second comment that bothered me, though not as much as the first, was that the legal material should be cut significantly since it didn't "advance the plot, entertain, or develop any kind of thematic subtext." I don't know--maybe it's my fault-- but I didn't include scenes just to show Jim in the law school classroom and to give the audience lessons in law. Rather, I put the scenes in the script to reveal aspects of Jim's character. Thus, during the Socratic dialogue regarding Pierson v. Post (the fox hunt case referred to in my Feb. 15 journal entry), after the discussion of Roman law, English law, etc., Jim asks the impertinent though obvious question: Why can't we just come up with our own law?" That's the way Jim thinks: Why can't come up with our own rules--not just in this case--but in life? He might well have asked: Why can't we come up with our own identities, instead of the ones imposed on us by parents, culture, religion, etc.

The Palsgraf case is also important. First, it explains why the hang-out is called "Mrs. Palsgraf's Sandwich Emporium. Second, it shows that Jim adheres to the Andrews Dissent (We owe a duty to the whole world), both in the narrow sense, as it applies to proximate cause, and, in the broader sense, as it applies to life.

Also, these discussions are important, since they set up the crazy final exam questions, which everybody seems to find hillarious, even though they're hardly different from real law school exam questions!

Anyway, no one seemed to get any of the subtext. It just seemed to go over everyone's head. I guess, when all's said and done, I really am like Jim, the protagonist of my script--a stand-up comic who wants to tell jokes in Latin.
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
niav:
Thanks for tha comment! I'm really impressed with how....detailed...your entries are! I wish I had more time to write in mine, especially since I'm a newbie. Sorry bout all the negative responses you've been getting, hopefully things will work out. If they don't, I have a really mean kitty cat that still has his claws and REALLY sharp teeth (I have pantyhose to prove it) so let me know and I'll unleash the Turbo Lemur after those silly silly people. Blood always makes for a quick understanding!
May 22, 2004
hecklongtree:
Thanks, Niav, for the words of encouragement. I'm writing another draft of my script--one that is accessible, commercial, and, I hope, salable. It bothers me that people didn't make the effort to understand the original draft, but what can I do? I want to sell a script.
Jun 1, 2004

More Blogs

  • 04.01.09
    2

    Wednesday Apr 01, 2009

    I decided to enter Script Frenzy--the contest, exercise, whatever you…
  • 02.15.09
    3

    Sunday Feb 15, 2009

    I entered a screenplay contest recently. The contest charged a reason…
  • 02.03.09
    2

    Tuesday Feb 03, 2009

    Having to decide between McCain and Obama, I was reminded of that Woo…
  • 01.20.09
    2

    Tuesday Jan 20, 2009

    W is finally out of the White House. As Gerald Ford once said:" Our l…
  • 01.06.09
    4

    Tuesday Jan 06, 2009

    I started on a new screenplay, a pulp Western in the Max Brand mold. …
  • 09.28.08
    3

    Sunday Sep 28, 2008

    Once again, on the final game of the season, the Marlins eliminated t…
  • 07.14.08
    4

    Monday Jul 14, 2008

    I just received an e-mail informing me that "Bordertown" is a quarte…
  • 07.01.08
    1

    Tuesday Jul 01, 2008

    I don't think I'm going to attend the screenwriter's group anymore. I…
  • 05.19.08
    0

    Monday May 19, 2008

    I entered a revised version of "Bordertown" in the Slamdance Screenpl…
  • 05.09.08
    1

    Friday May 09, 2008

    I'm getting tons of activity on inktip. Today alone my script receive…

We at SuicideGirls have been celebrating alternative pin-up girls for:

23
years
9
months
7
days
  • 5,509,826 fans
  • 41,393 fans
  • 10,327,617 followers
  • 4,593 SuicideGirls
  • 1,120,690 followers
  • 14,920,612 photos
  • 321,315 followers
  • 61,392,861 comments
  • Join
  • Profiles
  • Groups
  • Photos
  • Videos
  • Shop
  • Help
  • About
  • Press
  • LIVE

Legal/Tos | DMCA | Privacy Policy | 18 U.S.C. 2257 Record-Keeping Requirements Compliance Statement | Contact Us | Vendo Payment Support
©SuicideGirls 2001-2025

Press enter to search
Fast Hi-res

Click here to join & see it all...

Crop your photo