Running With Scissors...is it really THAT bad?- Page 2

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 11:42am

"The Augusten character is a passive quasi-victim, devoid of compelling catharsis."

I am reminded of the wisdom of the Paul Rudnick Wednesday Addams, whom I will paraphrase here: All his life.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 11:44am

Did he turn you down, or was it his publisher?

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 12:16pm

Wasn't there a similar argument about Auntie Mame being "made up" by Patrick Dennis? And that proved to be false, too. So Namo, just because YOU don't think it happened does not make it so.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 1:07pm

Ha HA! I'll say! Of course, Patrick Dennis's book was always included in the fiction section of bookstores... where it belonged.

Rath, why are you so invested in phonies getting away with their charades?

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 1:08pm

I'm not, but you seem very invested in calling this particular one out.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 1:11pm

Because it's a very slippery slope, and everyone who repeats the "And it's all TRUE!" lie encourages others to slide right on down it.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 1:13pm

Okay. And I did read the book with an eye toward it being "loosely based." I know that's not how it's marketed, and that's the part that's wrong, but I still enjoyed it.

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 1:15pm

I love how at the end of all of the Law and Order's they have the disclaimer that none of what you just watched was actual/factual but rather based on occurances pulled from the headlines.

[DBillyP]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 4:19pm

I think namo's vehement insistence that the book is "made up" is as narrowminded as other's insistence that it is all true, just as fundamenatlist Christianity is as dangerous as fundamentalist Islam.

[Fiction Writer]

Posted: 10/18/06 at 4:46pm

Why did I get brought up in this conversation?
I'll see the movie, and probably enjoy it, even if it's a mess.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 10:21am

Interesting theory, DBillyP, do you have any thoughts that support that argument?

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 10:38am

Namo, just wondering, but you don't feel at all apprehensive about using "slippery slope" in an argument considering that it's such a big conservative talking point?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 10:46am

It's not like they invented it. And really, if we stopped using all the phrases that they've co-oped over the years, all we'd have left is "amazing."

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 10:55am

I understand what you're saying. I just think the slippery slope argument is one that's sketchy in a lot of cases.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 11:00am

The fact that the market for fiction is dwindling is the reason for the slippery slope. Plenty of creative writers fudge it by saying that their fiction is "based on a true story" and then the next step is just to say it's "all true." You eventually end up with James Frey, who slid to the very bottom of the slope after being forced to admit that all of the lies he peddled as the truth were lies. Perhaps it's an overused analogy, but never has it been so perfectly illustrated than there.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 11:03am

Fiction, non-fiction, or somewhere in between? I'm sure most memoirs are like that. So I usually take these books and enjoy them for the story they're telling, as knowing whether they are true events never enhance the story for me in any way.

That said, I loved the book, but I'm afraid of seeing this movie, because the buzz is now falling over it. The hype machine was working pretty hard on this, what with the Nip/Tuck guy being involved, the cast, etc. Sounds to me like a case of "All the King's Men", which was supposed to be Oscar bait, but the final product couldn't meet expectations.

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 11:17am

She's not going to JUST lip-lock her....

[InTheAudience]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 1:35pm

It kinda reminds me of The Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis. Great book. But the movie was dreadful. It just could not capture the subtlety and nuances of the book.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 3:23pm

Excerpts from the Daily Hampshire Gazzette:

NORTHAMPTON - The Northampton family portrayed in the new movie 'Running With Scissors' announced Tuesday that it has reached an out-of-court settlement with Sony Pictures Entertainment that will prevent a lawsuit.

The family, the Turcottes, still have a lawsuit pending against the book's author, Augusten Burroughs, and its publisher, St. Martin's Press, alleging defamation and invasion of privacy.

Dr. Rodolph Turcotte, portrayed in the book and movie as Dr. Finch, became the legal guardian for Burroughs, whose original name was Christopher Robison. He lived with the family in their Phillips Place home in Northampton during his adolescence.

In the best-selling memoir, Burroughs describes a household in which family members divined their fate by the shape of the doctor's feces and in which the mother eats dog food.

Burroughs also claims that the Turcottes knew of, and condoned, his sexual relationship with a man 20 years his senior who also lived in the house.

In their suit, the family denies all of these assertions. According to The Associated Press, the family's lawsuit seeks $2 million in damages. But the Turcottes' attorney, Tyler Chapman, said Wednesday the family has not placed a dollar value on the case.

'Many years ago our parents agreed to take Chris in at a very difficult time in his adolescence. Now, as our lawsuit alleges, in his apparent pursuit of profit and fame, he has betrayed our friendship and twisted the truth for his own gain. We have been deeply saddened and hurt by him,' the Turcottes said in a statement released by their lawyers.

Burroughs, who is 41 and lives in Amherst and New York City, did not return calls seeking comment Wednesday afternoon. He has always maintained that the events described in the book are true.

[DBillyP]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 4:01pm

Which argument Namo ... that you are narrowminded or that fundamentalism is dangerous?

[mominator]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 4:03pm

Have read the book, and know everyplace that mr. Burroughs mentions. I live in Amherst, and knew the "good doctor". He was a total crack pot, and even lost his licence. His family also quite crazy. Is everything in his book true? I don't know. I was not living here during that time period. Could it have? Yes. Oh and the house.... Yes it really looked that bad.
The priest who ran the Newman Center at UMass, was a doll. He saw nothing but good in everyone., even Dr Turcotte. So much so that he was running the pre-Cana classes (the classes we Catholics take before marriage) Thank heavens that when RC and I wed we were living at the other end of the state. Other wise I would have some really good stories for you.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 4:03pm

Can you show me examples of how the fact that Robison made up the "you can't make this stuff up" details of his "true story" is an example of my "narrowmindedness"?

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 4:24pm

Now, as our lawsuit alleges, in his apparent pursuit of profit and fame, he has betrayed our friendship and twisted the truth for his own gain.

Considering the initual suit denies the assertions, it's interesting that the settlement statement doesn't say that he lied, but that he "twisted the truth."

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 4:29pm

That's the nature of "settling."

[DBillyP]

Posted: 10/19/06 at 4:31pm

Namo, just because the good doctor and his family deny the allegations doesn't mean they aren't true, and just because Burroughs says they did happen doesn't make them true.

Yet, you say things like, "'FYI, the book was based on REAL events Augustine went through.'Yes, I know. The whole thing hinges on that lie."

Your assertion that the book is a lie and not based on real events doesn't make that true either. Black-and-white, either/or thinking, in whatever form it takes, is, in my opinion, narrowminded.

Updated On: 10/19/06 at 04:31 PM