09.18.08
Diablo Cody Reacts To Her Haters, It’s About Time
It was only a matter of time. People like Diablo Cody do not keep their mouths shut for anything, and neither do the people that dislike people like her. That’s what happens when successful nobodies become successful somebodies. I mean, it’s bad enough that hating “Juno” became cool – just like it was for “Little Miss Sunshine” but since “Juno” came out everyone has softened on that one. Poor Cody, it’s not her fault that her film raked in the cash in a way almost unprecedented for an indie-minded film, got watched by millions, got heaps of critical praise and won an Oscar after being nominated for four. Hating a film is one thing though, and hating the writer of it is completely different. It repulses me that as soon as someone hits the big-time, the critical claws of the disastrously untalented come out thanks to anonymity and freedom of speech that the internet offers. So what if Diablo Cody is a pseudonym, so what if she never went to film school, so what if she hasn’t got the most squeaky clean back story or commonplace diction. Tenacious-DC, which some have called on her on pro-Cody fan boards, doesn’t give a shit though. It’s not like she is going away anytime soon either. Sometimes I think that if she was a man, those god awful fan boys and their pathetic hate speech would bow down and jerk off at her feet. Not that that would matter. She posted a response to one of the “attacks” on her MySpace blog, and all I have to say is, good for her.
We all know where I stand, so I’ll just give the floor to Ms. Cody, just this one time:
“I am not Charlie Kaufman or Sofia Coppola (much as I supplicate at their Cannes-weary feet.) I’m not Paul Thomas Anderson. I’m not even Paul W.S. Anderson. I am middle-class trash from the Midwest. I’m a competent nonfiction writer, an admittedly green screenwriter, and a product of Hollywood, USA. I am “Diablo Cody” and if you’re not a fan, go rent Prospero’s Books again and leave me the fuck alone.
I may have won 19 awards that you don’t feel I earned, but it’s neither original nor relevant to slag on Juno. Really. And you’re not some bold, singular voice of dissent, You are exactly like everyone else in your zeitgeisty-demo-lifestyle pod. You are even like me. (I, too, loved Arrested Development! Aren’t we a pretty pair of cultural mavericks? Hey, let’s go bitch about how Black Kids are overrated!)
I’m sorry that while you were shooting your failed opus at Tisch, I was jamming toxic silicon toys up my ass for money. I get why you’re bitter. I took exactly one film class in college and– with the curious exception of the Douglas Sirk unit—it bored the shit out of me. I also once got busted for loudly crinkling a bag of Jujubes during a classroom screening of Vivre Sa Vie. I don’t deserve to be here. We’ve established that. But I’m here. Five million 12-year-olds think I’m Buck Henry. Accept it.
(Incidentally, if you were me for one day you’d crumble like fucking Stilton. I am better at this than you. You’re not strong enough, Film_Fan78. Trust me.)
I’m sorry to all those violent, semi-literate fanboys who hate me for befriending their heroes. I can’t help it if your favorite writer, actor, director, or talk show host likes me. Maybe you would too, if we actually met.
I know my name is fake and that it annoys you. What, do you hate Queen Latifah and Rip Torn, too? Writers and entertainers have been using pseudonyms for years. Chances are, you’re spewing bile under an assumed screen name yourself. I’m sorry if you think I’m like some inked-up quasi-Suicide Girl derby cunt from 2002, but I like my fake name. It’s engraved on an Oscar. Yours isn’t.”
Amen, put that in your bong and choke on it, haters.
Salmaya said,
September 18, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Good for her, god I love her, her film, her diction and her attitude.
Justin said,
September 18, 2008 at 6:20 pm
“I was jamming toxic silicon toys up my ass for money” oh lord, I love her openness.
SunnyD said,
September 18, 2008 at 6:29 pm
I’ve called her Tenacious-DC too, and I am as big a fan of hers as you are, but I have met her, she signed a copy of her stripper book for me. She’s a really nice, down to earth person and the fact that people actually hate her is beyond me. Jealously sure makes people nasty, so does a confident, “I couldn’t give a damn” kinda gal. for speaking up about this, I am joining MySpace just so I can read her blog all the time, and be her “friend,” lol.
I am going to explode said,
September 18, 2008 at 6:35 pm
I hope all her haters shut up now. they are all losers who live with their moms still. and i am not talking about people who didn’t like Juno but people who hate Cody for simply being Cody.
Daniel said,
September 18, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Wow. I wouldn’t call this the classiest of responses by her, but it’s from the heart, and that’s what counts. I can’t deny that I’ve been annoyed with her disproportionately to some others, but it’s more been about the reaction BY other people here (Minnesota) than it is from her actual work. Had she not happened to live and write here for just a couple of years, I probably wouldn’t be bothered by the whole thing. Kind of ridiculous, but I’m just being honest about it. People worship her here because they’re so desperate to get their faces in the spotlight next to her. Did I like Juno? Eh, parts of it were clever but I thought it was mostly overwritten, and I thought that when I saw it on opening day. But the Oscar madness (From 2007, the Best Year in the Last Decade, I didn’t think Juno deserved to be remembed as highly as it has been) and the “local girl gone good” greediness here really bothered me.
No problem with your defense of her at all, Nick. Any issue I have is my own, and I’m definitely not one to take away from someone reaping the benefits of their own hard work.
Nick Plowman said,
September 18, 2008 at 6:42 pm
And that’s why I like you Dan (among other reasons).
sir jorge said,
September 18, 2008 at 6:44 pm
way to go! mouth off! I would prefer to wait and see how she follows up Juno, and for the record, I didn’t jump on the bandwagon of hating the movie, I just saw it rise on the shoulders of better independent films. I like that she swung back, but she better have something big on the horizon or these words are nothing but a whimper.
Sam Juliano said,
September 18, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Well, I must side with Dan on Ms. Cody’s anything but gracious response, but on the other hand I have long been astonished that the vast majority of blogger critics at AW, LIC, and so many other of our beloved sites have taken a strong position against a film that has well over a 90% approval rating at RT, and better than 80% at MC, not to mention appearing on dozens and dozens of ten-best lists, and being cited by both Andrew Sarris and Rogert Ebert as the Best Film of 2007.
What can I really say? I loved both JUNO and PROSPERO’S BOOKS!
LOL!
Nick Plowman said,
September 18, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Its good to know I have someone on my side with regards to Juno, I know many people I like and admire didn’t like it much, which is fine, but its just comforting to know that some people share my opinion on it. Even though I am sure people are sick of me saying that.
Pat said,
September 18, 2008 at 9:22 pm
I loved “Juno” and I’ve never fully understood the vicious backlash against it. Yes, the title character is too clever by half, but that’s her adolescent defense mechanism in action; the film certainly finds a heart as it progresses.
As others have noted, not a particularly gracious response by Cody, but one that is entirely understandable.
I’m anxious to see what she does next.
Matthew Lucas said,
September 18, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Interesting. I had actually softened my stance on her after her Oscar win and decided she wasn’t so bad after all. Until I read this. What a mess. It’s like she’s basking and reveling in her ignorance.
Craig Kennedy said,
September 18, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Well, Nick knows full well my reaction to Juno so I won’t get into all that again, but I think her response here was almost 100% earned and right on. Classy? No. But so what? Who is she supposed to be? Ms. Manners?
The backlash against Juno and more especially the backlash by every bitter, failed (male) screenwriter in Hollywood almost makes me feel bad that I didn’t like Juno more.
Her response was crass as hell, but good for her.
DC Fan said,
September 18, 2008 at 9:39 pm
DC for life! She rules the world, everyone just doesn’t know that yet
Matthew Lucas said,
September 18, 2008 at 9:47 pm
I respect anyone with the guts to come out and level their haters, but not gloating over childishness like cracking jujube wrappers in a screening of VIVRE SA VIE. She may as well have stood up and shouted “LOOK WHAT A MOUTH BREATHER I AM!”
She’s obviously a talented person with a unique personality and worldview that I have grown to like and appreciate over the last year, but I can’t stand that kind of dismissive attitude toward the classics. I think it’s part of what’s wrong with our current cinematic culture.
J.D. said,
September 18, 2008 at 10:21 pm
I’m sorry if you think I’m like some inked-up quasi-Suicide Girl derby cunt from 2002, but I like my fake name. It’s engraved on an Oscar. Yours isn’t.
!!!!!
Christ, I love her.
Dave said,
September 19, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Yeah, not that classy, but neither are her haters so…..they got what they deserve! Good for her!
Nick Plowman said,
September 19, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Oh JD, that’s why I worship the ground you walk on. Spot on.
Mike M said,
September 19, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Go Diablo!!!
It’s engraved on an Oscar. Yours isn’t – what a way to shut someone up…
Craig Kennedy said,
September 21, 2008 at 12:38 am
Matthew, I kind of took that Jujubee comment to be of the self-effacing variety. She was admitting she wasn’t a classy film snob.
I think counting her awards was a little tacky and defensive though.
Matthew Lucas said,
September 21, 2008 at 6:36 am
Perhaps, maybe I was just in a bad mood when I read it, I don’t know. I’m just so constantly surrounded by that kind of mentality that I can’t seem to find even jokes about it funny anymore.
theccenter said,
September 25, 2008 at 1:02 am
I for one LOVED Juno. Loved the dialog. People think Juno’s dialog is over written but if she’s extremely intelligent, it fits with her character perfectly. (think Dawson’s Creek and its self-examining characters). But letting a guy ‘go’ inside of you isn’t exactly smart either so the argument against Juno’s intelligence (and the over written nature of her dialog) is bolstered somewhat.
Concerning DC, the people that have a problem with her background, her Hollywood moniker and the polish of her first script need to take a ride in an ele-hater down to the losers’ floor, open up the frig and pour themselves a tall glass of hater-aid. That she has the intelligence to write something as good as Juno without “the required” scholastic background is fantastic and rare. The fact that DC throws her checkered past (and her awards) in the faces of her detractors during her response is hilarious and well deserved. Juno was a well written film. What did her haters want, something under written like all of the action movies Nick adores? :)
Don’t get me wrong, Juno doesn’t not have the staying power of Lost in Translation but it is in the top tier of every teen/high-school film that has ever come out.
Nayana Anthony said,
September 26, 2008 at 7:01 pm
Not classy, but absolutely classic.
And who the f*@k cares if she writes under a pseudonym? Most of us bloggers do.
J.D. said,
September 26, 2008 at 7:16 pm
I do!
Daniel said,
September 26, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Uh oh. I don’t…should I? Too late!
Nick Plowman said,
September 26, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Same…too late indeed. Ha.
This Guy said,
November 17, 2008 at 11:33 pm
“JUNO Deluxe 2-CD Soundtrack.
Includes #1 Soundtrack PLUS the JUNO B-Sides!
“