So I’ve hit (and am close to finishing) the penultimate chapter in book one of THE BIG UGLY. The actual last chapter is mainly falling action….the real action climaxes in this one. In many respects it closes the door on this part of the book and it opens the door on the next, introducing newer, better situations but also some new problems.
This has been one long, twisted process, transcribing/revising from both the original manuscript and the 2014 screenplay version, as well as adding new parts. With the whole drawing-from-new-sources thang a lot of it is, because, frankly, I’m a helluva lot better at writing dialogue than I was back then. Particularly the pivotal, story-changing conversation at the end of the chapter, which I feel is less forced and clumsy than the old version.
As far as new parts, that was something that originally came with the screenplay. The biggest elephant in the room is that the world is different now from the way it was in ‘89 and ‘90. Technology has changed the world drastically. Jack and his friends and enemies were originally living in a world that didn’t have social media—imagine THAT being folded into the story! How would Cyber Bullying play into the story?
You’ll hafta wait and see.
The societal landscape has generally evolved—granted the overall makeup of Brookdale High and Jack’s world have not changed that dramatically—he still lives in a buttfuck suburb and the bullies still run things. But we live in this whole other world, now.
Representation is a huge topic these days….racism isn’t a huge topic in the book—-there’s no bias against color—Blinky Epstein gets some antisemitism leveled at him, but it’s less because he is Jewish and more because he’s disliked, and the fact that he’s Jewish is just a handy excuse.
Homophobia, of course, is rampant…as far as gay representation, the only factor in either manuscript is Marc Hodge—--he’s awkward and effeminate and I never come out and say whether he’s actually queer or not—the fact of the matter is what happens to him is horrible, regardless of his orientation, so does it matter? The point isn’t his orientation—the point is that what happens to him is horrible.
As I’ve said before, as a teenager, I carried a kind of tacit homophobia in me which still had its remnants hanging on when I was first working on the book. I was shedding it at that time, but it took a while to rid myself of that kind of heteronormative thinking—it came from my upbringing, it came from the religion I was brought up in. It takes some time to deprogram yourself.
One thing I did in the current chapter (this dates back to the screenplay) involves the party at Doug’s house…it’s very much a split scene—-it’s a dual party thrown by Doug because he’s gotten a big art scholarship, and his older brother, who’s out of school and going into the military. So there’s an artificial and tentative divide between the basement and the rest of the house, high school kids and older kids/young adults who are out of school. The line blurs in this pseudo-dichotomy, because it’s a party, and everyone’s getting fucked up, regardless of what school they go to. Jack makes his way to the top floor to use the only available bathroom…on his way, he’s forced to fight his way past a situation where two guys are having some kind of an aggressive confrontation and it makes him afraid. On his way back he realizes that he completely misunderstood the confrontation and the two guys are making out. He stumbles through the scenario as a number of the guys’ friends have their cell phones going off and are chanting their approval. Jack, in his own thoughts, blunders through this tableau and becomes the accidental star of “half a dozen Tik Toks”. It’s a mindfuck to him, but in a positive way—as he notes, you don’t see this at Brookdale High. In a small way, anyway, it goes to show him that life after high school might offer a little less bullshit and a little more autonomy.
Anyway, I’ve got one chapter to go and it’s a small one and Book I is a done deal….so I’m fulfilling my goal of getting that bad boy knocked out. Book III is actually half-written, Book II is not done at all. In a lot of ways it will require the most change. It’s a mess. It’ll be the shortest—at least maybe the BRIGHTEST book of the novel before the bobsled ride through insanity of part three. This is not your standard Joseph Campbell Hero Journey…..I have no interest in following that. Jack hits a place where he can look at what he’s done and reaches the conclusion that in the long run things have turned out well and his work is probably done here. Whether you, the reader, agree with Jack’s assessment is entirely up to you. He’s that kind of narrator.
In the Meantime, LOOK AT THIS DOG.
THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST:
MAGMA-Udu Wudu
MAGMA-Attahk
REDD KROSS-Phaseshifter
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