James Franco is the subject of this months Playboy interview. He is an angry man and has a lot of blame to give about everything but not to himself. Seriously. When you read the thing you could substitute the word Lindsay for James and it would sound exactly like a Lindsay Lohan interview. Oscars? He sucked because of the writers and because of Anne Hathaway and he knew it would do no good to complain so he decided to not give his best but he blames that on the writers and Anne, not him.
Every writer hates him because he took their spots at writer groups and classes and he can't help it if he is a star and a better writer and they should get over it. I actually used to like James Franco but over the past year or two, even though he has done General Hospital and what not he has just really been getting on my nerves. Do not read this interview if you are a big fan because he does come across whiny and pretentious.
What an arrogant jerk..
ReplyDeleteHopefully the Oscar curse will get him.
ReplyDeleteHe has ALWAYS bored me.
ReplyDeleteIn that article, it says "he is his own worst critic". But then, he doesnt say a word to support that claim but instead blames everyone else. Hm.
ReplyDeleteHis fans will just agree with him and feel bad such a fine speciman of an actor was the victim of such inferiority among writers and Anne.
ReplyDeleteI thought he sucked and it was his own damn fault.
"Every writer hates him because he took their spots at writer groups and classes and he can't help it if he is a star and a better writer and they should get over it."
ReplyDeleteWell, as a person who's been enrolled in writing courses and involved with writing programs, I certainly am a little bitter/resentful. I just find it REALLY HARD to believe how a mere mortal can jump from doctorate to doctorate, MFA to MFA within the span of just a few years and *still* have time to complete multiple films *AND* host a shitty awards telecast *AND* have sex with tons of willing young men on a private plane (according to Ted C, at least). Most of the academics *I* know are sort of obsessed with their areas of study, barely ever bathe, subsist on ramen, and basically wake up and fall asleep in their study carels. James Franco does NOT seem to be affected by that kind of stress.
It's also made me lose a lot of respect for the writing programs that admitted him based on his celebrity. Until Franco publishes a lyrical book of soul-shattering genius, I'm not going to believe that he's that great a writer, sorry.
As far as I'm concerned they could have left him down the hole for a lot longer than 127 Hours. A whole lot longer!
ReplyDeleteI've read something Filmschool wrote and wasn't impressed. (My laughter wasn't the nice kind.)
ReplyDeleteFive years ago, I really liked him, but not so much now.
His hubris got the best of him and he wasn't used to being part of something shitty.
ReplyDeleteWhat was his excuse for being either stoned or a prick during a pre-show interview. Arrogant SOB.
ReplyDeleteLove him
ReplyDeletemy personal experience has taught me that there always appears to be an underlying arrogance associated w/ types who play the 'they're jealous/haters' card...he's always struck me as that type and i've never been gotten into him as a result. these victim/no-accountability types bug me. he can suck it.
ReplyDeleteIda has it nailed. I resent Franco's aspirations as a writer, filmmaker and literary academic. I assure you that I'm a better scriptwriter than Franco, but I couldn't get into Tisch. (Got my MFA from a perfectly good writing program, just not as prestigious.) I have a BA from an elite college with a highly-rated English department and I couldn't waltz into the PhD program at Yale like he did. Dude irks the shit out of me.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, if you look at his background it's clear that he comes from a lineage of brilliant academics and writers, and that he was seriously smart as a young pup.
So...could he have gotten into NYU and Yale without his fame? Almost impossible. In an alternate reality could the non-famous Franco have completed either or both of an MFA at Tisch and a PhD at Yale? Reasonably probable and a-stretch-but-not-impossible, respectively. Is it likely that Famous Franco is actually completing the academic requirements for both degrees? Extremely, extremely unlikely, especially the latter.
Give the greasy young punk his due: he is legitimately smart, he's swimming in poon (of what sort I could care less, although I'd love to follow him around and feast upon his leavings amongst older, literary-type gals) and he's got a huge film career. If I could have pulled off that career arc, I would have done so with no apologies to the helots. Of course the scribblers hate him, but he's got compensations, eh?
@timebob -- Please don't use "hubris" as a synonym for egotism. That is a George Will-penned effective neologism. Having actually read Thucydides, it drives me bats to see that word misused.
At this point, I've come to realize that 99.999% of all celebrities are arrogant, so I won't call Franco out on that.
ReplyDeleteHowever, this is a classic example of someone who's convinced himself that he's smarter than he really is, that he's some sort of renaissance man. And while he may be interesting, Franco is more impressed with himself than he is actually impressive.
So he gets blasted for the poor Oscar showing and rather than say "I went in with good intentions, things just went wrong" he starts pointing fingers. That comes with the territory of hubris.
Eh, I'm not upset with him whining. But he does need to take a step back and look at it from a viewer's perspective. Because he and Anne Hathaway stunk. And Anne can at least say she really tried to make it work.
good to know the grammar police is out and about at a gossip website.
ReplyDeleteMy ignorant soul has been saved!
HUBRIS!
Ugh. *Rolls Eyes* I am so over this guy.
ReplyDelete@timebob -- it's not a matter of grammar, but vocabulary. Do you know what "dike" or "time" (pronounced deek-ay and teem-ay) means? Have you read the Mylean Debate?
ReplyDeleteLook, do you think that George Will is a pencil-neck geek? If you do, just silently elide "hubris" from your working vocabulary. I freely admit to being a weenie about this but it drives me up the freakin' wall to see that word misused. I'm not being an intellectual snob to you, I'm just trying to extirpate a particular pretension of that pissant.
I should just track down that weedy little chump and jerk his heart out of his chest like Achilles (Ack-ill-ay-us) would have done. And then his armor would clatter about him, blah, blah, blah....
yeah, and i'm fucking tired of seeing his "art" in art galleries too.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMe speak English goodly.
ReplyDelete@B. Profane -- awww, Hell, Timebob's alright. I think you're nitpicking someone who always generally posts intelligently-worded and thoughtful comments. And it's not as if he (she?) *completely* misused the word!! I mean, c'mon. Language becomes more mutable once you leave the confines of the Ivory Tower. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI'm a wordnerd, too, but if you start monitoring the syntactical habits of everyone everywhere, I think you're just going to be frightfully busy and perpetually frustrated.
I'll pick my battles for people who ask "where's it at?" and who say "irregardless" even though it is SO STUPID AND WRONG. WHY DO PEOPLE SAY IT?!?!
*shrugs*
P.S. I think George Will completely sucks.
"Me fail English? That's unpossible."
ReplyDeleteRalphie Wiggum FTW!
The Oscars were just another "experiment" for him. Dumb us - not intellectually superior enough to appreciate what he was trying to do. I'm sure he'd rather spend a Friday night at home analyzing an Antonioni or Bergman film than go out to a bar, right? Or he'd rather read Proust or Kierkegaard then attend a ball game?
ReplyDeleteThe Oscars sucked this year? Why, that was his intention. WE just can't see it. We just wanted to see movie stars win shiny trophies - Franco was making a statement about the banality of such award shows. And the entertainment industry in general.
Franco: "You intellectually inferior cretins want "Big Momma's House?" I'll dress up as a lady to show you what sheep you all are, but none of you will get the joke. I'm Franco."
A friend once suggested I play some scrabble to improve my literacy.
ReplyDeleteI replied back to him "There ain't no nothin' wrong with me 'literacy."
Oh, damn, I didn't want to know this. It's dampening my Franco crush.
ReplyDeleteDon't care much for Hathaway, but at least she gave it her best shot. Wonder what she has to say 'bout Franco.
ReplyDeletelol thanks Ida you are good people.
ReplyDeleteProfane you need to calm down, it is just a word. Which according to Britannica not this dude you are obsessed with. I used correctly since James was bashing on the people that helped him and he stepped on to get spots in schools he didn't deserve.
The most important discussion of hubris in antiquity is by Aristotle, in Rhetoric:saying things that cause shame to the victim…simply for the pleasure
Hubris consists in doing and of it. Retaliation is not hubris, but revenge.…Young men and the rich are hubristic because they think they are better than other people.
But whateves I really don't care.
Timebob, you ignorant slut.
ReplyDeleteheh heh. :)
I don't think that Franco has the acumen to stage a neo-hosting parody as a bit of Situationist satire. I think his management dragged him into it and he just stoner-schlepped his way through it.
ReplyDelete@Ida -- I used "irregardless" in a thesis once. Very embarrassing. It just drives me nuts that a politically-connected dolt like Will can force his neologism into the language and have it stick. BTW, wouldn't you like to be in a grad seminar with Franco discussing Finnegan's Wake after he's smoked a few fat spliffs?
<3 u Momster
ReplyDeleteanyway I care more about being funny not ponderous.
@Timebob -- I'll ramp down the intellectual snobbery if you'll just let this go....
ReplyDeleteNo, "hubris" is not about shaming your victim. No, Aristotle is not the canonical source for a definition of the word. The defining instance of "hubris" is Athens thinking it could defeat the other Greek city-states in the Peloponessian wars, thus why you start with Thucydides to understand the term.
But...if acquiescing to your definition means that I can have Gerard Butler's abs in "300"...fine, done deal.
Ugh. I just came here to read gossip.
ReplyDeletelol clearly you didn't get the sarcasm and I am ok with that.
ReplyDeleteEww, what a pompous little turd! I never understood what made him so special, never saw what everyone else did. I did not enjoy the last Academy Awards show specifically because of this guy and no-one else. I'm no Anne Hathaway fan but she was ok at least and somewhat interesting to watch. He just looked bored and boring. Really, the blame for that stinker of a show this year was whoever got the bright idea to have such young "stars" hosting. Although I can't even use the young defense for them because Neil Patrick Harris is young but he is far superior a host.
ReplyDeleteI never liked this TOOL.
ReplyDelete@timebob -- Keep yer day job, you don't have much future writing comedy or teaching humanities.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I have a lot of respect for Hathaway's showmanship. Whatever Franco had in mind, if it hadn't been for her they'd have stunk worse than Letterman.
Ummm... I'm on a break between work and class on a gossip blog reading about James fuckin Franco and I'm leaving feeling as if I just failed an English final. Lighten up B. Eek :/
ReplyDelete@B. Profane -- Strunk & White would flog you for that comma splice in your most recent comment. ;-)
ReplyDeleteProfane you threw the first stone so don't get all huffy about being goofed on. You really must be a wild person at a library party.
ReplyDeleteLetterman didn't stink. His was actually one of the most entertaining Oscar shows of the past 20 years.
ReplyDeleteAnd here we go.
MOMSTER! lolz! That seriously had me in tears!
ReplyDeleteWhy is B. Profane deal is reminding me a lot of Good Will Hunting.
" How do you like them apples? "
- Matt Damon
@Jason -- I agree with your Letterman assessment. "Uma, Oprah. Oprah, Uma."
ReplyDeleteOkay, that shit got old, but at least the rest of the telecast wasn't boring.
I think Steve Martin is clever, versatile, and energetic enough to host again. I wish he'd do it!
Oh, and I thought that Hugh Jackman did a really great job.
* Why is *this* B. Profane deal reminding me a lot of Good Will Hunting? ...what I meant to type..gots to keep it proper around here! My recent hand surgery isn't helping though...grr...and no painkillers! :'(
ReplyDeleteI can't spell either, just wanted to put it out there.
ReplyDeleteThat's what spell-checkers and/or copy editors are for.
ReplyDelete@Ida -- I agree, Steve should be the semi-permanent host ala Carson. But Jackman, seriously? Seriously?
@Alicia -- We teach Harvardians where I come from. Studying with them would be slumming.
Seriously...Jackman?
@B.Frofane -- What can I say? I like the dude. I'd way rather listen to his charming Aussie accent for three hours than Franco's disaffected hipster slurring. I know *that* much.
ReplyDeleteI guess I tend to prefer people who aren't pretentious snotwads.
Is is possible to be an english grad student and not be whiny and pretentious?
ReplyDeleteI think he has received special treatment at the various educational institutions because they are so amazed to find an actor who has actually read a book
ReplyDeleteSo.... two eye rolls in one thread. This "eye roll" goes out to you B. Profane!! Zoinks!
ReplyDeleteI confess! I have an English degree and an MFA! Please don't flog me!
ReplyDeleteFranco is a sucky brat who has an overinflated opinion of his marginal talent.
What is going to happen when he is a nobody and no one is going to his movies? Do you really think he will be teaching at some small liberal arts college in Nowheresville? I think not.
So what's up with this whole Gay Rapist thing on Dlisted? I missed it the first time around.
ReplyDeleteI didn't miss all the reports from NYU students that Franco was absent, stoned or asleep during those classes. Weren't there some stories about that from Enty, too?
@Upside -- You must work in the biz. Stage-trained actors are pretty sharp and well-read, but the TV/film types who have been in that chute from the start, uh....
ReplyDeleteWhich gets us back to Franco. Has the guy finished any degree other than that MFA? Has he slogged his way through Middlemarch (I didn't)? Get some academic papers published, Jimmy, instead of nattering to Playboy, and then we'll talk.
Stand down, grammarians, stand down!
ReplyDeleteHonestly, Joe Toppers, you're a bore.
Momster, LOL! :)
ReplyDeleteB. Profane, there was no reason to be tacky toward timebob for her using the word "hubris." There are multiple variations on its meaning, and your personal dislike of the Aristotelian usage doesn't make it any less valid.
Additionally, stating--for no apparent reason whatsoever--that Achilles (Αχιλλέας) is pronounced "Ack-ill-ay-us" is grindingly annoying. To any Classicist who has studied Greek and Latin extensively, your assertions that chi(χ) is pronounced "[A]ck" and that the iota-lambda-lambda combination (ιλλ) in the middle of the word make up one distinct syllable pronounced "ill" are absurd. It's as if you are trying to dumb down Classical Greek for us dumb folks who couldn't possibly know these things, when in reality the westernized pronunciation of Achilles is perfectly acceptable to us dolts--and to us academics. So, yes, please do "ramp down the intellectual snobbery" while you're visiting here. It makes it that much nicer for all of us. :)
Also, "a la" is two words, not one (but that's French, so what do I know? :-P).
As you were. :)
Unless George Will is Lilo's drug dealer, who cares? This is a gossip site ppl! We are here to kill a few brain cells, not get an education.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dlisted.com/2011/07/11/qotd-james-franco-not-gay-rapist
ReplyDeleteYes Jackman. What is wrong with Hugh? The man is sexy as hell. Who cares what he was actually saying? I'd watch him in a tux (or out of it)reading the dammn phonebook.
ReplyDeleteI am in awe of how funny and great you guys are every day.
ReplyDeleteAhh, timebob, how I love thee. ;)
ReplyDelete@Kid Sis - I def. read those...I think here and in some of the NYC papers.
I read this article on HuffPo last night & thought he sounded like a jackass. I can't recall another time when a host (other than Ricky Gervais) had to comment this much on a hosting performance.
Well, the gay rape ref. is apropos....
ReplyDeleteBlankprincess, the Wiki definition of hubris that timebob evidently cribbed also defines hubris as specifically referring to gay rape. Does that fit your reading of Aristotle or Thucydides...or Homer, Hesiod, Socrates, Plato, Herodotus, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, etc? Funny, I think I'd have remembered any butt rape in Aristotle.
I didn't recall multiple meanings for hubris in my reading of the classics, especially anything about individual shaming. The Wiki article does remind me that hubris was both an individual and societal concept. The cite of _Antigone_ is apt; having played Creon (in the friggin' high boots and all), I should know. So, yep, multiple classical meanings for the word, I should have remembered that, but I'd like to see a cite in Aristotle where he defines hubris in terms of individual shaming.
(Y'all bored yet? Good for you.)
Now, I used the typical classicist pronunciation of Achilles, you know that, and only because I had to sound-out "dike" and "time" so that people wouldn't think I was talking about dams and clocks. You know better than I that the academic pronunciations are compromises, inexact and sometimes a little silly. Being addressed as "Cray-on" without giggling was a bitch for the first couple of weeks of rehearsals.
So you are definitely better-read than I in the classics, at least in terms of the linguistics. Congrats. But I'm still right in that the word has a narrow, specific meaning strictly tied to a classical Greek context. Pericles thinking he could take on the rest of the Greek city-states was hubris. Franco whining about jealous writers in between airborne gay orgies...is not.
Which doesn't explain why the rest of you knob jobs have your panties in a twist. Of course I'm being a pedantic tool about this, said so at first. Drives me up the frickin' wall that George Will has foisted this mis-definition of "hubris" onto contemporary English. Let me make my crabby lil' pedagogue bitch about it and move on, won't hear boo from me. Just don't tell me I've got the classical definition wrong and cite some half-assed Wiki article. I missed out on far too much beer-drinking time in college and grad school reading the relevant primary texts, I know what the correct meaning of the frickin' word.
But since you've all been so mean to me I'll take my gossip about what Madonna's skin looks like close up IRL and leave! (Exeunt, flouncing)
Then again (bringing this back to Franco, who recently played him in a movie), if you're nice I'll tell you about the time Allen Ginsberg hit on me....
And I wasn't dissing Jackman, just questioning the Rob-Low-waltzing-Sleeping-Beauty aspect of having a non-comedian host the awards.
Please, just go away. You're tiresome and needlessly nasty and apparently delight in flaunting your superior intellect.
ReplyDelete@B. Profane, Finnegans Wake doesn't have an apostrophe in it. So your name dropping loses a little efficacy there.
ReplyDeleteI usually like to read all the CDAN comments but this pissing contest went on for way too long. so I was forced to abort mission.
ReplyDeleteDidn't the Oscars air in January or February? So, WHO GIVES A SHIT? Unlike that child rapist Polanski, this particular "crime" has a statutes of limitations.
James Franco is alleged to have paid others to ghost write for him. And he's a snotty fuck. And those of us who actually watch the Oscars might know this firsthand. And like the David Letterman Oscar fiasco, this too shall pass.
Move along, people. Nothing to see here.
The little
Awww, come on B. Profane, deets re heavily plasticized stars or the bedding attempts of great beat poets are exactly what we come here for, but we're way too busy to wade through a lot of grad school stuff to wait for it. Please dish.
ReplyDelete[And if nothing else, my post gives you plenty to chew on with respect to my grammar or vocabulary. You write too well for us (me, anyway) to want you to leave.]
I never understood his appeal in the first place. He's alright but nothing special as an actor.
ReplyDelete@B. Profane you are such a douchebag. You still can't figure out I used the word hubris. BECUASE I THOUGHT THE WORD WAS FUNNY!
ReplyDeleteGod, please f' off already. You are ponderous.
@Ida Blankenship
ReplyDelete"Most of the academics *I* know are sort of obsessed with their areas of study, barely ever bathe, subsist on ramen, and basically wake up and fall asleep in their study carels."
I take offence at the "barely bathe" and "cup ramen" parts. Obsession comes with the territory though.
B. Profane. Me thinks your pretension is boring and ppl like you give academics an unattractive reputation. Go away. Please. We are here for fun - not to hear long dissertation that's going on and on. And it was wrong for you to insult Bob about keeping his day job. This has been a great fun site ... Until you. Pipe down and drop it, B.
ReplyDelete