#MeToo is No Laughing Matter...?
There’s nothing funny at all about sexual harassment. There’s nothing even slightly amusing about death, but we see it being laughed at all the time – from The Darwin Awards, to Spike TV’s 1000 Ways to Die, and right on up to the Academy Award winning feature Get Out which is rife with subtle gallows humor. And how many times have you seen “LOL” written in a text on Facebook in response to something that is not even remotely hilarious?
Sometimes it is necessary, or cathartic at least, to explore things that are horrifying in a fictional setting. Like horror movies. Or scary books. In this case, we are safe. We have the control. We are not truly in danger, but we still get that adrenaline rush. I also think it’s important to be able to metaphorically shoot down our real-life villains and reduce them to the pathetic cowards they really are. “Comedy is tragedy plus time,” goes the old saying. But in today’s world “too soon?” is merely a catchphrase.
It was this idea that sparked my desire to write the short story He Was Asking For It (which is in my new anthology, City of Devils). It’s the twisted tale of a sleazy Hollywood producer who gets his comeuppance in a most inventive and devilish way. I’m sure a lot of you saw the news footage this morning of Harvey Weinstein being led out of the courthouse in handcuffs—and he had a smile on his face.
He Was Asking For It was also partially inspired by my favorite season of American Horror Story, “Hotel”. There’s just something about hotels that is so mysterious, because everything that happens in a hotel room is temporary and yet the memories can last forever. It makes you wonder about the residue of other people’s memories and if they can somehow possess us.
While I was working on He Was Asking For It, I donated money to the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund. (You can too, here’s the link) https://www.gofundme.com/timesup
City of Devils is at a low introductory price for the Kindle on Amazon (and paperback) for only a few more days, so do check it out if you have a moment. I’d love to know what you think of the premise!
Other stuff I’m working on that may be of interest:
A feature-length documentary on guitar legends The Ventures – check it out at Facebook.com/TheVenturesMovie
The Tragedy Man, a horror novel for Kindle and via Audiobook (if you love audiobooks, please let me know as I am giving away *free* downloads …but only for a short time) Pre-order info here
Why don’t you come up sometime and see me?
Lastly, if you are in L.A. on Sunday June 2, please come by and say hello at Dark Delicacies in Burbank from 4-6pm. The main event is My Favorite Horror Movie, which is a compilation of 48 fab essays, plus I’ll have a few of my own books there as well.
As always, thank you for reading - I know and appreciate how valuable your time is.
= = =
#MeToo #Jokes #HarveyWeinstein #HeWasAskingForIt #CityofDevils #ScaryStories #AuthorBlog
