The Fempire

Yesterday at the Spout Blog, Christopher Campbell blogged about a piece that ran in Friday's The New York Times about The Fempire, which consists of Diablo Cody and her writer friends Dana Fox, Lorene Scafaria, and Liz Meriwether. Campbell goes onto comment:

Similarly, Cody and Co. wouldn’t be written about if they were men. But more importantly, they probably wouldn’t have been written about if they weren’t such good-looking women. So, while there’s something empowering about this foursome of female screenwriters who each boldly wear an identical necklace with an inscription that reads “Fuck My Face,” it was quite necessary to include a lot of tantalizing quotes about them seeing each other naked and sometimes being “super porno” like. And of course that double-edged quote from Siegel above.

I agree with Campbell and David Hauslaib, who say that they probably wouldn't have been profiled if they weren't women. After all, is the media really all that interested in the women who wrote Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and What Happens In Vegas, even if I liked the former and the writer of the latter is from Rochester? Or how about Meriwether, who has had success in selling, yet none of her scripts have come to fruition. Clearly, the article's existence owes itself to Cody, her stripper past, and her Juno Oscar win.

The article, however, touched a raw nerve in yours truly. Back in the day (like, college), I wrote specs. At the time, American Pie and There's Something About Mary were the hot successes, and my first attempt at screenwriting was a rip-off of Half Baked (shut up). My plan was to infiltrate and destroy. Although later I did manage to get one of my scripts to someone involved in one of the American Pie movies, but they were of no help to me at all. If this group of ladies existed at the time I was doing that, maybe I'd still be pursuing it today. Hell, maybe I'd have a career as a screenwriter.

These days, as much as I would love Cody's paycheck (Who wouldn't right now?), I'm quite happy doing what I'm doing. I think the people I'm meeting and acquainting myself with are making movies that special in their own right. Other than money, I finally have what I always wanted.