Tag: Unmasked

Featured

I Feel Sorry for Madonna

Anyone who knows me personally knows I’m not a fan of Madonna. That’s putting it mildly. I can’t stand her–the pop star, not the person, although I’m sure she’s as gross in person as she appears in interviews. Does anyone remember how rudely she treated her childhood friend in her 90’s “film verité” Truth or Dare? I do. Not to mention in the same film, when Madonna’s brother (his book is fun, by the way) informs her that a female crew member suspected she’d been drugged and raped the previous night, the pop star’s first instinct is to burst out laughing. When someone shows you who they are…

In a word, she’s ghastly and always has been. And yet she remains the most successful pop star of all time, a fact I must acknowledge.

Even though I blame her for destroying my generation’s pop music and pounding another nail into rock and roll’s coffin, I will concede that Madonna produced some interesting, even ground-breaking, videos back in the day. She had a knack for appropriating the avant-garde and underground New York art scene and repackaging it for mainstream consumption. She deserves credit for that and her tireless work ethic. I also wouldn’t mind borrowing a few items from her Take a Bow era closet. But that’s it! That’s all the charity I can muster for the lady. And yet, when I saw her face–what had become of it–plastered all over the media the day after the Grammys, after an initial flush of schadenfreude, all I felt for her was intense pity. She finally passed the point of no return with the–ahem–surgical “enhancements” she’d indulged in throughout her career, erasing her fresh-faced beauty into something else, something creepy, inhuman even. She had become the shape-shifting lizard and it honestly made me sad.

About a decade ago, I wrote a screenplay that I then turned into a novel called UNMASKED. It wasn’t based on Madonna–wouldn’t want the material girl to sue me–but I’d be lying if I said she wasn’t an inspiration. UNMASKED is about an aging pop star who will stop at nothing to enhance her fading looks. At that time, I predicted in my prose that said pop star would so destroy herself with bad plastic surgery that she’d lose her mind and go murderously berserk in an attempt to regain what was lost forever. I had great fun writing those scenes of Grand-Guignol mayhem. I confess I’d sometimes pump Madonna’s most monotoned songs through my headphones to fuel my writing sessions. What came out of it was a story that’s won many screenwriting awards and continues to garner good reviews. It’s my first novel, showing some flaws, but I’m still proud of that story. It certainly was inspired.

When Elton John famously ripped on Madonna and her “disastrous” career, bitchily claiming that “it couldn’t happen to a bigger c***,” I howled with laughter. But after this most recent revelation, I’m shedding a few tears. And it’s not because I’m buying Madonna’s feel sorry for me statement about ageism and misogyny. Other stars have played that routine to a packed house and played it better. It’s because I realize, with a knife twist to my gut, that the reason Madonna looks the way she currently does is not about trying and miserably failing to stay young and beautiful. It’s because the devouring beast inside her- some demon that long ago took hold of her soul- will do ANYTHING to get noticed, stay “relevant,” and keep people talking about her. When youth, beauty, and giving water bottles blow jobs no longer work, try self-destruction in real-time. Ah! What a glorious spectacle. When she quotes Beyonce (giggle), declaring, “You won’t break my soul,” I honestly believe it’s the demon inside her talking. It’s taken over, and no amount of crucifixes around her neck will save her.

Eureka! I found the plot for the sequel to UNMASKED. Madonna, I appreciate you after all. Here’s praying that stuff in your cheeks “settles” and you deliver a stunning and glorious third act. If you pull that one off, even I may be a bitch and bow down.

You can find UNMASKED on Amazon for only 99 cents or download if for FREE on Smashwords.

More Writing Advice: Believe in Yourself

Because no one else will.

At least not at first.

Late last night, after working my “day job” as a theater “roustabout,” I received the fantastic news that my screenplay, Unmasked, was chosen as a finalist for the Best Horror Feature Screenplay Award at the Oregon Scream Week Horror Film Festival. A few months ago, on a whim, I entered my screenplay into a bunch of film festivals. So far, I’ve heard back from two. It won fourth place at The International Horror Hotel, and now it’s up for another award.

Look for rainbows and you’ll find them.

I’m thrilled! Unmasked was the first feature-length screenplay I ever attempted to write, the first draft produced in a weekend fever dream over a decade ago. Since then, I’ve written many novels and other works, but Unmasked convinced me I could do it.

I don’t think there is one writer, professional or novice, who doesn’t feel a level of terror when facing the blank page. I’ve written about this before. There is always trepidation, the fear that you can’t do it. The only way to prove to yourself that you can do it is to sit down and do it.

Easy right? Not really. I think what holds most creatives back, and I’m certainly not immune, is that it takes a great deal of self-belief even to attempt a creative endeavor, let alone complete it and work it to some level of competence. Framed another way, you’ll never prove to yourself how incompetent you really are unless you try. The dreaded I suck! fear is probably the number one reason most of us make excuses about why we can’t do something.

I’m telling you, you can. But it takes work. And practice. Most of all, it takes belief in yourself. We’ve all seen examples of mediocre talents who’ve gone on to have tremendous success because of their unwavering confidence in their abilities. They shake off criticism like a dog after a dunk; they keep pushing forward no matter what. As annoying as some of these creatives are—Madonna, I have you in my sights—you have to admire their tenacity.

Conversely, there is another type of which many of us are all too familiar. You may count yourself among them. I’m referring to the creative person with immense talent who never seems to complete any project, or worse, has a self-destructive bent. I’ve seen it manifest in many ways. In fact, I’ve explored that destructive messaging myself in my work, including UNMASKED, which is essentially a horror story about a dysfunctional family. I know the territory all too well.

If you can turn your pain into art, people will respond to it.

Believing in yourself means showing up for work every day without expecting any accolades. Keep working and keep pushing forward. People will start to notice. You’ll gain fans and maybe even turn it into a lucrative venture. I’m still waiting for the latter, but in the meantime, I’ll keep working on it every day because I love it. If you are struggling with your creativity, start with self-belief and let the rest of the world catch up.

Read UNMASKED