Fabbo Friday and Ed Wood

"Visions are worth fighting for. Why spend your life making someone else's dreams? - Orson Welles.


Writing about Tim Burton earlier this week reminded me of how much I love his film Ed Wood. When it first came out the Scribe and I saw it countless times, and then we had to watch all of Ed's films. There are so many things I love about Tim's portrayal of Ed Wood.

There’s the incredible optimism of Ed when nobody around him shared in his vision. As Tim has said in interviews, "Ed approached his product as if he was writing Citizen Kane. Which is something we should do when we're creating.”

Writing genre fiction as I do, it's easy to be derided by more 'literary' types who consider it beneath them - but I've always been a bit Ed Wood in my approach to my craft.

A lesser director than Tim might have been tempted to make Ed a purely comical figure. Tim has spoken in interviews about how his film shows the other side of the Hollywood dream of making it big. He's interested in the people at the bottom of the food chain. He's even claimed to be haunted by the memories of seeing people who had tried to make the Hollywood dream and failed. They're like living ghosts to him and their memory has a raw beauty and poignancy. That's why this movie has so much power in my opinion.

I think there's also a personal side: both Tim Burton and Johnny Depp (who plays Ed) have spoken about their loss of faith in the system of filmmaking and how Ed Wood's ability to see the silver lining of everything helped to rejuvenate their visions.

And so if you're feeling a bit lost in your artistic pursuits; if you feel the dream has passed you by - then do yourself a favour and watch Ed Wood. Ed's eternal, surreal optimism is something we can all aspire to.

Enjoy your weekend. It's a busy one for me. Two birthday parties, ballet and my normal 'real job.'

Thanks to all the good wishes for Ikea. The trip has been postponed for this week but watch this space!

[Ed is on the phone with Mr. Feldman at Warner Brothers Studios.]
Ed Wood: So — we gonna be working together? [pauses to listen] Really? Worst film you ever saw. Well, my next one will be better. Hello. Hello?