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Jordan Zakarin
This is JordanZakarin.com. Here's a place where I can mental vomit about stuff.
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So here's a very short version of a long story: I stopped using my own Tumblr a few years ago. Here’s a still short, but slightly longer version of that story: I stopped using Tumblr a few years ago because as a person in media, I felt that I needed to be spilling my thoughts on Twitter without end; platforms like Instagram took up spare time; and I went to work at Yahoo and had to use Tumblr as a CMS, which was both exhausting and made switching into my own Tumblr risky. Here's part two of that story: I've always felt like I was a little bit out of the loop without my own Tumblr, because cool shit happens here. Plus, this is where I first really started to understand (and maybe even make a dent in) social media. My live-blog of my open heart surgery in 2009 was pretty important to me, and a small part of the community embraced me and kept me company during that rough time. I've had a fair number of rough times since then (including anither heart surgery in 2012), for many different reasons, and while I have some very good IRL friends, i at times wished I'd had the Tumblr community as internet pals throughout those rough times. So fast forward to this past Thursday. It was my last day at my most recent job, at a startup called Inverse.com. I start Tuesday as the features editor at the newly rebooted Syfy.com (I am super excited to work at a TV network!), so I decided to reactivate Tumblr so I can keep track of fan and genre stuff. And I immediately realize how much I miss this place, and decide to get back involved. How much I post remains to be determined - I write and edit all day, so it can be exhausting. But I'll definitely link to my stories as a writer, and videos I'm involved with for the network. And I'll post other non-work thoughts of mine, and good stuff other people make and do. Not that anyone's worried about my output. This is my OCD talking; it felt weird just starting to post again here after over four years away (I think I posted a bit at another personal Tumblr but can't remember which) without explanation. I may be the only person reading this, but it still feels good to be back.
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I've decided to let this site live as a personal sort of homepage (one day, I'll get JordanZakarin.com back!) and do my tumbling at another blog, to which I have linked above.
Come on down; there are stories that I've written and links that are interesting and other stuff that will change your life.
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Interviewed Gerard Butler over the weekend. Spoke about his ridiculous new popcorn movie Olympus Has Fallen and (obviously) why he's not doing the 300 sequel.
Most important, however, was his casually dropping the term "bar mitzvah" in his natural Scottish accent.
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I interviewed the great-grandson of L. Frank Baum, who wrote the original 14 Wizard of Oz books. This guy, Roger S. Baum, is an Oz author himself, with 19 of his own novels set in the fantasy land. He's also the most delightful old fella with whom I've ever spoken.
A few highlights:
"Great-granddad used to tell these stories to the kids, in Chicago particularly, and the word Oz came from the bottom file cabinet, 'O-Z' in his den. One of the kids, when he was telling the story, asked ‘What is the name of this different land?’ He told it in different ways, and before he finally wrote it down, he said, 'Its name is Oz.'"
Another:
Roger Baum's great-great-grandmother (and L. Frank's mother-in-law), Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was a leading activist in the women's suffrage movement, and he can see some of the principles she fought for reflected in Dorothy.
"You always wonder if great-granddad wasn’t somewhat influenced with Dorothy, instead of a male lead, here you have Dorothy," Baum muses. "When you stop to think about it, Dorothy’s a woman leader. She’s a leader of her own little crew there. So maybe it rubbed off way back then with that connection in the family. When I used to go to the Smithsonian, on the same floor, you have not only the ruby slippers, but you go across the way and there’s great great grandmother and Susan B. Anthony."
We also spoke about the new Disney movie, as well as his own movie -- which stars Lea Michele, Patrick Stewart and many more.
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I debuted the poster for the SXSW film Milo at THR today. God. A mix of 'Community,' 'Party Down' and the Duplass Brothers. It's like my Netflix queue had an orgy and this is the baby.
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Fun story. My ringtone is Chris Treager (Rob Lowe) saying "Ann Perkins!" on a loop. I tweeted about wanting it in a fit of boredom, and someone responded almost immediately, asking how exactly I'd like it to sound. I will never change my ringtone.
The 10 Definitive Ann Perkins GIFs
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Peter Mayhew -- the man who played Chewbacca -- has a lightsaber cane. That's dedication.
(via kittenesque)
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I don't usually like to post ads (well, things that are explicitly ads; every video is an ad for something), but this spot with Tim Burton was great. He didn't win an Oscar, but he got more screen time than most victors on Sunday evening.
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I met this guy a few weeks ago for a story; Moore was there, as well. Emad Burnat is a quiet, humble guy with a powerful film about peaceful resistance and family. I'm pretty confident it wasn't his demeanor that got him nicked by Immigration.
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I'm always amazed/impressed/jealous when someone can wring so much meaning out of cold images and sounds.
With “Seinfeld,” the vision is seamless. On “Seinfeld,” life itself is a show, and the actual show, the standup, merely the encore; life itself is a well-constructed joke. In tone and outlook, Jerry is exactly the same unflustered man in his apartment and onstage. As a result, you never feel that he needs to get on stage—the series itself would hardly have suffered had he not. But in the New York of “Louie,” life provides neither the coherent form of a joke nor the audience’s affirming laughter, which is why Louie absolutely must grab a microphone and climb up onstage. And when he does, both he and we are hugely relieved. This sense of necessity is what makes the standup sets on “Louie” pop...
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Mike Birbiglia is at it again
Spoke with Birbigs at the WGA Awards on Sunday. He says that he's adapting his show My Girlfriend's Boyfriend into a screenplay, much like Sleepwalk With Me.
He is a little wary of big Hollywood money.
"I’m just kind of focused on making sure that I can maintain the integrity that we had with Sleepwalk. We were able to do things because it was under the radar that I don’t think any movie is able to do. We were just picking out footage during the edit left and right and just dropping it in, going, "What about this? What about this shot?" The monologue of how “all these years we stayed together because we didn’t want to make the other person mad,” it was in post. It was in the original scene. We dropped it in. It was a line that I had written in a previous draft that Ira really liked, and he said, “I think that’s a really beautiful piece of writing, why don’t we drop that in again and see what happens?”
Much more here.
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Going inside the 'House of Cards'
I've been working on a long story about Netflix's new drama 'House of Cards,' and on Friday, I published a piece about the media's reaction to the show, both positive and negative.
Showrunner Beau Willimon said:
"I think among the media community, any sort of I guess disgust or abrasive feelings they have about Zoe Barnes stems from the fact that she has tossed ethics aside," he told THR in a recent interview. "That’s sort of the point, though. If you want to judge her as a noble, ethical journalist, then naturally you’d have that sort of reaction. But we’re not telling the story of a noble, ethical journalist. We’re telling the story of youthful ambition. It’s not someone who’s a good journalist. It’s someone who’s a good climber. That’s in line with the overall subject of our show, which is power ... She wants access and influence, not necessarily the truth."
Much more here.
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I've Written a Lot Lately, Just Not Here
First note: JordanZakarin.com is no more, at least in its original form. I let the registration expire because I was incredibly busy and also in part because I am incredibly lazy about clerical things, and as these things go, it was scooped up by a squatting company. Presumably they'll lose interest in a year and I'll get it back, but I kind of like it better the way it is now: a Japanese golf-themed placeholder site. I'm thinking of just letting it stay like that if/when I get the domain again.
Anyway, on to the work I actually have done. It's awards season in Hollywood, which means a lot of long hours, hoopla and hyperbole, but also good (a few great) movies and lots of chances to talk to the people behind them, which is the wonderful gift that keeps me in this industry (in addition to my lack of any other marketable skills).
Here are the stories that I've done on those films and with which I can say I'm at least somewhat pleased, broken down by title for convenience.
Zero Dark Thirty
The Mysteries (and Broken Curse) of Jessica Chastain
I have interviewed Jessica Chastain upwards of 10 times since her breakout at Cannes 2011, which is actually quite reasonable given the sheer number of films in which she has starred since. I put all the information I'd gleaned from the previous interviews (plus two new ones) into this feature profile story, which is pegged to her role as the lead in the "controversial" bin Laden movie, as well as her upcoming role in the horror-thriller, Mama.
Torture, Tears and Terror: Jessica Chastain and Jason Clarke on 'Zero Dark Thirty'
One of the aforementioned interviews is included in this, as is a conversation with Australian actor Jason Clarke, who was fantastic as a CIA tough in the film.
Argo
Not Just a Film: Ben Affleck on Terror, Iran and the Risk of Making 'Argo'
Ben Affleck is a smart man. This was a great conversation, at least from my perspective. He probably didn't think much of it, but it proved he could be a senator one day, I think.
Ben Affleck Found Senate Run Speculation 'Funny'
Hey, speaking of... Asked him about that senate speculation at the National Board of Review Awards.
Ben Affleck on 'Argo' SAG Award Nominations, Alan Arkin and Proving Doubters Wrong
I think nomination "reaction" calls are only supposed to be transcription of gloating canned quotes, but I turned this into as real an interview as I could, and he was quite gracious about it.
'Argo' Screenwriter Explains the CIA Secrets and Surprises Behind the Film
This was this guy's first screenplay. He's got an Oscar nomination now. Not bad.
Django Unchained
Why 'Django Unchained Director Quentin Tarantino Isn't Concerned About Violence In His Movies
I did the interview for this one, conducted amid a contentious photo shoot on press day.
Why 'Django Unchained' Star Jamie Foxx Listened to Biggie and Wore Diddy's Clothes on Set
This guy should be a superstar.
Walton Goggins On the Brutal Scene Tarantino Cut From 'Django Unchained'
Super nice guy. We spoke about 'Major League 3,' too.
Silver Linings Playbook
David O. Russell's Very Personal 'Silver Linings Playbook' Finds Comedy in Mental Illness
Based on the stories about his past on-set eruptions, it would seem Russell has cooled off in recent years. This was one of my very favorite films of the year. Bradley Cooper, already a star, gives a head-turning, career-changing performance. Jennifer Lawrence continues to be incredible. And Robert De Niro plays the gruff, slightly OCD dad with a nuance we haven't seen in a while.
David O. Russell Explains What Bradley Cooper Whispers at the End of 'Silver Linings Playbook'
This is a big ol spoiler, but cool if you've seen the movie.
Les Miserables
Occupy 'Les Mis': Tom Hooper and Cast on the Politics, 'Angry Tirade' of Victor Hugo's Classic
Very thoughtful, and willing to go long in interviews. I didn't love the movie, but Tom Hooper is a really smart, kind dude.
Amanda Seyfried on the 'Maternal' Anne Hathaway and Staying Sane During 'Les Mis'
She is not a fan of movie premieres; she said some things off the record that made me laugh very, very hard. But I like that cynicism; most people will act super excited, even if they're not.
'Les Miserables' Breakout Star Samantha Barks Takes Eponine From Stage to Screen
On the other hand, she was very excited to be there. Can't fault her for that. And she can sing like hell.
How Anne Hathaway's Mother Helped With Her 'Les Mis' Performance
Hint: Her mom played Fantine in the first US road tour of the show, back in the 80's. Also, some more words with Tom Hooper.
Promised Land
Matt Damon Says Power to the People at 'Promised Land' Premiere
This is a bit of a pun. But in all seriousness, Damon was great, engaging on this issue when some would dodge it -- yes, even when it's the subject of the film. Often the control of the conversation around the film is a hard-fought battle. This story made a nice little splash, too.
Lincoln
Doris Kearns Goodwin on Lincoln, Obama and Politics Today
It's amazing how much she knows, and almost more incredible how much obvious affection she has for Honest Abe.
Lincoln Would Be a Democrat Today, Say Doris Kearns Goodwin and Tony Kushner
No duh.
A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III
Jason Schwartzman, Roman Coppola and Charlie Sheen Stage a Quirky, Dancing Meltdown
A fun little movie, this was an unreal little party where the entire Coppola family convened, with Sean Lennon representing another dynasty. Having previously interviewed him on the phone, I met Jason Schwartzman for the first time here. That was cool.
Skyfall
New Bond Goes Old School: Exploring 007's Past and Playing With 'Sexual Intimidation'
This weirdly caused some internal discussion, but certainly got some play online. And the comments had a pretty cool debate.
#Argo#Zero Dark Thirty#Movies#Oscars#Ben Affleck#Django Unchained#Quentin Tarantino#Silver Linings Playbook#Bradley Cooper#Les Miserables#Anne Hathaway#Lincoln#James Bond#Skyfall
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Headlines!
Just a few bits of news in the world:
The east coast (including both my home state of NJ and current home of NYC) was wrecked by the monster tides of Hurricane Sandy; President Obama won re-election in a near landslide; Republicans are nakedly racist; Israel is at war again; the CIA director stepped down due to an affair and teenage gmail skills; Elmo had a really bad week.
Okay, and now to what I've been doing lately: writing!
The fall is a very busy time in my industry (so much that it is mine), as Hollywood begins to put out its good movies and celebrate itself, with people like me charged with documenting it all. It's a lot of running around, and superficiality reigns, but as an aspiring filmmaker, and someone who really does admire the talents of many of the people putting out movies right now, I do take every opportunity to pick their brains and try to communicate something about their stories to a public that really does use cinema as an escape and an education.
I find that filmmakers and actors are less concerned with the awards than getting their stories told; after all, a screenplay generally starts out (at least in my experience) as the scrambled notes jotted to make sense of (and relieve) a set of thoughts sitting on a nerve in the brain. They need to write it, and if you engage them on that level, they love to talk about it. Or at least humor you, the earnest and naive kid who looks way too young to be at this event as anything but a bus boy.
Either way, here are a bunch of features I've written on upcoming films, as well as a fun piece on comedy (Also, a few more -- including one with Garrett Hedlund, as well as longer pieces with Tony Kushner and Doris Kearns Goodwin -- are on the way soon).
David O. Russell's Very Personal 'Silver Linings Playbook' Finds Comedy in Mental Illness: This is one of (if not my absolute) favorite movies of the year. The desperation and contextual humor - you can't help but laugh - is spot on.
Laura Linney Goes Crazy for 'The Details' and Remembers Her Wild Child NYC Past: She is a really sweet, smart woman. More to come with her, on 'Hyde Park on Hudson.'
How Walter Salles Did the Impossible and Made 'On the Road' into a Film: One of the smartest guys I've ever interviewed, this was a half hour chat that (at least for me) could have gone on for hours longer.
Louis C.K.'s Home Turf, Jerry Seinfeld's Roots and Young Jon Stewart in a Cape: An interview with Caroline Hirsch, founder of Caroline's comedy club in NYC. If it has to do with funny in the last 30 years, she knows all about it (and most likely was there).
New Bond Goes Old School: Exploring 007's Past and Playing With 'Sexual Intimidation': An interview with Skyfall screenwriter John Logan, about keeping Bond traditions while moving him forward -- especially in one certain scene.
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Death Is Nothing To Fear, But Has Its Downsides
I'm going to submit this to various publications (or whomever will indulge me), but I thought I'd also post it up on my blog now, because life is fleeting, obviously.
“I’m not doing this again,” I said through gritted teeth, girded against the constant rattle of suction tubes laid against my lungs. “If this gets fucked up again, and they say I need this shit again, I don’t care. I can’t do it. Not worth it. What’s the point? Just shoot me in the face instead. Seriously, I mean it.”
“Okay, okay. Shoot you in the face. I got it,” my mom answered, looking up from a book and doing her best to act like she meant it.
But we both knew I was lying.
I wish that wasn’t the case. Part of me really did mean what I said; having just hours before woken up from my second heart surgery in less than three years, I was feeling nihilist far beyond my usual self-defensive, New York writer who got picked on in high school self.
Unless I’m doing it wrong – and there is every chance that I am – the human experience largely consists of days, weeks and months that pass by in blurs, with a few moments, if you’re lucky, memorable enough to make the final edit on a yearly highlight reel. Open-heart surgery is something you remember, with pain so sharp and recovery so lonely that, when you have operations packed so closely together, the time that you are healthy feels like a brief intermission between rounds in the ring with a heavyweight fighter.
A week or so after that conversation with my mom, after I’ve left the hospital and spent five days alternately popping Percocet and grousing about my disdain for whatever was being discussed on TV or in an overheard conversation, the pep talks began. Yes, I’m hobbling around, sore and bruised and pissed, and things suck at the moment, but an accounting of my life offers plenty of reasons why I should retract the permission to spray my face with bullets: I’m young; I have a lot to accomplish, as I have yet to sell a screenplay and my passport boasts little ink; I should probably fall in love at least once; and for the betterment of mankind (so I tell myself), I need to make sure I pass on my unique blend of self-hatred and egoism to another generation.
The whole thing is an awful enterprise, but maybe worthwhile, assuming they didn’t have to keep cutting me open at such a frequent clip. I have a lot to accomplish, see and do, and my natural curiosity gets me out of bed even when the rest of me feels like it’s been hit by a truck.
At 26-years-old – the surgery fell on my birthday, of course -- I was the youngest patient on the cardiac surgery recovery floor, a title I retained from my last visit to the operating table. It’s not an especially high honor, and honestly a bit depressing; old people get bypasses like it’s their job, which it mostly is, since they tend to be retired and Medicare pays for it. But for me, an otherwise healthy and fit guy, to be in the hospital, was plain demoralizing. But it also meant that I recovered more quickly, and the promise of two decades without the need for any more procedures made for a prospectively pretty good return on investment.
On the other hand, I had a few roommates while in recovery; both Neil and Tony were well into their late seventies. What, exactly, did a promise like that mean for them – if they were even given a pledge that long. Maybe, given their advanced years, they had about five years before they would need more surgery. That’s a twilight of infirmity and pain.
So, why were they bothering to go through with it? Perhaps it’s presumptuous to say, but it seems like diminishing returns, spending old age, already a degenerative experience, bound to hospital beds and choked by fistfuls of pills.
Neil is a soft-spoken guy. He has homes in Chicago and Florida, where he frequently played tennis in his retirement community. His wife was by his side as he watched the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee on television throughout the day; and his daughters, who lived in London, were flying in to spend time with him as he continued to rehab. So, he clearly has a lot to appreciate and enjoy in this life – if healthy.
But will he ever be fully healthy again? Maybe his life will be all hospital visits and painkillers. He seemed nonplussed about the fact that he had to piss in a pan, like it was some necessary evil to which he was already resigned. I don’t know how he’s peeing today, five weeks since I last saw him, or if he’s back to playing tennis. Maybe it’s all good again; perhaps he’s back to his normal life.
I have a feeling that’s not the case. I rushed back to New York, sped up the timetable on my recovery through stubbornness and stupidity, and six out from surgery, I still feel my ribs closing back in on each other, my skin testing the stretch for the climb atop and over the raised bone in my chest, and the battering of my subconscious as a brush with mortality twists my sleeping thoughts into nightmares that jolt my eyes wide open. How could he possibly be even close to that healthy?
The same thing goes for Tony. He was the sort of bastard I found insufferable when I was trying to sleep, and hilarious when I was awake; his snore, assisted by oxygen tubes, sounded like a gorilla scraping its knuckles against the ground, but his wise-guy shtick – chiding nurses and cursing up a storm -- brought a lot of needed levity to the room. Especially when his wife spent much of the time on the phone, talking with family members about a cousin or brother who had six months to live, tops, seemingly willfully ignoring the doom in the room she was sitting in.
Listening to her talk was the first time I had really thought hard about the visible end, the collapsed star of life that steadily sucked in those as they grew weaker and drifted further away from the orbit of every day life. “There goes another one,” they say calmly, watching as a loved one is pulled toward the white light, all the while trying desperately to reinforce their own tether to buy just a little more time.
Maybe I’ll think differently when I reach this stage, but I can’t imagine what it’s like to spend those last years fighting pain and repeated carvings, knowing that the solutions are just weak patches on the moors anyway, and that soon enough it will be an impossible struggle against the vortex. Why bother?
I guess any time at all is better than the alternative, but that may have something to do with our fear of death. I don’t think it’s a sign of weakness to admit that it scares the fuck out of me, the idea of all-consuming nothingness, a forever of darkness. But that’s the difficult part to grasp: we’re unaware of that pitch black eternity – it’s not like an infinite boredom in a burlap sack, where we count sheep and regrets and wonder what’s happening in the outside world. Maybe if we understood that, we’d be less willing to suffer, less afraid of dying.
Of course, if that were the case, I wouldn’t have much excuse for wanting to live through all these surgeries, either.
I went to the cardiologist last week for a checkup, and in the waiting room there was a girl, no more than 14 or 15 years old. I overheard that she was there for a consultation, which, as my experience told me, pointed toward an impending operation. And it depressed the hell out of me, thinking what she’d have to go through, the angst and isolation of illness in high school, and the long-term monitoring and follow-up surgeries.
I wanted to talk to her, tell her that really, it’d be okay, but I didn’t get a chance. And now that I think about it, I’m kind of glad I didn’t; I caught her looking my way a few times, and maybe she was wondering why I was there, why I keep seeing doctors and submitting to physical devastation and rounds of nightmares. And if she asked, I wouldn’t have any logical, foolproof answer for her, given what I know, cold and factually, about death.
Maybe now I understand why Neil and Tony kept fighting. You may not feel in death, but the little touches of life can be pretty good.
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In Recovery
For the most part, it's sheer laziness and contempt of my own potential that stops me from updating this site and keeps me from improving my brand, whatever that means (if anything). But this time around, I have a pretty great (awful) excuse: I had another open heart surgery.
While this site now simply serves as a makeshift home for my favorite stories, thoughts and comments that will one day make me unemployable, it actually began as a blog called JordansHeartSucks.com, in 2009. It was an early social media experiment in which I chronicled the daily minutiae of a massive aortic root and valve replacement, which I underwent that October. From spewing my feelings ahead of the surgery, to providing videos and pain-filled musings from in the hospital and corresponding with other sickly people (which was the real joy of the whole process), it was a real-time journal of what it is to be young and ill.
Last March, I came down with something called endocarditis. Basically the strep virus but in my heart (and not throat), it put me in the hospital for a week, and, as it would turn out, ate away at some of the supposedly-permanent repairs made during my 2009 surgery. It was thought that it would be easy to fix the damage, and after a few months this spring of really suffering from exhaustion and growing weakness, I went into the hospital for what was supposed to be a simple procedure to set it all straight.
Except, of course, that the procedure didn't work -- the damage was more extensive than they had thought -- and I had to undergo surgery once again. On my birthday.
Knowing what to expect helped to prepare me for this second (well, fourth, all together) go-round on the operating table, but the painful experience of less than three years ago also made this a harrowing specter. And just as I predicted, it was terribly painful. I was in the hospital for a little over a week (which included a second, minor surgery) and whether it's a lifetime of taking medicine, terrible karma or horse genes, medication -- especially painkillers -- have little impact on me.
It's been a little over three weeks since the surgery, and I'm headed back to New York City (to my new East Village apartment) tomorrow morning, where I will continue to recuperate before returning to work, hopefully a week or so after that. This time around, I decided not to document my experience, at least not in such a public and detailed manner; I get tired of being seen as the sickly guy, and beside, bearing one's soul online is the norm today. I wrote some facebook and twitter posts to let people know I was okay (a limited number of friends actually contacted me -- people tend to keep their distance when someone is sick), but for the most part, I tried to suffer and recover in silence.
That being said, I still do feel some responsibility. I'm lucky to have a job that provides me healthcare, and to have -- by just two days -- still been able to access my parents' healthcare as a backup, thanks to Obama's health reform. But tens of millions of people cannot do so, and given the insane bills I've been receiving for the surgery, I know how cataclysmic health emergencies can be for the uninsured. I'm not in a place to run for office (and please, no one would ever vote for me), but I can use my voice to raise awareness, and put a human face to the issue.
So, I wrote this letter to the Supreme Court, care of the New York Press, describing my situation and just how lucky I am -- and how terrible it would be if the Court repealed Healthcare Reform and denied millions of others the same kind of medicine that I received. The note has gotten viral (though that really isn't the word for this circumstance) momentum and earned some praise, and so I'm posting it here, in hopes that some other people might stumble across it, and share it with friends, family and lawmakers.
Click over to the NY Press for the letter. An excerpt:
The fact of the matter is that because of the President’s law, my employment status was irrelevant; I was covered for my open heart surgery. My life, as I know it, isn’t over. I can participate in society; I can give to charity, volunteer and participate in the economy. I am warm flesh and blood, not a fiscal zombie.
When you consider the health care reform act this month, I just ask you measure rhetoric with the arc of humanity. You have a chance to draw a line in the sand, batten down the hatches and push our country forever forward, declaring that the law is legal and that people have a right to healthcare, and with it, an actual life.
I know they don’t honor that at CATO dinners and speaking engagements at lobbyists’ birthday parties, but I’m hoping you can look past that. I also know that court cases tend to deal with the obscure, the philosophical and legal wording loopholes, so it can be hard to fully understand the consequences of a case, and especially a reactionary, regressive decision.
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Going Geek
One of the nice parts about my job is that, on the internet, niche wins. I'm always more comfortable on the outer edges of things, looking at and trying to present things out of the mainstream. And online, if you hit the right nerve, that interest can be productive enough, traffic-wise, to be indulged on a pretty consistent basis.
It would sound strange to call The Avengers, the box office record-shattering film that crossed $1 billion worldwide this weekend and owns the biggest opening theatrical bow in US history, an off-beat curiosity, but as with so many other things in popular American culture, it is comprised of not just a well-exploited surface, but a rich and deep core of history.
I was, in my adolescent years, a major comic book fan; Spider-Man was my favorite hero (a weak, wise-cracking nerd turned superhero was quite aspirational), but I loved the entire Marvel Comics universe. With The Avengers approaching, I decided to delve back into the comics, and found myself just as enthralled by the heightened reality of that world. I also began deep diving into the world of Joss Whedon -- I'd always been a fan, but I became obsessed with learning as much as I could about his super fans, those who congregate on the internet and dissect every line of dialogue from Buffy, Angel, Firefly and his other projects.
My two-foot leap back into that geek world proved rewarding, both from a creative point of view -- I truly do have a home there -- and professionally (and I use that term lightly).
First came my big feature on Joss Whedon fans. I spoke to Nathan Fillion, Drew Goddard, a number of TV experts and eventually Joss himself for the story, and was so glad that the members of the Whedonverse truly enjoyed and shared the story. I was terrified of getting something wrong or coming off condescending, so that they approved of the work was a major relief (and, I'll take it as an accomplishment).
Then, I contacted a disaster assessment firm to estimate the fiscal cost of the damage done to New York City in the climactic third act of The Avengers. It was a fun story (which you can read here), and I have to give crazy thanks to Kinetic Analysts for being so gung-ho and into the project, which I figured would be somewhat popular. I didn't quite picture how popular it would be.
It was honestly one of the most buzzed about stories of the week (outside of, you know, Obama's gay marriage endorsement and Mitt Romney giving that kid a bigot buzz cut). It was picked up by a ton of great news sites and blogs, as well as CNN, The Guardian and Le Monde (Le Fucking Monde!). Bloomberg News even had a segment about it on television.
As someone who aggregates news quite often, it was interesting to see it happen from the other side of the news desk, so to speak. I imagine editors handing out the assignment and writers working quickly to write it up, grabbing a few facts and adding some color to fill in the rest. The internet really does work on a 24/7, rapid-fire basis, and it's amazing to see something spread and then explode.
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