SNL Rejections & Lit Agents
When I ran across this article about how Lorne Michaels regrets some of the talent he originally rejected for SNL, I couldn’t help thinking about publishing, writers, books, and literary agents. And Michaels did, indeed, reject a few people who went on to become successful in spite of the rejection. It’s really a very honest, humble article about how gatekeepers sometimes miss talent.
He said this:
Longtime producer of “Saturday Night Live,” Lorne Michaels, is opening up about the people he regrets passing on casting — and they’re big names now.
Michaels passed on casting Steve Carell, Jim Carrey, Stephen Colbert and Lisa Kudrow, and he told The Hollywood Reporter that those are the names he kicks himself over now.
So, why did he say no? Michaels said he wasn’t at Carrey’s audition, but a colleague said he wouldn’t like Carrey.
What does this have to do with literary agents, you ask? Well, in over twenty years…pushing twenty five…I have seen literary agents reject talent, books, and writers that have gone on to become wildly successful. Big books like The Help have been rejected by agents and there are plenty more examples that could fill this page. It happens. Not every book or writer is going to resonate with every literary agent. It’s understandable. However, I have NEVER once seen, not in all these years, a humble literary agent actually come out and admit he or she REGRETS passing on a book, or that he or she may have made a mistake.
Gay Meccas Disappearing
This article comes from a gay man in West Hollywood who is running for city council. You can read more about him at the link below.
Basically, he writes about West Hollywood being one of the last remaining gay meccas as if WeHo invented the gay mecca. I’m not being snarky about that, and I love WeHo. But he’s obviously never heard of places like New Hope, PA, Provincetown, MA, and Wilton Manors, FL. Not to mention the many other places where gay people have settled and built their own communities through the years. It doesn’t all begin and end with New York and LA, especially not anymore.
It’s not that he’s totally off base, but I think everything in this piece could be questioned. In other words, he’s spot on with the problem…if this is a problem for people who have invested their money in property in WeHo…he just doesn’t have a viable solution. The key word being viable.
The fact is that gay residents and the businesses they own are being priced out. Some say this trend isn’t real, that it isn’t happening, but when you look at the fact that a one-bedroom apartment at The Huxley, a new development on the east side (the less developed side of West Hollywood) now costs $2,300, it’s hard to come to that conclusion. When you look at the fact that various gay small businesses such as Block Party on Santa Monica Boulevard have had to move away or close down completely because it’s just too expensive to stay open, clearly there’s something wrong with the direction we’re going in.
Just these comments alone are interesting…compared to other parts of the country. The average residential rental here in New Hope, Bucks County, PA is about $2,500 a month. Commercial rent can range anywhere from $1,000 a month up to $6,000 depending on the location and size. And I’m being conservative about the high end. They do go higher for larger commercial spaces.
As I said, there are so many things about this piece that could be questioned, from the fact that the “gay ghetto” is disappearing as more gay men assimilate to the fact that many gay men/women have invested money in these gay meccas and the intention has always been to keep them as high end and upscale as possible. Take Provincetown, MA as an example. At one time you could go to P’town and spend a long week surrounded by gay people and it was relatively inexpensive. You could own property there, too. But that’s all changed now and that began in the 1990’s when wealthy gay investors starting renovating the entire town. For what you spend in P’town for one week now, you can probably travel to Europe and spend the same.
So there’s a lot to this article that doesn’t make total sense. And if gay places like WeHo have become so high end there is no more low rent housing available, it’s because gay people with money to invest have been moving toward this for a long time. The same thing has been happening in Palm Springs.
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s likely decision in favor of nationwide marriage equality in June, people will be asking what the next frontier for our cause will be. I believe that new frontier will be the issue of rent, the issue of our gay housing crisis. This issue goes beyond legal rights or politics; it strikes at the heart of our culture, our identity, our soul. We must recognize and take action on this issue before it’s too late.
Frankly, I think the new frontier will be the issue of eliminating shame and removing the stigma of being gay so more gay people can come out. When I think of the future of LGBTI people, I don’t think of old time hooded little outlets where gay people had to flock because they weren’t safe anywhere else…or weren’t welcome anywhere else. I think of gay people running for office, opening up businesses, and living ALL over the US just like everyone else. And that has nothing to do with gay culture and all to do with realizing total and complete equality. It’s not possible to have it both ways. If you want equality you have to be willing to be an equal in all respects. This is why it’s actually illegal to advertise things like “All Gay Retirement Villages.” That’s called discrimination, because you can’t turn away people who aren’t gay.
You can read more here. The comments are fascinating because people get into a few things I noticed but I didn’t even mention in my comments above.
Gay Man Who Never Orgasm-ed
This is almost as hard to believe as the article I linked to above, but I guess anything can happen.
There’s a gay man who claims he’s never had an orgasm. He’s had sex, but never a real orgasm. I have a feeling there are a lot of literary agents who never had an orgasm, but I digress.
“My boyfriend has an orgasm almost every time we have sex, but I never do,” MissingOutOnTheBigO continues. “He thinks it might be because I am stressed from taking six classes this semester and have trouble winding down. Is there something wrong with me?”
Hold on…”almost every time we have sex.” Does this mean the boyfriend doesn’t orgasm all the time either? Not sure I get that. But you can read the rest here. There’s a more clinical explanation of why this might happen I’m not qualified to comment on.
Broad City on Anal Intercourse
Speaking of orgasm and all things good, here’s a link to an article about how the TV comedy show, Broad City, is dealing with the topic of anal intercourse as a topic of discussion.
Comedy Central’s Broad City is one of my favorite shows on TV if only because it’s a lot less cloying than Girls, but also because it’s genuinely hilarious. Last night, BFFs Ilana and Abbi tackled an issue near and dear to, well, someone’s heart: anal intercourse.
When Abbi finally gets a chance to hookup with her longtime crush — her hunky, bearish neighbor Jeremy — she’s surprised when he pulls out a dildo and strap-on, but being a modern cosmopolitan girl with not too many prospects, she’s game.
Here’s a link, with photos that will make you smile. To be honest, I watched Broad City last night on demand and it’s not something I would recommend as entertainment. I hated the characters and found the humor droll. But I could be wrong about that, and it is subjective.
