You sound like a jilted ex-lover. Seriously. FOCUS: I would see this if I lived anywhere near New York. The book was great and the old board provided me with hours upon hours of entertainment. If it's successful and makes an off Broadway run I'm there.
I have a seriously hard time believing that Tucker Max has no idea what this guy is up to and how he's going about doing it. He does not seem to be the type to have the wool pulled over his eyes, or to miss a trick. He's either in on it or has endorsed it in some way. But, hey I've been known to be wrong from time to time.
Yeah that's what my initial reaction was. I only bought one of his books, Assholes Finish First I think, and I've just not bothered to buy any of the rest. I figured since his retirement he shuffled off to do whatever it is he's doing these days and we'd not hear anything about him again. I guess I was wrong, and I'm kinda glad of it since I do enjoy his writing.
Am I missing something here? The reason I always liked Tucker's writing was precisely because he always acknowledged the reality of his situation: he was an obnoxious, narcissistic child who enjoyed fun at the expense of others. Conversely, his stories never were short on times when fun was had at his expense, and if he didn't always take it in stride, at least he took it. That's what always differentiated him for me from other 'bros' who thought they were similar. Most of them cannot have the mirror turned on them to introspect on what makes them dickheads. I digress (I think). I would wait for some reviews before I saw it, but if it had any good ones, I'd see it if I had the opportunity, not because I'm in the same place in life where I enjoy Tucker's stories the way I used to, but because I was a huge fan once, and I would probably enjoy it for the nostalgia of that time of my life. Also, if the reviews were good and it was funny in any way, satire or not, then I would go because I like funny things. If it is what this email says, a purview into the tragedy that is frat culture, I think it's not going to come as much of a surprise as it seems. With the Forbes article being the epilogue of his novels, Tucker's books already read that way, at least to me. On that note, I never understand when these threads come up and a veritable shit fountain of vitriol comes spewing forth about the intense dislike for all things Tucker Max. He made things that we all liked, and then made things we didn't like as much and...we hate him for it, is that right? I assume at least 99% of the posters on this board were fans of some degree at one time or another, but I don't think I ever started hating the Backstreet Boys when I grew older and realized I didn't enjoy their music anymore.
It's not that his stories are unfunny, they're actually very entertaining. It's that they're poorly written and he made himself how to be the next Edgar Allen Poe. Plus, his behavior on TMMB when his movie came out turned a lot of people off. And he can make up any excuse he wants, but he shut that board down because the movie was a flop and he got butt hurt over it. The book did not translate well into film, the skepticism is that it wont translate onto the stage either.
Tis' the internet sweetheart, like night follows day and as inevitable as the person follows and has to defend him against the vitriol, there will always be some hatin'. I know I was burned by the whole hype of the movie and the let down of it being pert near National Lampoons brand material. I think he parallels Dane Cook's meteoric rise and fall more than your Back Street Boys analogy. They both had a decent sense of humor and were able to build rabid followings of college aged kids. But neither made the transition into movies like you thought they'd be able to by releasing huge shitburgers. Coupled with the internets unforgiving nature you get what you have here.* I think the pendulum will settle in the middle for a lot of folks. *that's how I saw Dane Cook's situation at least.
That is a fact, and the shitty excuses that followed were headache-inducing. I think thats the only thing I was bitter about-- not him, his writing or the movie but how they lied about why the board actually closed. We all know why it did. Oh well, we have this place from it and I'm happy.
But I get a thrill out of bad-mouthing the guy on a messageboard without any repercussions, it makes me feel like a big man. Who are you to take that away from me? I was a fan, and as a fan I'm owed everything because I'm entitled to it. When my expectations are not delivered upon, it is a personal insult to me and I must react with as much glib, ill-considered vitriol as the internet can tolerate. Really I don't bear any ill will, but his past material isn't really in my wheel-house. I was banned from board several times, increasingly towards the end. I can't really remember why, I was drinking a lot then. But I see no point into reading into it, I don't know what was going on, but I felt that he could do whatever he wanted with his messageboard. My interest was mainly in seeing the growth and change in his output as time went on, seems like he's withdrawing from the old game, which is fair enough. Anyway... If what that letter says is true, it sounds pretty awful. I don't see what the Cloud Atlas treatment will bring to the material, and the whole identification with "frat" culture was something I struggled with anyway. I understand the connection, but to me that was always peripheral. And maybe it is all a pre-emptive defense mechanism, but it does sound like he doesn't really give a shit about it. I'd buy that, I don't really care either. Give me a buzz if it turns out to be any good.
That's actually precisely why I've never really liked his writing. He's thoroughly obnoxious in his stories, and the fact that he shows a modicum of self-awareness makes it worse, in my opinion. Ignorance can be forgivable, but to be that much of a dick and to be aware of it just isn't that charming to me. Plus I don't think his writing is very funny. Without exaggeration, I didn't laugh a single time while reading any of his books. Which leads me to the positive, and why I even read them in the first place: one, so I could figure out what everybody on the messageboard was talking about. Two, while his writing might not be very funny, he has a sense of timing and pacing of a story that thousands of smug MFA candidates won't appreciate until much later. I must either be a masochist or a contrarian dick: I'm negative about Tucker around his fans and defend him to his detractors. I think that's the nature of middle grounds? Also, I gave the movie a B- when it first came out, which might have been generous, but whatever. I definitely had at least a B- experience. It wasn't expensive and they gave me free stuff. More movies should give me free things.
+1 over here with thinking that the way he handled his shitty movie was a total bitch move. I tend to have a lot more respect for people who can admit mistakes, own them and move on. You know what happened after Letterman was caught in his extramarital affair? He went on national tv, admitted his mistakes, and no one ever really talked about it again. It was Tucker's job to promote the shit out of his movie. It tanked. I think if he just said "fuck it, drive on" and didn't instantly close TMMB, people would have been less critical of him.
To be fair, I dont think he had much of a choice. He went on for weeks about how it was going to destroy The Hangover at the Box Office and gross $400 million when all was said and done. A month later when The Hangover made $600 Million and his film didnt even make 1/4 of its budget, where do you go from there? You can either keep being a jerk about it and claim the real profits are in DVD sales (which he did) or admit defeat and humility, but at the same time basically ruining the persona on which you built your market. To the detractors, Im not being a Internet-dick about it, I actually like him personally. Met him at a book signing and he was pretty nice and gracious to all his fans. But reality is reality.
I always found it odd that people got so upset that a self proclaimed narcissist had a narcissistic breakdown. I was a little disappointed that the board was shut down, but my general sentiment was that it was bound to happen eventually.
Roxanne, the problem really the people who spew the vitriol and ridiculous hate were REALLY INTO Tucker Max. If someone dumps you or disappoints you that you don't care about, then its no big deal. If they want to admit it or not, a lot of these people looked to Tucker as a hero. Either who they wanted to be, but couldn't, or some other projection psychobabble. It's the only reason the disappointment and hate is so profound. I love Will Smith, but if he got up on a podium, said After Earth was going to be the greatest fucking movie on the planet, then I went to see it and it wasn't. I wouldn't jump on the internet to hate him. HE IS SUPPOSED TO SAY THAT. Also, what Absent said, we're surprised a narcissist had a narcissistic breakdown? On top of the fact people were way too fucking invested in the TMMB, hell some of you guys still are. I'm betting if he didn't shut that place down, we'd have 50% less hate. Still critical of the movie, but much less hate. There are people that LIVED there emotionally. So it basically was like getting dumped, there are hurt feelings and of course after the hurt is the hate. I have a discussion with a friend about music and artists. He constantly wants to know what's in their head. Wants to see them in interviews and see if they're actually smart. I could give a fuck less what they think. The track is good, I'm good. Same with Tucker Max. I laughed at the books, they're funny. I don't care if they're real or not. I don't care if they're embellished. Of course he didn't get away with crashing a car through a store window in Chicago. Who the fuck cares? It's not like he said he saved the world from Nazis. Are you studying for a history test or having a laugh? Has anyone seen the show yet?
There would be MUCH less contempt if they would have done the right thing and archived the RMMB so people could still go back to check it out. Instead, all of that humour and discussion was thrown into the garbage disposal, just like the Phat Phree did.
Well he sure as hell wasn't going to leave all his posts up about how great and wonderful the movie was going to be once it went up in flames. Especially the wonderfully long thread where 90% of his fans spent tons of time shitting on his movies, then arguing on what part was shitty, and how bad he let them down.
Didn't he have bet going with some sort of movie industry insider as to how well the movie was going to do? The loser would have to put up a billboard about it? As I remember the insider nailed the movies receipts almost perfectly in his prediction. I forget what ever came of that.