# Directors/Writers and Their Obsessions **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 16, 2008, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-writers-and-their-obsessions/441534 "2008-03-16T07:15:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-writers-and-their-obsessions/441534/21 "2008-03-17T14:08:55Z")
John Irving & bears. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-writers-and-their-obsessions/441534/22 "2008-03-17T17:55:36Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] John Irving & bears. [/QUOTE] …and prep schools and New England and rape and abortion and feminism and wrestling and writing and Vienna… ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-writers-and-their-obsessions/441534/23 "2008-03-17T18:21:30Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou] Joss Whedon: ass-kicking young heroines. [/QUOTE] Similar with **Luc Besson** (in addendum to his Milla Jovovich obsession that we mutually share). All of his films are either kick-ass hotties, or hotties irrevocably drawn into a kick-ass violent world. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-writers-and-their-obsessions/441534/24 "2008-03-17T18:25:22Z")
[QUOTE=GargoyleWB] Similar with **Luc Besson** (in addendum to his Milla Jovovich obsession that we mutually share). All of his films are either kick-ass hotties, or hotties irrevocably drawn into a kick-ass violent world. [/QUOTE] Um, where does \*[this\*](http://imdb.com/title/tt0110413/) film fit in those two categories? ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-writers-and-their-obsessions/441534/25 "2008-03-17T18:51:48Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] Um, where does \*[this\*](http://imdb.com/title/tt0110413/) film fit in those two categories? [/QUOTE] Heh, I suspected that would come up after I posted :smack: Maybe we could trade “hottie” for “innocent female archetype” in my preceding post. Then I think my revised theory holds true… ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-writers-and-their-obsessions/441534/26 "2008-03-17T19:04:07Z")
Will Smith seems to be obsessed with taking great sci-fi books and making radical changes to them. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-writers-and-their-obsessions/441534/27 "2008-03-17T19:20:36Z")
> [@Annie\_Xmas](#): > > John Irving & bears. And wrestlers. Edited because **Dr. Rieux** beat me too it, and more, and I wish now I’d never posted. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-writers-and-their-obsessions/441534/28 "2008-03-17T19:25:33Z")
Woody Allen. Soon Yi. 'nuff said. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-writers-and-their-obsessions/441534/29 "2008-03-17T20:11:08Z")
**Stephen King** has a thing for young kids with special powers, and childhood friendships. **Dean Koontz** likes dogs a lot. **Frank Herbert** is all about ecology and religion, sometimes in the same work (_Dune_). ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-writers-and-their-obsessions/441534/30 "2008-03-17T20:13:42Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] **Stephen King** has a thing for young kids with special powers, and childhood friendships. [/QUOTE] He is also an expert in wife abuse. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-writers-and-their-obsessions/441534/31 "2008-03-17T20:15:10Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] He is also an expert in wife abuse. [/QUOTE] Do you mean in his writing, or is that an oblique reference to his personal life? (I don’t know; it’s an honest question!) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-writers-and-their-obsessions/441534/32 "2008-03-17T20:34:36Z")
AFIK, just in his writing. If there ever were any allegation of real spousal abuse, the irony would put it right on the front pages. Howard Hawks usually featured competent people (usually male, but a few females) dealing with life. In addition to the dead parent theme in Disney films, the live-action films usually portrayed bankers as villains (in the main exception – \*\*Mary Poppins \*\*-- the father only becomes redeemed when he tells off all the other bankers). Charlie Chaplin dealt with poverty a lot. His character was nearly always struggling to survive financially (with a few exceptions). Frank Capra often used the theme of “one sane man” – usually a regular guy who shows others by example (e.g., **American Madness, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, It’s a Wonderful Life** ). He also had quite a few evil bankers – as well as some good ones. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-writers-and-their-obsessions/441534/33 "2008-03-17T21:00:21Z")
Terry Gilliam uses the idea of the ‘lone dreamer’ vs the harsh reality quite a bit. Brazil Fisher King Baron Von Muchtoweirdnameformetospell Time Bandits ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2008, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-writers-and-their-obsessions/441534/34 "2008-03-17T21:13:16Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] Do you mean in his writing, or is that an oblique reference to his personal life? (I don’t know; it’s an honest question!) [/QUOTE] Only in his writing. He and wife Tabitha have been married for decades, and their relationship has survived poverty, parenthood, fame, celebrity, enormous wealth, Stephen’s drinking & drugging & horrific accident. Their three children are fine. The Kings have a model marriage. Maybe Stephen knows so much about spousal abuse that he knows how to make a marriage work. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-writers-and-their-obsessions/441534.md?page=1)