Does anyone write out of revenge?

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zeldas_lullaby
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Re: Does anyone write out of revenge?

Post by zeldas_lullaby »

It's just that I can think of so many funny ways to get revenge on a character in a book (who's based on someone I know). There's death by clowns, there's death by falling piano, death by cheese log...

Sorry, I'm not familiar with the Marx brothers!
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Post by moderntimes »

Gosh, Zelda, you know Groucho and Harpo and Zeppo Marx, right? Those old 30s and 40s rowdy comedy films? In real life they were a wild bunch in Hollywood.
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Post by zeldas_lullaby »

HA HA HA HA... Nope. I mean, the names sound familiar. Were they similar to the Three Stooges? WERE they the Three Stooges? I vaguely recall a bit about the Three Stooges... Were they the ones that knocked the "land" off of the "Hollywoodland" sign?
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Post by Dezu44 »

Interesting idea. I think that writing is often a subconscious process--like dreaming. When we dream, our dreams tend to combine reality (people, places, fears and desires) into the dream world. Writing is very similar. Consciously and unconsciously our life experiences (both good and bad) have a tendency of transferring to our writing. I think some writers write for revenge, but I think the difference between a mediocre writer and a great writer is their approach to revenge. A great writer, in my opinion, takes bits and pieces of a negative experience (the particularly nasty laugh of a co-worker, the way a woman's lip curled, etc.) and meld it to a great work. A poor writer would cut and paste chunks of the incident and write with incredible bias.
Writing for revenge is a rarity, in my opinion. While some writers cannot resist inserting their real-life enemies into the plot, others can. It's not exactly a bad thing as long as it doesn't taint the quality of the work as a whole.
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Post by moderntimes »

Excellent commentary, Dezu. Thanks.

Zelda, I'm surprised that you're "Marx Brothers deficient" -- ha ha. Try finding the old movies "Night At The Opera" or "Duck Soup" if you ever are interested in them or look up the many YouTube clips. And no, Marx Brothers were far advanced from Stooges. They did have some fun slapstick but most of their humor was verbal.

Groucho particularly, and later on TV he hosted a comic game show "You Bet Your Life" which mainly was a venue for his wiescracks.

Typical Groucho Marx humor from an old movie: A large and imperious woman (Margaret Dumont) is going up the gangway to a cruise ship and Groucho is following, carrying their luggage. She looks behind her and asks him "Do you have everything?" to which Groucho remarks "I've never had any complaints."

And about singers, in another movie, Groucho says, "I knew a girl once, Tillie. She made a record of her songs, you could get it for five dollars." and a pause, then "You could get Tilllie for ten."

And the most delightful comeback from his TV quiz show --- this was in the older days of TV and he always had a cigar to occasionally stick in his face. He'd never light it but it was a visual prop. A woman and her husband were on the show and the announcement was made that they had twelve children. Groucho said "Twelve kids?" and the woman responded "I love my husband a lot." to which Groucho remarked "I love my cigars a lot too, but I take them out of my mouth now and then."

And one of the folks here in the forum has a famous Groucho remark as his sigline:

"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
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Post by zeldas_lullaby »

HA HA HA HA HA.... Groucho does sound funny! Geez!

I was raised on sitcom humor, primarily; moreso than comedians. In fact, now that I think about it, I've been watching sitcoms my entire like, although now I just watch reruns of Frasier; I never watch "new" sitcoms. I don't like the direction they've gone in. (Five second mini-scenes, extreme hostility and apathy, being flippant about serious subjects, etc.)

Argh! My old computer doesn't do YouTube! It doesn't have speakers either, but I bet this Groucho guy is funny even without volume!

Dezu, you have a lot of great thoughts! Welcome to the forum, and please stick around! I'm pretty self-aware, and I often know exactly where some aspect of my writing is coming from.
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Post by moderntimes »

You really need to treat yourself sometime to "Night at the Opera" w. the Marx Brothers. Old time vaudeville catty humor but very well done.

In real life the Marx Bros were a hoot, too. Groucho was brilliant and smart and was funny always. There were 4 brothers, Groucho, Harpo, Zeppo, and Chico. Harpo was a mute onstage and goofy, and actually played the harp, and very well. Zeppo played the straight man, and Chico, a talented singer and pianist, was a strange Italian-Hispanic blend that didn't make sense at all.

In real life, Harpo was one of the finest men in showbiz. He and his wife adopted a bunch of children and raised them all with love and humor. One of their adopted sons, a grown man later, was asked about living with his "dad" Harpo. He said it was like a continuous circus of love, every day filled with joy.

Apparently in real life, Chico was a playboy and hard party dude, but still a nice guy.

Naturally they were of course Jewish, old time Borscht Belt comedians who made the move into movies with huge success.
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Post by zeldas_lullaby »

They sound like a great family!! Chico reminds me of Tony Danza. ;-)
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Post by rssllue »

zeldas_lullaby wrote:
Sorry, I'm not familiar with the Marx brothers!
:shock: :o

-- 27 Jul 2015, 17:47 --
zeldas_lullaby wrote:HA HA--you guys are hilarious.

I am basking in it, ModernTimes. Actually, I just reread it and now I'm laughing uncontrollably. The alligators were ready to feed?? Classic.

Yeah, I see what you mean--that guy who got it in the eye at the end of your third book was just a fictional character, whereas you have some cameo appearances sprinkled throughout in which a fateful end befalls someone you based on a real person. (That sentence started off good, but then it became too long!)

Russell, it's a rite of passage. ;-)
I am glad that I am now one of the initiated! :lol: 8)
~ occupare fati suffocavit

I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for Thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety. ~ Psalms 4:8
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Post by zeldas_lullaby »

Awesome!! Thanks!! Come one, come all, and we'll drum up a tragic demise for you!
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Post by rssllue »

Very unique barker call there. :lol: I don't know how much business it is likely to drum up though. :eusa-think:
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Post by Mariar3 »

I don't write out of revenge however, my best friend does. She used to do it in high school especially and whenever she was mad at me she would write it in a story and then give it to me to read. I think she didn't think that I would recognise myself in the character but I always did.
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Post by zeldas_lullaby »

Mariar3 wrote:I don't write out of revenge however, my best friend does. She used to do it in high school especially and whenever she was mad at me she would write it in a story and then give it to me to read. I think she didn't think that I would recognise myself in the character but I always did.
HA HA! That's funny. My mom is always reading my books and saying, like, "Oh no! Am I the evil grandmother of this book?" Or, "Am I the type-A parent who's too controlling?" I always assure her she's not... but is she?
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Post by moderntimes »

Not revenge, the opposite, but I've got a buddy from Tennessee who's a "gun nut" like me, and I put him into my newest novel as a businessman from Atlanta who lends a gun-hand during an ambush. He was pretty happy how I described him, resembling former UN ambassador John Bolton. Thing is, he's the spitting image of the man.
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Post by zeldas_lullaby »

Likewise with some of my characters--they're good people I know.
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