I know I just published a newsletter yesterday, but I felt compelled to write a quickie after watching B.J. Novak’s VENGEANCE last night. But, before we get into all that, I also wanted to let you know that another chapter of WHERE WOLF is ready to be read at FANGORIA.com.
Now that my display of shameless self-promotion is out of the way, let’s talk VENGEANCE.
Novak, who most will remember from his time writing and starring in the American THE OFFICE remake, has a new film set to hit theaters on Friday, July 29. The movie, which Novak wrote, directed, and stars in, is about Ben, a writer who dreams of finding fame in the booming podcast industry. He just needs a story. Ben finds his story after being contacted by the family of a girl he used to hook up with. The girl - named Abilene, because of course she is - was found dead of a drug overdose but the family suspects foul play. The family is also under the impression that Ben and Abilene were a whole lot more serious than they really were. Ben could correct the family’s misconception but you’ll remember that he really needs a story to launch his dreams of podcast fame so, instead of doing the right thing, Ben hops on a plane and flies to West Texas to investigate the dead girl and the various conspiracy theories her family clings to surrounding her sudden death.
With VENGEANCE, B.J. Novak joins the list of goddang carpetbaggers who swoop into Texas and create a goddang banger about the state and the people who live there. What the heck, dudes? Talk about unfair. Why is it that some of the best stories about Texas are written by folks who aren’t from Texas? David Byrne’s TRUE STORIES, the Coen Brothers’ BLOOD SIMPLE; Wim Wenders’ PARIS, TEXAS; Sean Baker’s RED ROCKET, Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s PREACHER and Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips’ THAT TEXAS BLOOD are just a few movies and books that are written by non-native Texans but implicitly understand what it means to live in the Lone Star State.
Texas is a weird-ass state. It’s big, it’s lonely, it’s constantly trying to kill you, and it’s beautiful as all get out when the sun hits the dirt just right. There are the obvious signifiers of a true Texan - the wardrobe (a few cowboy hats, a lot of tight jeans), the accent (everything sounds like somebody is speaking through a cheek full of tobacco), the sweat marks. These are all badges of being a Texan, but there’s something deeper that runs through the souls of Texans. The people are diverse but there’s almost always the same spices in the stew - a streak of independence, a hot-headedness, a pursuit of something bigger than themselves.
VENGEANCE gets all of that. It also understands that Texas is itself more myth than reality. The truth is, the Texas that outsiders have in their head really doesn’t exist, but it also kind of does exist. It exists in the same way that ghosts exist. If you believe in something hard enough, fiction has a way of seeping through the cracks of reality and so many folks - both inside and outside of Texas - love to believe in the myth of the Lone Star State. We want to believe in a Texas where cowboys ride through town on horses and Pecos Bill lasso him up a tornado once a month. I’ve seen folks slather on the Texas drawl as soon as they know they’re talking from somebody from out of town just like I’ve seen folks from out of town who are all too eager to toss a y’all into casual conversation as soon as they step off the plane onto Texas soil. Texas is a dog and pony show, a clown act, but it’s also ugly and mean and will punch you in the face if you act too different than the local crowd. Texas is beautiful and horrible and big and insular and giving and taking. It’s a goddang sinkhole of dreams and a factory of opportunities.
I think the reason why folks like Novak and the other carpetbaggers who have written the essential Texas stories are so successful in writing about the state is that they embrace the myth of Texas while - for so many native Texans - we spend our lives marinating in it to the point where it becomes an indistinguishable part of our DNA. The things that make Texas special are just a part of the background white noise - y’alls flitting through the air like mosquitos on a hot summer day. Texans are the myth and folks like B.J. Novak are the mythmakers.
Anyway, go see VENGEANCE when it comes out. It’s really, really good.