The Importance of Being Earnest ( and Gaining Interest)
As I have mentioned previously, I am a high school teacher and I have been for nigh on thirty year at this point.
I teach seniors in an affluent area of Northern Virginia just a stone’s throw outside of the Nation’s Capital .
My students just finished reading a pretty famous novel by a prominent, contemporary female author. The book has been subsequently made into a movie which, in all honesty, twists her work into an unrecognizable mess. In fact the entire ending of the book, which provides a whopping plot twist, was disregarded and transformed into a saccharine Hollywood tear jerker of the cheapest variety by the film’s director.
Now, we all know how difficult it is to become a famous author. To actually have a publishing company come to you and say “Hey we need this book” is rare enough, and then to score a movie deal on top of that- well, that is to live the dream. So, I was curious- most of my students are set for life financially. I wanted to know if they, who aren’t strapped for cash, would be comfortable accepting a boatload of cash from Hollywood only to watch the film industry mangle their hard work and put a subpar, crappy version of it into movie theaters.
I basically asked them if they would sell out, and to a person, the earnest answer was “YES!”.
I would too! At the end of the day, I have spent three decades wallowing in financial insecurity while teaching children. I would jump at any chance to join the ranks of the financial elite. It is nice to know that children of privilege and curmudgeonly old teachers alike are ready to sell out- it is a uniting factor.
So, if by chance Spielberg or Scorsese or Kubrick reads anything I have ever written, please make me an offer I can’t refuse!