Saturday 13 June 2009

A Question for you

It all started when a group of my friends were trying to think of the most difficult question that anyone would ever have to answer. There could have possibly been copious amounts of red wine consumed doing this task .....but .......we did come up with lots of questions. Surprisingly, we ended up split down the middle on most every one.

So, I wanted to widen the sample size. Here is just one question......maybe I will share our funny and more macabre ones next weekend. Come on lurkers, please say hello & join in.....

Q. Two unauthorised movies are made about your life at the same time. You know why.
The first is an independently released documentary, primarily comprised of interviews with people who know you and bootleg footage from your actual life. Critics are describing the documentary as “brutally honest and realistic.” Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox has produced a big-budget biopic about your life, casting major Hollywood stars as you and all your acquaintances. Though the movie is based on actual events, screenwriters have taken some liberties with the facts. Critics are split on the artistic merits of this fictionalised account, but audiences love it.

Which film would you be most interested in seeing? An independently released documentary or a big budget biopic of your life.

67 comments:

  1. Independent. Though they wouldn't do my life - a little on the boring side. But anyone else's - definitely independent - reality is the best way to go. Great questions. Looking forward to reading more!

    ReplyDelete
  2. My immediate reaction is : neither. I wouldnt really be interested in seeing movies made about me. I know what I am, and so do those to whom I matter, and who matter to me. (the thought of folks applauding, booing, disolving in tears, and laughing, interspersed with the crackle of popcorn and slurps of cola is not inspiring at all)....

    However, should they make one on you and your daughter, the police arrest at the airport,the chairlift, Guisseppe et al, I will be first in line for the tickets....

    ReplyDelete
  3. The independent one...though I'd probably regret it.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KQCqBDCbIA

    Peace - Rene

    ReplyDelete
  4. My initial thought is that I need to find some cool friends like you hang out with.

    I definitely vote for independent. The film footage of me playing computer solitaire and eating dill pickle chips would be riviting.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm going to disagree with previous answers - I'd go to see the Hollywood one first. After all, if the independent one is realistic, I know that stuff already... more fun to see what Hollywood has completely invented! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have to say I'd go big-budget! Ha.

    Although I like to think that I'm big enough to take the truth, I'm really NOT! Hearing "friends" and "family" selling me out, would be way too much to handle.
    I'd be happer with a Hollyood style version of the truth ;o)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Tough one! I think I would go with Independent, so I could see what people were really saying.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Easy for me to answer - the independently released documentary.

    So when will you be finished with it?

    I thought the question was going to be tough. Something about your sex life or where are the bodies buried (not that those two topics are related).

    ReplyDelete
  9. The independent, for sure. But, like Aleta, my life is so boring I cannot imagine anyone making a movie of my life ever :) And I'm just fine with that!

    ReplyDelete
  10. which ever one causes the most controversy and biggest rumors. i have always enjoyed being the subject of rumors...cracks me up to no end.

    ReplyDelete
  11. If George Clooney is cast as me in the big budget flick, you'll see me in the front row telling my wife to pay very close attention to how super cool I really am.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I would choose the documentary because I love the way they are set up to let viewers draw their own conclusions based on the interviews and facts set out.

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a great question! Good parties you have. I'd go with independent, but my daughter would go big budget. My take on it is that the more introverted people would go with independent and the more extroverted would go big budget for a bit of excitement.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oh, I think the independent one for me too. With Ken Loach directing.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Independent one in limited release. :P Having said that, my life is so unremarkable and boring I doubt anything will be made about it!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Isn't it funny how everyone says "independent" :) I guess that's because when it's ourselves, we demand that things be seen and interpreted properly. Yet I am sure everyone watches Hollywood flicks with scant regard for how much of the truth is represented. I just thought that was interesting...

    Me? I wouldn't care which one; my realization is that even standing in front of someone and speaking, you're still misunderstood, as people have their own mechanisms for judgement and conclusion that are often far and away from the truth....

    Good post, Lilly :)
    xxx

    ReplyDelete
  17. Isn't it funny how everyone says "independent" :) I guess that's because when it's ourselves, we demand that things be seen and interpreted properly. Yet I am sure everyone watches Hollywood flicks with scant regard for how much of the truth is represented. I just thought that was interesting...

    Me? I wouldn't care which one; my realization is that even standing in front of someone and speaking, you're still misunderstood, as people have their own mechanisms for judgement and conclusion that are often far and away from the truth....

    Good post, Lilly :)
    xxx

    ReplyDelete
  18. We did think of questions that may tell us a bit more about the person answering the question.

    Oh my look at eveyone wanting an independent release. I think that means you are quietly confident people and happy with the facts and could do without the fanciful trimmings. Perhaps it may mean that the more outgoing people might want a bigger release or even the more insecure people. Interesting.

    I think my life is so bizarre in parts that the independent release would be seen as a work of fiction. So I dont know how to answer this question. If I chose the blockbuster at least I could say the reality was actually fanciful stuff made up by the writers, lol! I am going for Number 2 but I would like a female Director - Jane Campion. Otherwise could you imagien what someone like Baz Lurhmann could do with your life.

    ReplyDelete
  19. @ Aleta - see I see you ahve a wonderful love story to share and you mother of course has another wonderful inspirational tale too.

    @ Ugich - you shy young thing you. And hate to tell you this but the things I say on here are only ever part of the my life. Yes, I know that is scary...

    @ Not the Rockefellers - I would have imagined you would say that Rene - I think choosing Number 1 in many respects is a braver decision than Number 2.

    @ Mahoney Musings - dill pickle chips, why I never. I think we could do a whole screenplay on them alone!

    @ Rachel - ye sI am with you unless of course it is right over the top and then everyone assumes it is reality. I think given your life story to anyone else to interpret is always dangerous as it will be interpreted differently.

    @ Kristina - wow and I thought you would definitely be choosing number 2 for some reason. Youa re so creative and outgoing!

    @ Lisleman - the sex questions and where the bodies are buried will come next weekend. I might do one question every weekend just bcause they are short and easy to answer. But all of them I think tell us a little more about us...they are tricky.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I would go for Independent too, although boring that it might be. I could not stand the thought of a Hollywood makeover of my life. However, yours is a whole different story.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Well, independent will probably get it right. But the big budget pic will get me more notoriety and moula. So, since I want more moula in my life, I'm going with the big budget flick. Michelle Pfeiffer could play me. ;) Wonder who they'd get to play my three husbands and oh, a few boyfriends?

    ReplyDelete
  22. I am with Fragrant Liar on this one. Hollywood could do a makeover on my life and I would go for Number 2. I would like Kate Winslet to play me well she has the accent at least. As for you Lilly, they would have to interview me for your documentary I am not sure you would want to go with that option lol!!! Unless of course plenty of money changed hands. And if they did number two I would hope to appear in there as well. good question though. Definitely the outgoing people choose number 2, no question.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Oh, that's easy to answer - the one you're going to make the most (any?) money from :)

    ReplyDelete
  24. @ Kimberley - oh you are so sweet and so young yet, so I can see why you would go with number 2.

    @ Gran - oh I dont know you have an interesting and inspiring story to tell too!

    @ Giant....yes well actually now you mention it I have heard the one about you and Bill Clinton at a certain function under the table and here was I just thinking it was a nasty rumor!!

    @ Fishawk - if George Clooney is cast as you and there is any resemblance between the two of you I will sit between you and your wife in the front row, lol!!!

    @ SugarCain - oh that is a great comment and true too.

    @ Christine - interesting see, two different views in your household. Yes I think it does to some degree have something to do with confidence levels and your willingness to put your life out there in the public....uh hum something all bloggers seem to do to some extent anyway...

    @ Mike - Ken Loach I have to go and Google him now...

    @ Psych Babbler - well thats just bcause you are young yet - plenty of time up your sleeve to creat some drama in your life...then again boring is good in my book.

    @ Braja - you get what we were trying to do with the questions - this is the tamest one of them too. There are some wild ones coming in future weeks. Yes whihc ever way they go people will draw their own conclusions, its all perception!

    @ Banoffi - oh no mine just needs a makeover is all, lol!

    @ Fragrant Liar - come to think of it you and Michelle do look alike too..good answer. As for your three husbands well knwong you that has to be Brad, Johnny D and Gerard, surely.

    @ Sarah - well just so you know if in the unlikely chnace that this ever happened to me you wont be on the list of 'people to contact', lol!!!!!

    CJW666 - well you have to go with the second one then because independent films rarely make much do they unless they are very good and hit the market at the right time (and its questionable how factual some of the documentaries are anyway). You better get married a few more times, rob a Spanish bank,smuggle all nuclear weapons out of Korea and be seen having lunch with Posh and Becks a few times. Then you will be very rich my friend!!! I think your books could be great movies though!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I'd always go with the Independent Film-- unless of course YOU wrote the big budget studio movie, then I'd go see yours!

    Seriously, I see them all as a general rule and usually always prefer the Independent films.

    ReplyDelete
  26. I gotta be honest about this. Do I want a brutally honest movie about me? Hmmmm...

    ReplyDelete
  27. Oh God no .....nothing too realistic and brutal ...lests play up the sensational bits and play down the humdrum.

    I think ...Drew Barrymore could be me ...if she does a decent Aussie accent!

    Bruce Willis could play my next lover, he would have to audition.
    *smile*

    ReplyDelete
  28. @ Sarah Lulu - Drew Barrymore is the perfect choice for you. Of course Bruce would have to audition, it has to be just right.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Oh I go with the high budget fluff piece with Meg Ryan as moi and George Clooney as an early love interest that I discard for a much younger man...Brad Pitt. (But I end up going back to George at the end!) Yep that's the picture I want.
    Glad you're back!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Definitely the big budget biopic of my life.....and hopefully I am alive to see it.
    Starring Rebecca Gibney and Erik Thompson. (Major Australian stars)
    And they can distort as many facts as they like.
    :-P
    Peggy

    ReplyDelete
  31. @Lilly: Ha ha. Well, I've said many times that being well known can make almost anyone money and (as the whole celebrity thing proves), famous or infamous doesn't matter a darn. Thanks for the compliment (er, I think) :)

    ReplyDelete
  32. I'd see both. The Independent one, because I'd like to hear what others think about my life, and then I'd see the Hollywood version, just to see what they've made of my life, who they've picked to portray me and mine, and for the special effects. I love the special FX.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Ah, number 2. I live with the realities of the consequences of my sane and not sane decisions every minute of my life,... Nah, let me not relive it again with a hardcore documentary.

    And a Hollywood version may just give it the necessary trimmings that would actually make it not so lame...

    The leading lady? No-one else but Charlize Theron, she is South African, just around the corner from me. A fellow African! My love interest? Blair Underwood, of course!

    ReplyDelete
  34. And what would your own answer be? :)

    I wouldn't want a movie to be made of my life- but if I did have to choose, I'd choose the second. A documentary would be so boring!

    BTW- came here by way of 'gappa'.

    ReplyDelete
  35. I would want to see the big budget one just to see what I could have done but missed out on!!!

    ReplyDelete
  36. Definitely big budget. They could add some spice to my life that I seem unable to do myself!! And I guess so long as they are mostly good changes.... lol

    ReplyDelete
  37. The indy might be terribly painful & I might want to pass. I think in life we hurt people. I don't think all of us(though some do) mean to, but it does not stop it from happening. I am a person who feels guilty about certain things, caregiving for my parents, being one issue. I always felt I could do better, even when I did my very best, & sacrificed a lot. I can remember once trying to talk my Dad(who was already demented) out of something because I knew it would have terrible results for him. Afterward he told someone: Mary was belittling me.
    I cried for 2 days. I don't want to see that on film. Give me fiction if I have to choose, but I doubt I'd want to see either film. ~Mary

    ReplyDelete
  38. Lilly,
    Great question. Definitely the big budget biopic :)
    And it would win an Oscar for best picture too.
    Would love to see who would play me - and the men I've loved ! And my family...

    ReplyDelete
  39. I have to say the big budget one. But after reading the comment thread, I hope that does not make me seem insecure.

    I watch a lot of documentaries and have made some with my students. At this juncture in my life I think it would be more fun to see my life fictionalized a tad and see who would play myself and the major players in my life.

    ReplyDelete
  40. biopic? Sorry, I'm not bi, I'm gay. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  41. Wouldn't want to see either because they wouldn't be a true representation. I think that everyone we meet interprets our actions and our motives subjectively from their personal point of view and beliefs so we are many different things to many different people .
    Perhaps I could make my own -although I could be prejudiced

    ReplyDelete
  42. I would prefer to see an honest documentary if I had to choose one. My life has been pretty bizarre in a lot of ways and I can't imagine them blowing it up. The truth is wild enough sometimes that it might be unbelievable to some people. Have a good week. Great question!

    ReplyDelete
  43. I'd probably go with the documentary, partly because I can't stand the Hollywood beautiful people juggernaut and partly because my family/friends are hilarious and would make for a good doco!

    ReplyDelete
  44. I really like everyones responses and it seems some people have had some great life stories and they would be well worth telling. I hope they write them on their blogs. I think I would go for number one. Limited release, small and would go unnoticed hopefully if it was factual.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Unauthorized...all the way, no doubt about that whatsoever...!

    (I mean, really, WHO in Hollywood could ever play me the way I deserve?)
    LOL LOL LOL

    ReplyDelete
  46. An amazing film, called "Water" by an Indo-Canadian by the name of Deepa Mehta. She is an amazing writter and film maker.

    ReplyDelete
  47. No doubt...the brutally honest and realistic. I'd love to see what people really think (and say) about me. Hell I can make the fluff movie all by myself, starring Julia Roberts! LOL

    ReplyDelete
  48. A little less serious but on the film/video theme.

    Do they really have street parties like this in OZ??

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBIl0aNSrIA

    ReplyDelete
  49. @ Lisleman - well we do have street parties (not with ginat balloons though) and beer is certainly a favourite with many (NOT me though). Never seen that ad mind you! I like your videos you find by the way! I shall be over to visit your blog soon.

    ReplyDelete
  50. I would love to see both, the first would have me cringing and laughing out loud simultaneously while the big budget Hollywood-ised version would have me living the most spectacular life, more than I could ever have dreamed for myself. I was once told I look like Meryl Streep, so I would be more than happy for Meryl to play 'me' and as for the leading man, hmm, now who would I choose?

    ReplyDelete
  51. A movie about myself? Even I would find it boring!! No way.

    ReplyDelete
  52. can i see both? hehehe id love to know what people i know would say about me....

    on the other hand, im curious to see what twists and turns is possible to make my not-so-exciting life be worth watching! id love who'll play me,hehehe!

    very tough question, Lily...
    i hope you had a great weekend=)

    ReplyDelete
  53. There you go looks like there is about half the commenters who want the independent and the other half the big picture! More questions next weekend!!!

    ReplyDelete
  54. Independent. It's not that exciting for big screen, lol. But I think my flick would be more on the lines of I Love Lucy. ;o)

    ReplyDelete
  55. Oh and I loved I love Lucy too Sheila!!

    ReplyDelete
  56. I wouldn't want to see any movie of my life. They would both feature moments of which I'm not proud and leave me subject to the jeering criticism of others. I do that part well enough on my own, so I don't need the help.

    ReplyDelete
  57. compelling question! Woow. I think I'd pick my life but it depends on who they had play me. He better have good hair! Hahahaha.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Sick question. I think i would have the biopic. The documentary has real footage of YOU. That is too scary lol. At least with other actors you can deny its credibility :P

    ReplyDelete
  59. It's scary the thought of ANY movie on my life. LOLOL!! Hey, why am I writing a book??? Duh!!

    Okay, I'd have to say independent Docu, for sure. I would love to see the interviews of my friend and see what they said.

    But then a big fancy film if Brad Pitt (or several other hunks I could think of) was kissing the actress who was playing ME, well...the fantasy possibilities are endless. LOLOLOL!!!!! :)

    I want to see the other questions!!! Hugs, Robin

    ReplyDelete
  60. @ Robin - yours would definitely make a great movie either way.

    ReplyDelete
  61. Oh I definitely would go with the independent. Simply because I know who would be making money out of me.

    ReplyDelete
  62. Probably Hollywood, they always make such great productions and they also elaborate (make up) more than what has happened to you, just to make things more interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  63. @ Um, uh Margaret, I have read your life story on your blog and that is better than Hollywood could come with besides you got the happy ending.

    ReplyDelete
  64. I would totally want to see the Independent film first. I would want to know what others see when they think of me. However, I may not like it at all and the HOllywood film may make everything so much more, well....interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  65. LOL, LOL...Oh I like the BIG BUDGET 20th Century Fox movie...Who cares if it is not all true....Fun question, Lilly!

    ReplyDelete
  66. Well, BOTH, of course! What topic is ever more endlessly fascinating than ourselves?

    ReplyDelete
  67. Q. The independant film would be interesting as I would like to see what the interviewees said and what aspects of my life they are showing. However, the Hollywood version would also be fascinating - seeing who they picked to play everyone and how they made my life such a hit with the audiences lol. Think I would go with the former though...

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comments.