My name's not 'Richard,' it's DICK!!!

[thehefner]

Found via Roger Ebert's blog, The Rules of Attraction actors Kip Pardue and James Van Der Beek* beautifully parody Brett Easton Ellis:

Perhaps I only find it as funny as I do because I love The Rules of Attraction, a film which many people hate. But even those who do hate it all seem to agree that the one worthwhile part of the film was this scene, which the above video parodies and works well as a stand-alone piece. I think it's a stellar look at the blackly hilarious high-energy vapidness of Ellis' world.

That said, the first YouTube comment for the video reads "I'm so fucking doing ALL OF THIS when I get the money." I'm can't help but think they're missing the point a li'l bit.




*For all the crap he gets, I thought he was a fantastic force of nature in Rules, definitely worthy of being Patrick Bateman's brother.

Comments

[harper-knight.livejournal.com]

It was sort of meh (in a vaguely Chuck Palahniuk way) until 'That's when I come up with a plan', at which point I laughed so hard I nearly fell out of my chair.

It is better than the bit that inspired it, I think. Although they both sort of remind me of the hipster tards at my art school, which isn't a good thing.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

The bit about going to the murdered producer's funeral to make contacts is so vicious, but I can't decide if it's more cutting against Ellis or LA in general.

Yeah, I think we all know a couple people like that. The thing I liked about Rules was that it felt like an exploration on how hollow and vapid that lifestyle is. But then again, I thought the same thing about Sex and the City. It works as a brilliant satire until you realize it's not.

[surrealname.livejournal.com]

I feel like this doesn't really cut Ellis. I also feel like Ellis is one of those guys who is writing about people who are so horrible that if you make fun of him for it, you've missed the point. So I'd say that's cutting against LA.

[box-in-the-box.livejournal.com]

I also feel like Ellis is one of those guys who is writing about people who are so horrible that if you make fun of him for it, you've missed the point.

Nailed it in one.

[surrealname.livejournal.com]

Why thank you.

[box-in-the-box.livejournal.com]

The difference between Ellis and the hipsters who leave the YouTube comments that John alluded to is that Ellis himself actually recognizes that his protagonists barely qualify as people, whereas too many of Ellis' fans think that these characters are something to aspire to. It's like Alan Moore and Rorschach all over again, except that at least Rorschach had a moral code, no matter how wrong it might have been.

[surrealname.livejournal.com]

You know, I read The Rules Of Attraction last summer. I hated it until about halfway through, and then I kind of fell in love and had to read the entire thing in a day or else I would go crazy. I called out of work so I could spend all day reading the book.

I don't even remember what made me fall so deeply in love with the book, but I was stuck. It was like when I read Lolita. I hated all of these people. I hated all of them and I wanted all of them to die, painful, painful deaths, but I had to know what pathetic, shitty thing they would do next. I just had to.

After I finished it, I gave it to Cara. That and the Black Denim Jacket and the plaid cap I lost at her place are the only things of mine she has that I actually want back. The rest of my crap she can keep. I don't want it.

[box-in-the-box.livejournal.com]

I hated all of these people. I hated all of them and I wanted all of them to die, painful, painful deaths, but I had to know what pathetic, shitty thing they would do next. I just had to.

This speaks a great deal to my feelings while reading Less Than Zero. I was still in high school when I read it, and every new page contained some twist that made me think, "Holy shit, that did not just fucking happen," over and over and over again, until by the end, I was left feeling shell-shocked and uncomfortably numb, like the ringing in your ears after an extended series of loud noises.

By the time I got to Trent's party, with the argument over the age of the one girl (I'm trying not to spoil the shocker in that scene, but if you've read it, you'll know which one I mean), I was literally shaking so hard my teeth were chattering.

This might interest you.

[box-in-the-box.livejournal.com]

It feels more like a recreation of Ellis than anything else, because there's a limit to how much you can criticize a guy for writing about insufferably vacuous people when not only is it the entire point of his writing that you're supposed to find them insufferably vacuous, but there are also plenty of moments when he basically says, "And I'm just as horrible as any of them, so don't think that I'm any better just because I'm exposing their wrongness."