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I tried to imagine Tommy’s mind from the inside out. I saw burning forests, blind valleys, volcanoes in the desert, city streets that plunged into the ocean, barricades everywhere, and all of it lit in the deep-cherry light of emergency.
Let me be the witness: this book is thoroughly readable and enjoyable for someone who really does not care about the terrible indie film turned cult classic, The Room.
That said, would I have found this somewhere closer to a flawless, essential read and fully engaging from cover to cover if I cared at all about The Room? Yeah, probably.
Instead, it is a fascinating, witty, and often deeply troubling. There are some serious structural issues: 1) the flip back and forth between the beginning of the friendship and the production of the film only really makes sense at the beginning, and 2) the only reason I can fathom that he randomly started weaving in his best understanding of Tommy Wiseau's personal history was that he was hopeful that Wiseau wouldn't read that far.
I met Tommy in the midst of the most aggressively, desperately lonesome months of my life. I needed a friend as much as he did. Maybe even more.
Regardless, each element of the book, regardless of its ordering, is clever, quick-paced, and insightful. These elements result in a both absurdly humorous and exceedingly painful look into two very lonely men, neither of whom really had any business being involved in filmmaking, whose ongoing toxic relationship is the basis of one of the most well-loved awful movies of all time.
The one thing Tommy’s script wasn’t about, despite its characters’ claims? Love.
I had a sobering, sad, and powerful realization: Our friendship was the most human experience Tommy had had in the last five years.
I know that's not going to be a popular interpretation of the book. For many, this book revealed Greg Sestero as a heroic character, who was roped into a time-bomb of a project because of his unfailing friendship and loyalty to Wiseau.
Which, yes, in some ways that is what the book does. But the rest of the time, it is, probably unwittingly to the author, revealing Sestero's deep similarities to Wiseau, in his isolation and desperation for recognition and willingness to follow any course, no matter how ridiculous and warned against by steadier minds, to achieve his own vision of a fulfilling life. If Wiseau is addled, Sestero is too.
The rest of us were toying with chemistry sets and he was lighting the lab on fire.
As I say, this is fascinating and both frustrating and deeply interesting to read. The interspersed behind-the-scenes look at Wiseau attempting to run a film set only heighten the punch of the tragic and toxic dynamic.
That said...
As a result, we end up in a detailed account of a really quite upsettingly abusive friendship, which, yes, is recognized as such but, dangerously, is never abandoned. This is real, but this is a problem. We are meant to come out of this book thinking about an emotional and financial abuser "yes, he has flaws, but he's ultimately a good person with big dreams." Bleed your friends and crew dry and you, too, can have a steadfast, loyal friend who will help you roll your lack of artistic talent into a cult cash cow for the rest of your life. It's damaging and it's something for which the book needs to be called out.
SpoilerAlso, as a result of Sestero's questionable positive view of Wiseau, we end up, in the middle of what is supposed to be a comedic recount, brushing over Sestero making it quite clear that Wiseau's abuse of sex scenes was traumatic not only for Juliette Danielle but for several crew members. It doesn't exactly make me think highly of the many Hollywood heavyweights who I know have read this book and still speak of Wiseau jovially. (sexual violence trigger warning)
Tommy, even the Tommy I thought I knew, was a stranger to me.
Problematic as it is, I can say with confidence that this one is a must-read for the The Room aficionado in your life. If that's not you, it's a very good book that you can take or leave. Just proceed with caution in taking.
‘Nobody is going to see this movie anyway.’
Let me be the witness: this book is thoroughly readable and enjoyable for someone who really does not care about the terrible indie film turned cult classic, The Room.
That said, would I have found this somewhere closer to a flawless, essential read and fully engaging from cover to cover if I cared at all about The Room? Yeah, probably.
Instead, it is a fascinating, witty, and often deeply troubling. There are some serious structural issues: 1) the flip back and forth between the beginning of the friendship and the production of the film only really makes sense at the beginning, and 2) the only reason I can fathom that he randomly started weaving in his best understanding of Tommy Wiseau's personal history was that he was hopeful that Wiseau wouldn't read that far.
I met Tommy in the midst of the most aggressively, desperately lonesome months of my life. I needed a friend as much as he did. Maybe even more.
Regardless, each element of the book, regardless of its ordering, is clever, quick-paced, and insightful. These elements result in a both absurdly humorous and exceedingly painful look into two very lonely men, neither of whom really had any business being involved in filmmaking, whose ongoing toxic relationship is the basis of one of the most well-loved awful movies of all time.
The one thing Tommy’s script wasn’t about, despite its characters’ claims? Love.
I had a sobering, sad, and powerful realization: Our friendship was the most human experience Tommy had had in the last five years.
I know that's not going to be a popular interpretation of the book. For many, this book revealed Greg Sestero as a heroic character, who was roped into a time-bomb of a project because of his unfailing friendship and loyalty to Wiseau.
Which, yes, in some ways that is what the book does. But the rest of the time, it is, probably unwittingly to the author, revealing Sestero's deep similarities to Wiseau, in his isolation and desperation for recognition and willingness to follow any course, no matter how ridiculous and warned against by steadier minds, to achieve his own vision of a fulfilling life. If Wiseau is addled, Sestero is too.
The rest of us were toying with chemistry sets and he was lighting the lab on fire.
As I say, this is fascinating and both frustrating and deeply interesting to read. The interspersed behind-the-scenes look at Wiseau attempting to run a film set only heighten the punch of the tragic and toxic dynamic.
That said...
As a result, we end up in a detailed account of a really quite upsettingly abusive friendship, which, yes, is recognized as such but, dangerously, is never abandoned. This is real, but this is a problem. We are meant to come out of this book thinking about an emotional and financial abuser "yes, he has flaws, but he's ultimately a good person with big dreams." Bleed your friends and crew dry and you, too, can have a steadfast, loyal friend who will help you roll your lack of artistic talent into a cult cash cow for the rest of your life. It's damaging and it's something for which the book needs to be called out.
SpoilerAlso, as a result of Sestero's questionable positive view of Wiseau, we end up, in the middle of what is supposed to be a comedic recount, brushing over Sestero making it quite clear that Wiseau's abuse of sex scenes was traumatic not only for Juliette Danielle but for several crew members. It doesn't exactly make me think highly of the many Hollywood heavyweights who I know have read this book and still speak of Wiseau jovially. (sexual violence trigger warning)
Tommy, even the Tommy I thought I knew, was a stranger to me.
Problematic as it is, I can say with confidence that this one is a must-read for the The Room aficionado in your life. If that's not you, it's a very good book that you can take or leave. Just proceed with caution in taking.
‘Nobody is going to see this movie anyway.’