No, this isn't the rag-on-Judy rap you're expecting. :-) Au contraire, Pierre. Instead it's an appreciation of what a good editor can do for aspiring writers when they do it right.
I really think Judy might enjoy Woody Allen's "Midnight In Paris," if for no other reason than to see Kathy Bates' performance in the film as Gertrude Stein. As several film critics have noted, she really captures the magic of this formidable woman, remarkably the same magic Hemingway saw in her in "A Moveable Feast." She was more than editor and critic; she was mentor. Her genius was in recognizing talent, and then generously and compassionately nurturing it, rather than squashing it. Try to imagine, watching the film, what hearing raw, uncaring criticism from Gertrude Stein would have done to poor Gil. It could have sent him running back to the safe mediocrity of writing safe mediocre scripts for Hollywood. Instead she found a way to appreciate his good qualities as a writer and gently push them in a direction that might be more acceptable to an audience outside his own head. I really gained an appreciation of what a good editor could be watching this performance, and interestingly that it's congruent with what a good spiritual teacher (as opposed to the bad ones we talk about often) could be. The magic seems to lie in "spotting talent" and encouraging it. While there is room in this process for "tough love," and telling an aspiring writer (or an aspiring spiritual seeker) that they haven't quite got everything nailed yet, there is a way of saying this that "builds them up" as opposed to "tearing them down." I wish more editors were like Gertrude Stein, as portrayed in this film. For that matter, I wish more spiritual teachers were like her.
