Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but apparently not for Annie Proulx. In article in the UK's Independent, despite the success of Brokeback Mountain, it has according to Proulx become "the source of constant irritation in my private life".
How so? It appears that Proulx is being sent "pornish" (her words) mail by fans offering their interpretations of the story, yes that's right Fan Fiction. While the fans see the story of Jack and Ennis a spring board of inspiration, Proulx sees the fan fiction differently.
"There are countless people out there who think the story is open range to explore their fantasies and to correct what they see as an unbearably disappointing story. They constantly send ghastly manuscripts and pornish rewrites of the story to me, expecting me to reply with praise and applause for 'fixing' the story. They certainly don't get the message that if you can't fix it, you've got to stand it."
In a way you can understand, say you've won a Pulitzer prize, a National Book Award, and a PEN/Faulkner award and have 7 books under your belt and you're getting daily rewrites of probably now the famous story you've written. The people who sent it mean no harm they are just excited and inspired by your work, but they expect you to be as excited as they are or maybe say oh this so much better than mine, I wish I could have thought of it. Annie Proulx is not that. She is a nonsense kind of person , that's not saying she's simplistic, oh the contrary, Proulx is as complex or even more so than the characters she creates.
She doesn't really like to do interviews, she's not is an entertainer, she's not a star. If she wanted to be and if the publisher got what they wanted she would be. But that's not Annie. She's writer who just wants to write. A storyteller who needs to tell the story, just like many of the fans of her work are. She's happier on her ranch writing than talking about what she wrote. She is more about the stories she writes speaking for themselves.
You'd think after all this she would move away from the Wyoming setting to give a break from the comparisons and comments but she is going back for one more time for her new collection of nine stories, Fine Just the Way It Is, based on the lives of the women on the ranches. "In a real sense, women on ranches are secondary citizens. But many, if not most, would be furious if you said that out straight, They see themselves as mythic Western women." She did say this is the last time she would visit Wyoming as a setting for her stories, saying she didn't want to be known too closely associated with only one region.
But does Annie's comments mean that writers shouldn't write fan fiction anymore? Any great work inspires many and that's what this does. There will always be fan fiction writers, writing and exploring the answers and solutions that they would like to see. Writing is a exercise of the mind and soul and that is what is for many Brokeback writers.
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A little BBM and Annie moment from an interview on Bookslut.com
Annie gave Heath public praise for his performance as Ennis. It always made you wonder if she singled him out.
"You said earlier that you were pleased with Heath Ledger's performance. Did you feel that way about the whole cast?
The whole cast was magnificent. There wasn't anything not to be thrilled with, in anyone's performance. They were all extraordinary. And by singling out Heath Ledger, I didn't mean to slight Jake Gyllenhaal in the least, because he's an extraordinarily versatile, quicksilver, accomplished actor. Really, quite marvelous. And I think he went from Brokeback to Jarhead, and that is the kind of jump that is, like, "Oh, really?" And he did both with ease. Very expert ease.
All of the actors were just superb."
