When Amy Tan’s first book, “The Joy Luck Club,” hit the bestseller lists, most people around her were overjoyed. But not Tan. She was terrified. “It was actually frightening, because this is not anything I'd ever dreamt of,” she says.
“I was a very practical person, and I think because of the way that I was raised, I could never be an artist or an author, because who would make money doing that? I knew I had to do something practical.
"So I thought it was impossible I even had a short story published. And when this book came out and suddenly it started gaining momentum — thanks to independent book sellers, by the way — I thought somebody else was in control of my life,” she recalls.
She was scared. “This was out of control. And I actually became depressed, because I’d had a life in childhood that was so out of control. My mother was out of control. All these traumas that had happened — the death of my father and brother — this feeling of out-of-controlness, even though you might think it's good, was terrifying.“
But Tan didn’t submit. “I did settle into it,” she admits. “But one thing that I did, I wrote down things that were important and I said, ‘Do not lose yourself. You can get sucked into this kind of success, and you might believe you're better than you are ... or worse than you are, because that's what you'll hear from people. And you just have to stay solid. And I know the reasons why you write and what's important.’ And that has served me really, really well.”
Another thing that serves her well is PBS’ “American Masters” documentary on her life titled “Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir” premiering May 3.
Tan opens up to late documentary filmmaker Jamie Redford because, she says, she trusted him.
“One of the things that was very key in working with Jamie, and his asking me the questions, I perceived very early on that this was a film about us. It wasn't just a film about me. It was about him. It was about the people who would watch this film. It was about trauma, pain, the past, childhood, things that were not understood, things that nobody ever apologized for, that you felt slighted. And it was about resilience and hope, that you can change the past, you can change also what is happening now,” she says.
Even as a child there were hints of Tan’s talent. “I was from the very early ages a storyteller. And I have evidence of that in an interview done with my parents when I was 6 years old, that I had started telling stories and illustrating them, or drawing and then telling a story,” she says.
“When I first started, I had no idea I'd get published. I was doing it because I enjoyed it, the craft of it. And, also, because I discovered in those early stories that I would come across a moment when I had an ‘ah-ha’ moment, an epiphany. That was one of the greatest feelings I could possibly have. And so, I knew I was going to continue to do that. But it seemed rather unrealistic for me to imagine I'd ever get published,” she says.
“That meant that I was writing in a vacuum of me and my room and this machine in front of me. And that feeling of being alone, alone in a room, was something I had loved since I was a child, and I was able to write quickly without a sense of expectation.”
But soon all that changed. “Once I got published and it was a surprise hit — surprise to everybody, really surprising to me — I found I lost the quiet room. I had many people in there watching over me. ‘Can she do it again?’ ‘Will she write the same thing?’ And that made it very difficult.”
Writing, she says, becomes more onerous with time. “I have found over the years that it is even more difficult with every book. At one point I thought it was just me, but I asked a number of great writers if they felt that was true. And they all feel it's true. You do not want to repeat yourself. You want to get better. You also feel these expectations now from publishers and critics. So that awareness, I think, has made it more difficult.”
It was when she was engaged in technical writing that she began to seek a more rewarding outlet. “The craft of writing (and) reading stories appealed to me, and so I did begin writing short stories just for myself for personal enjoyment, and found that a surprising thing happened. And that was that if I made revelations, I discovered things about myself that were quite meaningful. Such elation when I found out! And at that moment, I was a writer.”
COUNSELING PAYS TV DIVIDENDS
Psychiatry and counseling is big stuff these days, and neither of the major pay-cable networks is overlooking the chance to capitalize on that. Showtime’s “Couples Therapy” is back for a second season with Dr. Orna Guralnik refereeing while married couples fight it out in full view of the camera.
Guralnik says that in all her years of counseling she does perceive a pattern in these disputes.
“I think the main category that you could put most couples' dilemmas under is the complexity or the challenge that couples or marriages or long-term relationships put in front of us: which is how do you contend with otherness, with the fact that you are dependent and connected and love another person who is also very different from you?
“So, I'd say that that's the overall heading under which many other categories of issues come. ... It's very common for people to fall into what, in the couples’ world, we call the ‘blame game,’ which is when people organize bad experiences they are having into blaming someone outside of them and it’s very convenient to blame — the person who is right there, your partner.”
On the other side of the cable is HBO’s “In Treatment,” which returns after an almost 10-year absence. This fictional depiction of counseling is due back May 23.
The therapist who orchestrates the sessions will no longer be the masterful Gabriel Byrne, but Uzo Aduba (“Orange is the New Black”), who plays the therapist and is officiating in Los Angeles instead of New York.
While she’s thrilled with the role, Aduba thinks it’s demanding work. “This is easily one of the hardest jobs I’ve ever had in my life,” she says.
“I can’t make that statement without absolutely making the statement — and this is true for the entire cast — that everyone in this show is working so hard, so intensely, so ferociously and delivering, I might add.
“I cannot make that statement without also saying that it is also one of the most satisfying, fulfilling experiences I’ve also ever had. ... This project came into my life at a time that was needed and has brought an excitement and an energy — there's a thrill...”
HBO is counting on that thrill, committing to 24 30-minute episodes airing back-to-back.
‘SECRETS OF THE WHALES’ REVEALED THURSDAY
They have languages and even dialects, but that’s just a little of what we are learning about those mammoths of the sea, the whales. Disney+ is offering a special about those amazing animals in “Secrets of the Whales,” premiering on Thursday, Earth Day.
Underwater photographer and National Geographic Explorer Brian Skerry explains, “With ‘Secrets of the Whales,’ it's really about focusing on the culture of whales, looking at their ancestral traditions, things that haven't typically been viewed,” he says.
“We've seen a lot of whale photos and documentaries over the years, but the difference with ‘Secrets of the Whales’ is we're looking at the ocean through the lens of culture. These animals DO have languages, they do have dialects, and they are probably saying things that would be alarming. But the truth is we haven't deciphered all of that at this stage. We're just at the very beginning of trying to figure those things out. But what we can see and what science is showing us is that these animals have rich lives much like our own. They babysit, they have food preferences depending where in the world they are, they have singing competitions, they have parenting techniques and strategies and they also mourn for their dead.”
PEPPER ON THE FIRING LINE
Barry Pepper is firing again in the new film, “Trigger Point,” which is in theaters now and on demand Friday. He plays a retired U.S. operative who has been living under a cloud of ignominy when he’s called back into this world of secrecy.
Pepper, who’s starred in projects like “True Grit,” “The Green Mile” and “The Kennedys” (he played Bobby), began acting in his native Canada.
But his real break came when Steven Spielberg cast him in “Saving Private Ryan.”
“I was here in LA for a month,” he recalls. “The pilot season is about three months and I met Steven Spielberg. It was the most bizarre thing ever. I read in this cattle-call of thousands and then he saw the tape and asked to meet me. And I met him on the deck of Amistad. Isn’t that bizarre?” (Amistad was the recreated cargo schooner that Spielberg was using for his film “Amistad.”)
“I was really scared, but for whatever reason, it constricted my throat and I didn’t speak much,” says Pepper.
“And I was with another actor who was meeting him as well. He was there for a different role. It was just a meet-and-greet, between takes and setups. He called ‘cut’ and brought us onboard. I just buttoned up, and this guy did all the talking. I think that’s what sealed his fate and also mine. Because Steven — there was something about the character of Pvt. Jackson where strong silence was embodied that he associated with the character.” Pepper’s nerves helped him land the job.
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