Out of Touch—Patterson's Entitlement Problem

 

In a 2022 London Times interview James Patterson said that older white male writers aren’t getting work. No more familiar with subtlety in conversation than he is in print, the 75-year-old centimillionaire attributes the decreasing number of older white male writers to racism. There’s simply no other answer…in Patterson’s world.

 

Never mind that old white men continue to dominate writing rooms for just about every television show on air. Older white men also write almost every production on 

Broadway and the overwhelming majority of feature films. So, yeah, old white dudes are kinda big in show-biz.

 

Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Leslie Jones and old white men 

 

Richard Pryor was an irreverent pioneer who dealt with racism and social injustice through cutting humor. But his biggest grossing film, The Toy, was written by Francis Veber (old, white, and French). Almost all of Prior’s movies were written by white men. Eddie Murphy (purportedly) wrote Harlem Nights and Norbit. Meanwhile, Beverly Hills Cop was written by Daniel Petrie (not old at the time but quite white). Coming to America? Art Buchwald wrote that one. I’m 100-percent positive that Buchwald was born old and white. Leslie Jones’ biggest film to date is 2016’s Ghostbusters was written by Paul Feig, (you already know). It also begs noting that Hotel Rwanda was written by two white dudes.

If it works, what the problem?

 

On television, 95% of what you see is written by white men, no matter the subject matter or cast. CBS/Paramount TV’s All Rise, staring Simone Missick, (a woman of color) was created by an old white dude who also created such a hostile environment in which all the writers of color quit. Of course CBS took a measured, considerate approach. Just kidding. Network execs considered canceling the modest hit rather than FIRE THE WHITE DUDE CAUSING THE PROBLEMS.

 

Meanwhile stars Simu Lie and Jean Yoon have both expressed their exasperation and embarrassment for some of the things written for Kim’s Convenience. A show about a Korean Canadian family business, Kim's Convenience was based on a play by Ins Choi but his involvement was diminished with each season—by white dudes hired to do the writing. The proposed spinoff, Strays, from Kim’s Convenience focuses on Shannon...the white girlfriend. 

That's why I like comic books, they're so inclusive and innovative

 

I read a comic book written in the 90's where Power Girl minimizes the sexual exploitation in her impractically-revealing costume. She further infers that those with problems with her costume are insecure (women) or closet-perverts (dudes). Another story depicts fanboy-favorite Starfire glossing-over sexual assault—with a "hakuna matata" attitude. Of course both bits of drek were written by dudes (the white-part is inferred). 

But, but, but, gay characters... 

Just like in other media, LGBTQ depictions in comic books, (TVs, movies, I can go on...) are flamboyant-finger-snapping-fabulous sidekicks. The characterizations are interchangeable with people of color who have a cutting wit or speak only in slang. Otherwise, the characters, (hardly actualized people) curiously cite distinctly white-cis-male views, often quite contrary to their self-interests. LGBTQ characters written in most movies/TV shows for the last 65-ish years have been written by CIS-men.

Funny how Patterson missed all that

 

Patterson's most famous character is Alex Cross, psychologist and former FBI Agent. But Cross is African American so his achievements must be born of adversity. Not any adversity, mind you, it must be trope-specific. Cross' mother was a junkie and his father, her dealer. Cross pulled stickups as a juvenile. In spite of it all, he bootstrapped to college and grad school and then onto the FBI. A bureau that is only 11% black with only 4% black agents and notoriously rigorous screening processes. Sure. Don’t even get me started on Cross trading racist sobriquets with bestie John Sampson.

Patterson alarm is so-so founded

 

Movies, books, television—children’s stories, women’s stories, black/latinx/Asian stories, even LGBTQ—stories are all largely penned by old white dudes. Maybe Patterson has seen the fringe breakouts like Atlanta (written by Donald Glover) and Insecure (created/penned by Issa Rae) or maybe saw (of?) Ryan Coogler’s success with Black Panther and Creed and decided that they are taking over. He states this in complete oblivion to current events.

 

Why Patterson's (further) misrepresentation matters

 

It is really easy to look for something/one to blame when you've put in a lot work only have circumstances break against you. But that's neither honest, nor helpful. How do I know?

I have written about the challenges I face based on shifting readership/taste. Caveat: I’m an old white dude. But that is not why I remain unpublished. It’s a question of tastes and readership and interest. And maybemaybemaybe my hard-head.

Mostly it's about numbers

 

Women make up the overwhelming majority of readers. Estimates vary between 60% and 75% of all fiction readers. Still, that’s just quibbling over where the ball landed in a blowout game.

 

The breakdown reflects popularity. Mysteries/thrillers remain hot, (55-60% female readership). Romance always sells, (85-95% female). Fantasy (45-50% female) and science fiction (22% female, seems really low) are specialty niches. But crime, hardboiled, gritty-street-level crime is primarily male-focused and a tough sell. Heist novels? Forget about it. 

Guess which genre I write...

 

The old writer-axiom is "go where the money is you’re loved." Donald Westlake wrote romance novels, erotica, and even suspense/thriller. But he was loved for his crime books so that’s the majority of his published work. 

Elmore Leonard began writing westerns and in 10 years, he sold half-a-dozen novels, two-dozen short stories, and two script/screenplays. Then tastes, readership, and interests changed. After attempts at literature and humor, Elmore segued to crime fiction which resulted in dozens of books, short stories, and film work on his stories. In short, he adapted and overcame.

The idea of someone else getting a seat a the table takes someone else's seat is dangerous 

 

Pose, Persepolis, Get Out—people of color, women, and LGBTQ folks are finally getting the chance to tell their stories across all media in popular culture. People writing stories about people—not characters—where the people don’t have to be “snappy”or “fabulous” or accessories. The idea that this represents a threat to white male writers is not only absurd, in the age of "white-replacement theory," it’s deadly.

 

Always a job for people with skills

 

Bosch, The Sopranos, The Old Man—all reflect “dad” shows written about men of a certain age, by men of a certain age, for men of a certain age. Twelve Angry Men was revived on Broadway. Sylvester Stallone and Tom Cruise continue to crank out dad movies. Much of what I cite is based on dad books.

 

So, no neither racism nor ageism represent an impediment to old white men in the writing game. 

Writing white-male stories for non-white-non-male audiences—as clearly demonstrated—is NOT an impediment to old white men in the writing game. Patterson is voicing a fear of sharks from his mansion on the mountain. The rest of us are building a bigger reading table with more stories to offer everyone.

I do not own the images above. All are used here for educational/instructional purposes as covered by the Fair Use Doctrine.

Crime Fiction Essentials

 

Every genre, literature to space opera, has its essentials. Essentials are the stories that shape, define, and/or mark the evolution of a genre or the progression of society through the lens of genre. Of course essentials are subject to each person’s taste, values, and development. Fan debates are fun, (Regency Romance folks throw elbows, yo). This is my list. As they say in the Army, it's easy to use, easy to clean. I’d LOVE to debate my picks. Just no elbows. I’m a bleeder.

  

5. The Hunter

The late-great Donald Westlake, (writing as Richard Stark) took traditional noir into an alley, mugged it. You will not find a more developed, completely understated anti-hero than his master-thief, Parker. In movies, Parker has been played by everyone from Lee Marvin to Jim Brown to Jason Statham. None do justice to the baseline sociopath who only truly comes alive in action.

A note on detail: through Parker, Westlake linked sexual dysfunction to heisters about three decades before criminal psychologists made the connection. 

4. Devil in a Blue Dress

Devil in a Blue Dress established Walter Mosley as the master of modern PI fiction as well as a master of place in fiction. His Los Angeles, Houston, and New Iberia are not simply backdrops, those places haunt Mosley’s characters like congental illness. His hero, Easy Rollins is a masterclass in what makes a gumshoe: smart, driven by an innate sense of right/wrong, and tough. He is also a black man in 1940s Los Angeles, facing racial violence and exploitation that we still flail to address today.

3. Carlito’s Way/After Hours 

Retired Judge Edwin Torres’ literary career only spans three novels. Of the three, Carlito’s Way and After Hours, are the best. You MUST read them together—as tight, terse studies of crime, bookended by one life. Carlito Brigante is relentlessly and compelling in his determination to beat the streets. Older, world-weary, (but no less compelling) ex-con Carlito fights to escape the prison of his past. Torres’ prose is as rich as the Spanish Harlem culture Carlito springs from. You’ll have to dig to find these gems but you’ll be glad you did.

2. The Talented Mr. Ripley 

Patricia Highsmith’s brilliant psychopath, Tom Ripley is a killer but only incidentally. His is yearning for a life beyond his stagnant existence. Like Hannibal Lecter, Ripley is a cultured intellectual with a taste for life’s finer things. If Ripley lacks Lecter’s education, OCD-levels of focus, and self-possession he makes up for it in grueling envy, paranoia, and ruthless determination. In short he’s far-more one of us than Dr. Lecter. Highsmith uses suspense, dread, and yearning to hammer Ripley in a psychological crucible. She hammers the reader too. I can’t tell you when I went from disdain, to grudging respect, to outright rooting for Ripley. That’s how light her touch is. Side note, with Ripley’s world-wide acclaim, a whole generation of LGBTQ folks got an anti-hero who reflected the persecution and dread they live with on a daily basis.

1. The Friends of Eddie Coyle 

George Higgins wrote over two dozen books from crime to baseball to politics. The Friends of Eddie Coyle was his first novel and remains his best. Like the United States in 1970, (the year of publication) Eddie Coyle is at a crossroads. In his own words, he’s “listened to the stories, eaten the hotdogs, and drank the bad coffee,” as a sideman and small-time hood. But Eddie is facing the downhill with little to show for his life as a “stand-up guy.” After a conviction for running stolen freight, Eddie is trying to dodge prison by giving up small-timers like himself to a tooth-chipping ATF agent. All the while he’s shielding a crew of heavy-hitters, (his customers in a gun-running hustle). There’s a reason why writers from Robert B. Parker to Elmore Leonard name check The Friends of Eddie Coyle in their books, Eddie is the hood we’re most likely to meet on the street, if not in our own family.

I own none of the photos above. All are used for educational/illustrative purposes as covered by the Fair Use Doctrine.

STAR WARS SCORES: Hollywood Crime Myths

In 2010 Doug MacRay and a team of five took $3.5 million in cash during a Fenway Park robbery—on game day. Neil McCauley and a crew of three took down a Los Angeles bank and $12.2 million in cash in 1995. Hans Gruber and a team of 12, (nearly a platoon) lifted $620 million in bearer bonds from the Nakatomi Corp in 1988. 

All of this pales against the ultimate raid. In a 1977 raid, Luke Skywalker and three squadrons of stub fighters flew through a hail of enemy spacecraft and surface cannons to destroy the Death Star. They netted $3.5 billion, (adjusted for inflation).

Talk about robbing a bank

What do these four things have in common? They are all works of particularly well-written fiction. Which of the four is different from the others? Well, lets just say it is FAR more likely for a farm boy with no formal combat-flight training to destroy the ultimate power in the galaxy than for the accumulation of cash in any one place depicted in the other three. 

For context, we’ll examine history

In 1863 a Malden Massachusetts night-auditor was shot and the heister took $5000, ($155,000, 2021 dollars) in the first recorded bank robbery in North America. Fast-forward 140-odd years and a 2006 report by U.S. News article pegs the typical take from a bank robbery at around $4000. The available cash on hand has continued to trend down. 

That trend is backed by events. Jimmy Burke and Lucchese crime family soldiers took $5.8mm ($23mm today) in the 1978 Lufthansa Heist. Allan Pace and a team of five took $18mm, ($31mm today) in the 1997 Dunbar Armored Robbery. Both were the largest robberies of their time. Both were outliers, resulting in global changes to industry security. 

Armed robberies reached their zenith in the 1970s and 80s after thousands of men, (trained in high-risk-small-team tactics) transitioned from the war in Vietnam to the high-unemployment and cyclical recessions of civilian life. Cash-on-hand policies became an important part of security and loss prevention. By the time William Guess, (a.k.a. the Polo Shirt Bandit) robbed his first bank in 1985, the take was only $1000. Carl Gugasian, the most prolific bank robber in U.S. history, only netted $2mm in his 30-year career.

Back at the fiction section, there are folks who get it right. The late-greats Donald Westlake and George Higgins populated their worlds with bad men who pulled scores for brown-paper bags (opposed to duffle bags) of cash. Elmore Leonard also ducked the retire-to-the-islands-score trope. Most of his baddies fought tooth-and-nail for what would be an annual middle-class salary in the straight world. In Michael Mann’s masterwork Thief, Frank is promised "boxcar paydays," but his take is delivered in manila envelope.

Ironically enough, fact often follows fiction. Westlake and Leonard’s baddies have no other options. Reprobates of one stripe or another, they cannot function in the straight world. Their employment options are robbery or pushing a broom, if anyone will trust them with a broom. 

Back in the “real” world, William Guess was a degenerate gambler with an alcoholic’s self-destructive tendencies. Carl Gugasian was an engineer with advanced degrees and served with honor in the U.S. Army Special Forces but his addiction to adrenaline ruled him like DNA predisposition. Edward Green, who committed the first bank robbery in 1863 was the Malden Massachusetts Post Master. He was also heavily in debt.

The “reasons why” are the “but for the grace of God (along with allergies to group showers) go the best of us,”. The reason why is the story. The money is just a prop.