The Disaster Artist discussion - Spoiler Room

[geoff]

I just got back from seeing “The Disaster Artist” and wondered if other people’s reactions matched mine in terms of Dramatica guessing. Initially, I thought of Tommy Wiseau as a Doer, but before the end of Act One, it seemed clear his presence as an Impact Character is more of a fixed attitude.

Everyone is involved with producing a movie, which would be “Doing” and matches with what I anticipated — having read the book already — as to the Tommy-Greg relationship being in Psychology. Tommy, in fact, later manipulates Greg a bit. Tommy even feels manipulated by Greg, too.

I suspect the throughline concerns are in the upper right quads. The OS of filmmaking is in “Doing”. To me, the first sequence gave me a clear hint that Tommy’s impact would be his impulsive actions… more specifically, he’s coaxing Greg to act out on his impulsive desires (as seen in the restaurant scene). After all, Tommy has presumably learned to get success in life from acting on his own impulses. Then Greg could be seen as being concerned about his Progress as a struggling actor. His progress actually impacts nicely for a bit on Tommy’s lack thereof.

No themes/variations came to mind, except the relationship seemed strongly based on Commitment. This would be staying in a relationship due to prior or expected favors. Greg stays in the friendship because he wants satisfaction from helping Tommy. It could also be argued Greg got into the friendship with thoughts of Tommy helping him become a bigger actor. Tommy, too, shows a disheartened mood as Greg becomes more interested in a new girlfriend… suspicions of betrayal.

One question lingered at the climax when they’re watching “The Room” in the theater. Greg seems like a “bad” judgment MC. It’s not just the way Dave Franco portrayed him. How did he resolve his desire to become a bigger actor? True, he did help cheer up Tommy, but this is the MC impacting the IC. So, I’d say it’s an interesting case of the OS ending in success with Tommy having made a “real” movie, but the MC ends badly. Yet he smiles with Tommy up on stage. Anyone agree?

By the way, I’d love to see a truthful prequel to this movie with Tommy as the main character, but I’m not holding my breath.

[jhay]

I agree with a lot of what you said, but I still think Tommy is a Do-er. The scene at the restaurant with Judd Apatow is a great example. His whole idea is ‘I have to prove myself, I have to go up to that guy and introduce myself, and then perform a monologue loudly so everyone knows I can act’. That is very much a Do-er move – I have to DO something here. And, also, look at how he reunites with Greg toward the end – he goes along to one of Greg’s plays just to meet him outside. It’s all external with Tommy.

Whereas Greg is very internal – he wants to be an actor, but he doesn’t have the confidence and balls that Tommy has to do anything about it. Look at the scene in the diner – he’s so reluctant to perform alongside Tommy, he’d rather just adapt to whatever is around him. And then when he’s faced with the decision between doing Malcolm or finishing The Room, his first instinct isn’t to act, but to consider everything.

I definitely think it’s an upper-right story. ‘Making a Movie’ seems to be the goal, and I agree entirely on the relationship in Psychology. Lots of manipulation going on either side in the RS, while the OS is handling the actual production side of things – buying cameras; dealing with fainting actresses; uncomfortable sex scenes; having a cameraguy to record everything going on.

My argument for MC Greg in Impulsive Responses would probably be his inability to go with his impulses in regards to acting. His teacher chastises him for being too withdrawn and held back. He doesn’t want to do anything impulsively – he even stops to think about going to LA, even though he knows it would help. Tommy’s influence in Progress is targeted at moving Greg’s career along faster than he can stop to think (“Why you don’t just move to LA?” “You get agent now, you big star.”, etc.). It’s been a couple days since I’ve seen it, but that’s where I am at the moment.

If I had to go with my gut, I think it’s an OS Issue of Experience. That quad of elements feels very strong to me (in my mind, one specifically is undeniably the Problem element), and the theme of ‘gaining familiarity’ with Tommy and the way he works rings true for many of these characters. The counter is Skill, which… yeah.

As to the ending, I felt it was a happy ending. I mentioned to my friend that if you think about the logistics of the reality of it, it’s kind of sad because this guy will be forever linked to this bad movie. But in the context of what The Disaster Artist offers, it feels like a happy ending. He gave up a potential acting career to finish this movie with his friend, people liked it, and he’s okay with all of that.