Half-Assed Internet Research
Nancy Price novel; Abbeville racism controversy; real marble-floor head injury; NC-17 cut; Symphonie fantastique meaning; grueling ocean shoot
In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:57:42Read transcript
- The film was based on the novel of the same name by Nancy Price.
- Julia Roberts caused a controversy after leaving Abbeville, South Carolina, calling it a living hell and horribly racist; after a rebuttal ad in Variety she clarified she meant a Black friend being refused service with her at an Abbeville restaurant, saying she was shocked such treatment still existed in the 90s.
- The source is old Premiere magazines bought on eBay during the pandemic, which devoted multiple paragraphs to the controversy.
- The controversy should be a bigger part of her celebrity; in 1991 there was no such thing as being woke. — Van Lathan
- Stars then aimed to avoid controversy at all times, David Duke had recently been a serious governor contender in the speaker's home state, and speaking up took guts.
- She doubled down when challenged; good on her.
- When he hits her she really hit her head on the marble floor and has a swollen black eye in the next scene.
- The film was initially NC17 because of the sex scene and was cut to an R; the European version has the whole scene.
- The Symphonie Fantastique is about a young man on opium who dreams of killing his girlfriend, is executed and ends up in hell.
- Premiere reported a grueling shoot: the director said Julia was on the edge of hysteria for the five days of the domestic-violence scene, and she described fighting the ocean current at 3 a.m. on her third straight movie while the director stayed dry on his barge, adding it was a miracle she was not in Tijuana.
- That is called shade on the director; there was no water tank for the biggest star in the world, and on screen they are clearly really in the water.