After receiving a lawyerly talking to and even getting within one very, very close degree of separation from our target yesterday in the John Hughes Q&A Challenge, we're convinced that A) John Hughes knows about our quest for answers, and B) he has absolutely no intention of or interest in playing ball. While our feelings are slightly tweaked by Mr. Hughes' unwavering rejection, we can't take it too personally. After all, if one of the last experiences you had with the press — recently unearthed from the Spy Magazine archives by Jeffrey Wells — labeled you as an "impossible" and "capricious bully" who was responsible for "childlike rampages through [Hollywood's] playpen," then perhaps you would refuse even the most innocent of media inquiries as well:

"[I]t's not [worth it]," one former Hughesland resident concludes. 'Because his movies ultimately aren't that good. I don't think anyone should treat people like shit and get away with it just because they're a filmmaker. It would be different," he suggests, "if he were Martin Scorsese." ...

When the script for [Career Opportunities] predictably yielded a dog, Hughes re-shot several scenes, and when that didn't work, he threw tantrums and demanded that Universal remove his writing and producing credits from it. A top Universal executive remembers, "He said he was a big-time guy now, and that he did Home Alone, and that we couldn't do that to him. He said, 'You're selling shit under my name.' We refused. His name is a selling point, even if you're selling shit."

The rest of the expose (tastefully titled "Big Baby") is just as brutal — yet oddly endearing in a Forest-Whitaker-in-Last-King-of-Scotland kind of way. We really do love our "doughy-complected" tyrants for better or worse, yet while we wouldn't let him fish-hook us by our nipples, we had planned to keep things fairly transparent with contextualized replies straight from Hughes himself. Alas, the combination of such a stinging press history and this week's swift, severe refusals doesn't bode well for our best intentions, but we must assume they reflect Hughes' idea of the right thing to do. If only that idea involved getting back to making movies as well.

'Big Baby' Scanned [Hollywood Elsewhere]

1:15 PM on Fri Mar 28 2008
By STV
2,664 views
7 comments

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metroville at 01:27 PM on 03/28/08
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"'It would be different,' he suggests, "if he were Martin Scorsese.'"

For starters, Sixteen Candles probably would've ended with Jake Ryan's crew rubbing out Farmer Ted with a double-tap he never saw coming.
CourageousCoward at 01:34 PM on 03/28/08
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Connectedness Index: 62

So not getting what we wanted, we've resorted to taunts? Who's the "Big Baby" now?
Benny at 03:36 PM on 03/28/08
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Look. I don't know John Hughes. He might be a bully of the highest order. I've seen enough bullies on film sets to know that there's about a sixty/forty chance that he is.

But when I read a quote attributed to one of my favorite filmmakers saying 'You're selling shit in my name', my heart swells with pride. That's not being a pig at all. It's called having a fucking soul. The Hollywood shit machine chugs on, damaging our culture and hurting our best artists, but there's a certain high brow dignity to being the guy who gets seriously fucking pissed about it, and burns bridges in the process. That's why John Hughes is a legend. He might have a temper... he might piss people off... he might be six shades of off the wall insane for all I know... but unlike all the compromisers out there who do exactly what they're told when they're told, he will ALWAYS have a legacy, while they will not. Ever.

That sounds to me like a pretty decent trade off.

God bless the man.
Wolfsheim at 03:41 PM on 03/28/08
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Career Opportunities rocks!
Tiger_Tanaka at 05:07 PM on 03/28/08
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@Benny: Psst! Hey Graham, John Hughes is calling FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE! FOR GOD'S SAKE GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN!
moondawg9 at 04:37 PM on 03/29/08
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John Hughes just fired me . . .

I didn't even know I worked for him.

Apparently, we all do . . .

Until we don't.
moondawg9 at 05:16 PM on 03/29/08
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Since I don't work for Mr. Hughes anymore I can explain his behavior - -

Artistic types are, by their very nature - WEIRD.

In fact, all human beings start out WEIRD but most slowly but surely discover weird doesn't get you very far in a normal existence. So we all LEARN how to fake it, to pretend to be normal so we can function with others who are also pretending to be normal.

When a human is deemed a huge success the people around them start to make allowances for their behavior. It turns into the Twilight Zone" episode with the young boy with psychic powers. All of the adults are afraid so they just say, "Yes, Mr. Hughes, it's GOOD you did that." even when the child misbehaves.

So, the weirdness goes unchecked and starts to take over. What was slightly strange and charming turns into "I must have all of the green M&Ms removed from the bowl in my trailer or the entire staff is FIRED!"

What someone in that state needs is an authority figure telling them they are acting like spoiled children. (See "Madness of King George")

So, if you or someone you love has become a "Spoiled, Insane Hollywood Type" then I am available (for a small fee) to tell them, "No, it's BAD that you did that!" and then whack them on the nose with a rolled up newspaper.

Problem solved.