The Disaster Artist

***Guest post from Lukewarm Jonah***

Today, December 1, 2017 is a big day.  It’s my birthday, a big birthday, a monumental birthday, my 34th birthday.  This birthday is widely known as your Kirby Puckett birthday, and is considered one of the most important in your life.  With my Kirby Puckett birthday coming up, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking.  What should I do with my life?  How can I find a balance between what seem to be my two choices of jobs, either I hate my life and get paid a good amount, or enjoy work and literally live around the poverty line.  In this line of thought I picked up a book I got four years ago which addresses dream chasing, money vs. happiness and other similar themes and decided to give it another read.  It’s The Disaster Artist, the story of the making of the greatest bad movie ever “The Room” told by it’s co-star Greg Sestero.  It’s also an upcoming movie with a lot of buzz starring the Franco brothers, Alison Brie, and Seth Rogen, and it’s how I’ll be spending my Kirby Puckett Birthday.

My Kirby Puckett birthday is the day that I really have my hipster moment.  I’ve never cared when bands I liked got popular, but for some reason this feels different.  Maybe it’s because I put a lot more effort into “The Room” than I ever really did in music.  I mean I bought CDs, went to concerts, but it wasn’t the same level of fandom.  I’ve given “The Room” three trips to see a screening in which Tommy Wiseau, the enigmatic director, producer, writer and star, appeared in person.  Met him all three times and even shared the stage with him twice. Maybe it’s because this group feels even more personal than being a fan of a small band did.  I mean there’s a wide range of “The Room” fans, but I’m not sure if any of them wouldn’t describe themselves as geeks, nerds, dorks, or some variation of that.  I definitely feel like I fit in with my nerdy brothers and sisters when we’re laughing our asses off at the nonstop lunacy which is “The Room”.

When The Disaster Artist comes out it’s going to get Oscar buzz.  This is going to lead to the masses discovering that it’s a true story and some absolutely insane movie called “The Room” was made.  They’re going to watch it and try and pretend like they were in on the joke all along.  Maybe my fear is that these screenings and Tommy Wiseau meetings become packed with bros instead of dorks.  While the book revealed some of the darkness in Wiseau, it was at it’s heart a story about the ultimate underdog and his refusal to accept the fact that he was one.  Tommy was us, we were Tommy.  We were people of different ages, races, genders, who could say my dream isn’t that insane compared to Tommy’s and look at him, he made his movie and comes to screenings like this to be adored by his fans.  If Tommy Wiseau can be a movie writer, director, and star, then there’s literally nothing that we can’t do. 

So on my fateful Kirby Puckett birthday I’ll go to a screening of “The Disaster Artist” with my lovely wife.  I’ll enjoy watching this insane story play out on film with talented actors and actresses playing the parts.  I’ll enjoy watching it with the majority, if not all of the audience in on the madness of “The Room” waiting for their favorite parts of the movie to be created and acted out on screen.  It will be fun, and I’m sure it will be a great movie that tells a story that I’m fascinated by, but it’s the beginning of the end for us weirdo fans.  I’ll get to hang on to that feeling for a little while longer as the week after this screening we’re heading back to Portland for another screening of “The Room” but with never before seen special guest Greg Sestero. 

Am I really mad at the masses finding out about this fantastic movie that makes you wonder if you’ve done some sort of mixture of peyote and angel dust, gotten on a plane, and ended up in Bulgaria?  No, not really.  I can’t help but be happy for the success that this will bring to Tommy and Greg, and hopefully some of the other forgotten members of “The Room”.  I think I’m just stressed out because my Kirby Puckett birthday is coming up and I’m clearly receiving some signs from whatever heavenly beings are up there that I need to make my Kirby Puckett year count.  I need to chase my stupid dreams for at least a year.  I mean if a guy who can’t speak, write, or understand English fluently can make a movie, then why can’t I accomplish my dreams?