Diablo Cody
To enjoy being famous, you need to have a screw loose.Collection: Famous
I absolutely relate to being alone in squalor, trying to come up with something adequate. I relate to that, and I've been known to crawl out of bed and drink out of a 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke.Collection: Diet
You know, I did not like being famous. It was a stressful and ugly time, and I'm glad it's over.Collection: Famous
People don't have these tidy little redemption arcs in reality the way they do in movies.Collection: Movies
I've always been a writer, I've always been a storyteller, but I never thought about screenwriting.
Hollywood is a perpetual summerland, a temperate, godless yaw where the very word 'season' has been co-opted by television executives. There are few harbingers of winter here.
When I was a kid, I attended a small Catholic school in a south suburb of Chicago.
'Sweet Valley High' is fantastic, fabulous, a little bit campy, and - dare I say it - cinematic.
The public's appetite for frothy, flippant blondes has waned, but Paris Hilton still fascinates me.
Tabloid photos capture people at their most self-conscious and disoriented; in real life, Paris Hilton is like an elegant paper crane.
The fashion industry isn't merely content to encase my meaty flanks in skintight denim. Oh, no! That denim also has to be white, a color that attracts ketchup, wine, garlic aioli, and any other foodstuffs I might otherwise be able to enjoy if I wasn't wearing ridiculously tight pants.
I know white clothing is supposed to enhance that summer glow, but writers don't tan.
If I want to get a taste of beach culture, I'll fire up my season 2 DVD of 'Beverly Hills, 90210.'
As a kid, I spent every summer bent over a stack of books, obsessively writing detailed reports on each one.
I don't know why, but I've always been a sucker for roller coasters in movies.
There's something about a roller coaster that triggers strong feelings, maybe because most of us associate them with childhood. They're inherently cinematic; the very shape of a coaster, all hills and valleys and sickening helices, evokes a human emotional response.
I've been watching 'American Idol' since its debut season in 2002. Back then, America hadn't yet evolved into a gladiatorial cybernation of bloggers, tweeters, and self-ordained voice coaches.
My boyfriend is Italian and from New Jersey, so naturally he was thrilled to meet Joe Pesci.
But here is the single greatest thing about the 'Vanity Fair' party: There are uniformed In-N-Out Burger employees circulating the room with trays of cheeseburgers all night long.
Couture gowns are like gremlins; you can't expose them to bright light or get them wet.
Fact: The new '90210' is cooler than the old '90210.' It's the lithe, streamlined Skipper to the elder series' venerable Barbie. Gone are the traditional parents - they've been replaced by a hipster mom n' pop who get busted necking in the car.
Let it be said that the makeup artist at '90210' made me look better for the fake red carpet than I've ever looked on an actual red carpet.
I normally ignore the History Channel.
A few months ago, I had the pleasure of actually visiting the Playboy Mansion. I saw the peacocks, fed grapes to the monkeys, and even braved the fabled Grotto. After seeing the estate, I understood why anyone would be reluctant to leave.
I think I might be one of the only people in America, or at least the only person I know, who saw both 'The Dark Knight' and 'Mamma Mia!' on their shared opening weekend.
Personally, I consider 'Titanic' the most brilliant example of successful counterprogramming; the film actually countered itself by embedding an epic chick flick within a classic disaster movie.
Now '90210' is returning with an all-new cast of slightly more plausible teens. I'll be honest: I wish the old cast was back. Ideally, this spin-off would be an Ice Storm-esque exploration of the West Beverly gang's bleak adult lives.
I've been meaning to write about the Rolling Stones, but I am the furthest thing from a hipster rock journalist.
These days, the Rolling Stones still have an edge, but that fangs-out ferocity has mellowed considerably.
Whether it's a blatant homage or unconscious mimicry, the Rolling Stones have permanently, indelibly influenced how rock stars look and behave.
I myself identify as a recovering Blockhead. You'd be surprised how many twenty- and thirty-something hipster chicks have the NKOTB skeleton in their closet, albeit artfully concealed by stacks of Ksubi skinny jeans and ironic Judas Priest T-shirts.
I write small and weird. Romcoms are not in my skill set.
I had gone to the bookstore, and while I hadn't bought any books on how to write a screenplay, I'd bought a couple of scripts so I could see how the formatting works. I just needed to know how a Hollywood screenplay looked on the page, which was something I was totally unfamiliar with.
I really just love to open a blank document and spew, whereas with a screenplay I have to be more judicious.
For me, writing essays, prose and fiction is a great way to be self-indulgent.
I don't have a terrible singing voice, but I also wouldn't call it 'good.' I can carry a tune.
I hear that 5 o'clock whistle in my mind like Fred Flintstone and I have to stop. I'm also not much of a morning writer. I have a sweet spot from about 11am to 4pm. But I really work during that time.
Well, to aspiring writers, I would tell them that we live in a wonderful time where you're able to make your work visible, easily.
I can't write at night. For me, I'm programmed to believe that nighttime is for relaxation.
The best thing you can do is find a person who loves you for exactly what you are.
You make a first impression and people never forget it. If people want to think of me as the wacky 'Juno' lady forever, I could think of worse ways to be labeled.
The fact is, when I wrote 'Juno' - and I think this is part of its charm and appeal - I didn't know how to write a movie. And I also had no idea it was going to get made!
The Rolling Stones are so versatile, they're like the band version of that Infinite Dress they sell on QVC.
I'm one of the people that were divorced by 30, which is apparently a growing group... Obviously it's something that affects you forever. It's going to be interesting to see in ten, twenty years what kind of lasting effect young divorce has on the people that are doing it because it's becoming more and more common.
Speaking of Twitter, I don't even know if I composed a blog entry in 2009, as I was too busy parceling my every thought into cute 140-character sound bites. I used to only worry about being pithy for a living; now some of my best lines are wasted on a free app!
I had written the script for Juno and apparently Steven Spielberg had read it. I can't just call him Steven, that's weird... Mr. Spielberg had read it and he liked it. He asked me if I would write this television show for him and I said, 'Yeah!'
You know, it shouldn't just be about women as heroic figures overcoming things, it just needs to be about women in general getting the opportunity to play a multitude of roles, telling a multitude of stories - just to express human experience from a woman's perspective. I hope, someday, we can get to that point. I'm all about representation.
I think sometimes people really require the satisfaction of closure.
I have never been an ambitious person, and my participation in this industry is a fluke, but only male writers can afford to be coy and self-deprecating.
I've been told that I'm incompetent, socially retarded, maladjusted. I still know that I couldn't function in reality. Los Angeles is a good place for me.