James Franco and Poetry Made Manifest

James Franco

He spoke in the back of his throat with none of the clarity and training one might expect from an actor. He sort of laid himself out on his chair. Spread his legs, put his hands on his knees, tucked his chin in and looked down when he spoke. It made it appear that his eyes were closed; sometimes they were, when he hummed after the word or turn of phrase he was looking for. He had on a plaid button-down with the sleeves rolled up. He looked like a man searching for something comfortable to hang onto. 

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It was clear by the sixth poem he read from "Directing Herbert White" that there is a great pressure to celebrity, and James Franco feels it. He writes often about the celebrities who didn't fit the system but who have somehow become its most capitalized icons - Marilyn Monroe, Sal Mineo, Lindsay Lohan, James Dean, Marlon Brando. 

In a tribute to Heath Ledger, he wonders whether we killed him, on top of drugs and the acting. 

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He is an intentionally frank and unassuming wordsmith. He prefers long takes to quick ones, citing the "complacency" of audiences today who expect polished performances, clean resolution.

Reference: James Franco, Behind the Celluloid Curtain (emphasis, added).

This piece by Alex Thompson is observant yet meditative.  Outward and inward, at the same time.  He writes about a talk by actor James Franco and poet Frank Bidart, right in the downtown campus of my alma mater Northwestern University.  The piece is intimate, because of how Franco and Bidart were on stage and how Thompson soaked it all in.

To me, that is the essence of poetry, made manifest.