33. Why I like Mike (White) pt.1- an overview

I have been a fan of scriptwriter/actor Mike White for almost ten years. I will never forget going to see ‘Chuck ad Buck’, a film he scripted and played the main role of ‘Buck O’ Brien’ in at the Ritzy cinema in Brixton three times in two weeks in November 2000. From that point onwards I have watched his career and made sure I have seen (and indeed own the Dvds!) of all the films he has scripted

Mike wrote the scripts for ‘The Good Girl’, ‘Orange County’, ‘School of Rock’ (all of which he had small but telling role in), ‘Nacho Libre’ and ‘Year of the dog’ which he also directed (I intend to write more about this particular film in a later post). I am not aware of any other scriptwriter who is able to veer from dark indie comedies to mainstream Hollywood comedies with such ease. That in itself is an achievement.

Even though these are a seemingly disparate butch of films there are a number of themes I have observed in all of them.

Firstly the central character is usually someone who is socially marginalised or alienated from the circumstances they find themselves in. In ‘The Good girl’ Justine feels alienated from her husband and colleagues and the mundane existence she is trapped in. In ‘School of rock’ Dewey has landed up in his mid thirties without a band and sleeping on a friends couch, with seemingly no future in music. In ‘Chuck and Buck’ Buck is trapped in the mindset of an eleven year old, unable to socialise meaningfully with his peers. In ‘Year of the Dog’ Peggy is mainly defined by her interactions with others. Even in ‘Orange County’ Shaun feels alienated from his family and the values of Pasadena where he lives.

The script follows them in their struggle to find some identity and role for themselves within these circumstances. Justine does this though an affair with a mentally unstable co-worker Holden (as she tells him ‘I like having a secret’). Peggy becomes interested in animal rights activism. Dewey finally finds both a sense of purpose and responsibility by forming a group of eleven year olds he has tricked his way into teaching into a band. Even in ‘Nacho Libre’ Nacho uses wrestling to give him a sense of purpose and identity (ironically considering he also has to conceal his identity!)

As with most US indie films of the last 10-15 years the central characters are not always endearing. Justine behaves in a self-centred deceitful manner in order to conduct an affair, and her attempts to deal with its’ consequences will have tragic results. Throughout most of the film, she views her husband and colleagues with contempt. Dewey starts out feckless and irresponsible, thinking nothing of living off a friend. Buck stalks Charlie and thinks nothing of disrupting his home and work life. Shaun is rather self-centred and judgemental of his family. Even Peggy, the most sympathetic central character of any of White’s scripts, on occasions crosses the line in her behaviour once she becomes interested in animal rights.

But White has enormous compassion and sympathy with his central characters, no matter what trouble they get themselves into. White explores their loneliness and isolation and does not offer any pat solutions to their problem. Relationships of all kinds get very short shrift. There has been criticism of how White resolves ‘Chuck and Buck’ (with Buck the nominally gay character in no relationship at the end of the film) but heterosexual relationships do not work out either. Peggy is rejected by Newt. Justine’s affair with Holden has terrible consequences for them both.

I would also say that White makes some very pointed comments about sexism and its effects on women by calling a film ‘The Good Girl’. For while Justine may not always be good she is also not a girl. The fact that she tries to think of herself in such terms shows the effect of years of having to compromise her own desires and intelligence.

Several characters use writing as a means to express themselves. Buck writes a play which he has put on at a children’s theatre. He uses this play in part to record the exact nature of his childhood relationship with Charlie and the consequences it has had for him, and in part to try and woo Charlie. Shaun in ‘Orange County’ wants to be a writer. He finally realises that he has the inner resources to be a writer without attending the course at Stanford. ‘Holden’ in ‘The Good Girl’ attempts to become a writer but is held by an inability to write any narrative other than the self destructive one which he proceeds to live out to its logical conclusion. White did joke about the fact he had two films come out at the same time which featured tormented young writers- although their stories play out very differently!

I also enjoy the fact that most of the other characters in the scripts are often dealing with issues of how to find a place in society in their own way. In ‘The Good Girl’ Phil and Bubba use marijuana to dull the boredom of their lives, Bubba is resentful and envious of his best friend, Corny takes solace in evangelical Christianity, while Cheryl uses cruel humour to deal with her dead end job. In ‘School of Rock’ all the children in the class turn out to need more from their education than good grades and Principal Rosalie Mullins realises how much of herself she has compromised to be a successful principal In ‘Chuck and Buck’ Beverley uses the opportunity of directly Buck’s play to show what she is capable of (after years of sitting behind the desk) and Sam wants to act to escape the drudgery of a blue collar job (as he says it beats laying ****ing carpet!). Even Charlie turns out to be aware that aspects of his life may be a front in his final conversation with Buck. In ‘Year of the dog’ Layla is obsessed with marrying her boyfriend (oblivious to the fact he has a wandering eye), Peggy’s sister-in-law Bret is wrapped up in middle class motherhood while her boss Robin is only concerned with his position in the company. White shows society is made up of imperfect, complex individuals who try and grab what comfort and connection to others that they can. He shows the impossibility of trying to define what ‘normal’ behaviour is, when we all struggle with what ‘normal’ behaviour is.

Mike White’s scripts deserve to be considered along with the work of Alexander Payne and Noah Baumbach as studies of discomfort and dislocation in modern USA.

I unashamedly prefer White as a scriptwriter to Charlie Kaufman and Wes Anderson. Firstly he has written several interesting female central characters, such as Justine and Peggy, not just middle class educated white heterosexual men (which is what the central characters of Anderson’s and Kaufman’s usually are!) I also find that while Kaufman and Anderson’s writing is undoubtedly original, they are both highly self conscious and self consciously clever in the way they write. As Matthew Fox at Kqed.org in his review of ‘Year of the Dog’ notes Whites scripts are deceptively simple and need a second viewing to fully appreciate them. Whites’s scripts are also often more radical and disquieting in the questions they ask. Anyone who doubts this should look at the debate that still goes on around ‘Chuck and Buck’ on IMDB and Amazon.com!

Major props also for the additional wit and wisdom of Mr. Burke (the teacher he plays in Orange County) on the Orange County DVD- worth buying the DVD for alone