'UNDERCOVER' AUTHOR JOHN RIDLEY DOESN'T RELISH BEING AN UNSUNG, DILIGENT, VERSATILE WRITER - HE JUST DOES IT.Byline: David Kronke Staff Writer IT MAY BE a stretch to label a guy who writes booty jokes a ``renaissance man Renaissance man n. A man who has broad intellectual interests and is accomplished in areas of both the arts and the sciences. Noun 1. ,'' but if anyone in Hollywood qualifies these days, it's John Ridley. Consider his resume: He's a former stand-up stand·up or stand-up adj. 1. Standing erect; upright: a standup collar. 2. Taken, done, or used while standing: a standup supper; a standup bar. comic who has written for shows as disparate as ``Third Watch,'' ``The Fresh Prince of Bel Air Bel Air may refer to: Places in the United States:
More impressively, his more recent credits include his screenplay for the blaxploitation blax·ploi·ta·tion n. A genre of American film of the 1970s featuring African-American actors in lead roles and often having antiestablishment plots, frequently criticized for stereotypical characterization and glorification of violence. parody ``Undercover Brother Undercover Brother is a 2002 comedy starring Eddie Griffin and directed by Malcolm D. Lee (cousin of Spike Lee). The screenplay is by Michael McCullers and co-executive producer John Ridley (Three Kings), who created the original internet animation characters. ,'' about an Afro-wielding champion of black culture, based on his Internet cartoon. As to how his Internet cartoon became a major studio film, Ridley says, ``I'm still trying to figure that out - sometimes the things closest to your heart, because they are a little different and have a voice, they cut through the noise and people gravitate grav·i·tate intr.v. grav·i·tat·ed, grav·i·tat·ing, grav·i·tates 1. To move in response to the force of gravity. 2. To move downward. 3. toward them.'' He's prolific His latest novel, ``A Conversation With the Mann,'' a character study of a black comic named Jackie Mann who emerges in the '50s and rubs elbows with the Rat Pack rat pack n. Slang A closely knit group of people sharing interests. rat pack n (Brit) (inf) → journalistes mpl de la presse à sensation , hit bookstores the same weekend. He has another book coming out in October and yet another due next spring. He also provides cheeky commentary for National Public Radio and PBS' weekly newsmagazine ``NOW With Bill Moyers'' and is working on a PBS PBS in full Public Broadcasting Service Private, nonprofit U.S. corporation of public television stations. PBS provides its member stations, which are supported by public funds and private contributions rather than by commercials, with educational, cultural, documentary. And if that's not enough, he recently developed three TV pilots, two of which will be midseason replacements next season: an interracial in·ter·ra·cial adj. Relating to, involving, or representing different races: interracial fellowship; an interracial neighborhood. sitcom for ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. and an hourlong series entitled ``Platinum'' for UPN UPN User Principal Name (Microsoft Windows 2000) UPN United Paramount Network UPN Unión del Pueblo Navarro (Navarrese People Union) UPN Umgekehrte Polnische Notation . Ed Bernero, executive producer for ``Third Watch,'' who reports that he considers Ridley to have written the first ``really good episode'' of that series (its fourth overall), sounds exhausted just discussing Ridley's accomplishments. ``I never want to be that busy,'' he says, adding incredulously that Ridley ``never seems to be working. He's always available to go to Vegas; he never seems to be stressed.'' Kevin Misher, who collaborated with Ridley on one of his recent pilots, says, ``He has a tireless work ethic work ethic n. A set of values based on the moral virtues of hard work and diligence. work ethic Noun a belief in the moral value of work , but the most impressive thing is that he's been successful and can operate not only in different media but different genres - thrillers, comedies, dramas, novels. The geometric progression geometric progression: see progression. in terms of the types of different stories he can tell is endless.'' Ridley himself, sitting in a gray-ribbed sweater in a conference room on the Disney lot, has a far less awed perspective of his abilities. ``Off the record, it's pure luck; on the record, I'm just a genius,'' he jokes. ``I'm either blessed, or I sold my soul to the devil at some point and I don't recall it.'' The writer credits his prolific abilities to his wife, Gayle. ``She's very understanding; she doesn't make me go out too much. I couldn't do it if she didn't understand that I love to tell stories and I love to work and I'm fortunate. In Hollywood, it's hard enough to break in, and once you do, it's feast or famine, and I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. how long my run will be.'' His magnum opus ``A Conversation With the Mann,'' 10 years in the making, is far different from his guns-and-guts books, and, Ridley insists, no more autobiographical than some of its predecessors. ``In terms of what it's like being on stage and what it's like to go through the process of trying to get somewhere in this industry, it's very autobiographical. It's funny: Because this novel is about a comedian, people ask me if it's autobiographical, and to a degree it is. ``But all my other novels are these hard-boiled fiction, dirty deeds and murder, and no one ever asks me, how much of that is me - they're hoping they won't be digging up bodies in my back yard,'' he adds with a smile. ``Other characters are probably more like me in terms of my own attitudes, but people don't ask me about them.'' Alas, or happily (depending on your point of view), Ridley no longer has the impetus for creating the violent novels that defined his past output. ``When I was working on 'Fresh Prince' - everyone was nice and it was a great cast and crew, but I hated writing those same jokes; so I started writing this hard-boiled fiction that took me to another place. ('Conversation With the Mann') is more of a reflection of my time in Hollywood.'' Ridley maintains a healthy contempt for Hollywood conventions. He dumps easily on the Oscars: ``They're such crap - what difference does it make? If you believe in yourself and what you do, you don't need that kind of stuff.'' Yet he expresses awe for employer Bill Moyers, who served as President Lyndon Johnson's press secretary and for whom he had to interrupt this interview to take a call from. ``It's like, 'Geez, I'm talking I'm Talking was a 1980s Australian funk-pop rock band, noted for launching vocalist Kate Ceberano. History After the break-up of the Melbourne-based experimental funk band Essendon Airport in 1983, members Robert Goodge (guitar), Ian Cox (saxophone) and Barbara Hogarth to the guy who was talking to the guy who did this thing!' ' Fitting in A major theme of Ridley's work is black assimilation into white culture - it's treated as a joke in ``Undercover Brother,'' where his cinematic hero dons pastel Gap gear - but is an overriding theme in ``A Conversation With the Mann,'' when his protagonist weighs his professional aspirations of appearing on ``The Ed Sullivan Show'' against the oppression he and his friends have experienced. ``I was fortunate - my parents were professionals, I grew up in the suburbs in Wisconsin, people got along well; I never had any problems (with racism) until I went to New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of ,'' Ridley notes. ``With Jackie Mann, he wanted to assimilate by being successful. He was missing the point - there were people around him, black and white, who liked him. ``And this bleeds off to a larger problem I have with Hollywood - Jackie learns he needs to stand up and believe in himself,'' Ridley continues. ``Assimilation, in concept, is great - it'd be great if we could get along. But the idea that if I lose part of my identity I become part of something else, I think that's a pipe dream. If we embrace our differences - I am black and there are people who are always not going to like me because I'm black. But if I feel good about myself, I don't need the validation of others, and if I feel good about myself, I won't need to be putting other people down.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (1) no caption (``John Ridley'') |
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