Becky Hammon Fan Club

"Yes, Chef? More like Yes, She-f!" - Anonymous

I have no choice but to eat here. You always have a choice, she used to say. But not this time. Calm, measured, I have made my decision. I didn’t change my mind when I first smelt it, coming up the escalator, a hundred feet away. The strangely undefinable aroma; warm and processed. We sold our souls to eat sandwiches on the moon.

Upon entry, I was met with the overwhelming sense of fatigue. Everyone - the workers, the patrons. We spent so much time telling ourselves things would be different when we got here, but it took us no time at all to get back to where we’d always been - in line, gazing at the options on backlit menu boards. You always have a choice.

I should’ve listened.

I wait my turn. I am focussed only on the essential. I will not be unprepared for the questions ahead of me. I will not be vulnerable to those waiting behind me.

I choose my bread. Wheat. Cheese and toasted, always asked in tandem. They smile, but their eyes see past me. It’s a performance; one for their management, not for my benefit. To them, I am just another nobody. They don’t know about my father’s legacy. They ask me their next question while the sub toasts. Preparedness. Rolling on smoothly down the line. Turkey, ham, cold cuts, passed along to a new sandwich artist. Just as apathetic.

The same instructions, the only way to maintain consistency here. Lettuce and tomato, onions and peppers. Extra black olives. I pause only to consider the sauce options. Garlic aioli. I thought of my father, what he might say if a crew member ate garlic before a flight. The moment passes. Mayonnaise. Like always.

The transaction concludes smoothly. I pay, turning down the opportunity to upgrade to a meal. Why endure this further? I take my sandwich and assess the seating arrangements. Limited. I see Natasha Lyonne. She doesn’t acknowledge me.

I sit alone at a table for two, pushing the abandoned debris away from my side. I inadvertently make eye contact with a staff member - wearing an apron, holding a brush - and I see rage. I understand that rage. I’ve seen that rage in my father, I’ve seen that rage in myself. She clears the table. I eat my sandwich, thinking of the choices I made, and the ones I didn’t make. The fatigue has come for me too. I know I don’t have long until I feel hungry again, but I know it won’t be long.

I regret not buying a cookie.

I, as a (Children of Men voice) reader of books, have been reading John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood by Michael D. Sellers, about the making of John Carter (famous movie). When Avatar was released, John Carter was in the final stages of pre-production, and James Cameron talked in several interviews about the John Carter books being his inspiration:

Fascinated by this quote, I tracked down the original interview from which it was taken - the October 2009 New Yorker profile of James Cameron. The full quote is much more revealing:

“With Avatar, I thought, Forget all these chick flicks and do a classic guys’ adventure movie, something in the Edgar Rice Burroughs mold, like John Carter of Mars - a soldier goes to Mars. Of course, the whole movie ends up being about women, how guys relate to their lovers, mothers—there’s a large female presence,” Cameron said. “I try to do my testosterone movie and it’s a chick flick. That’s how it is for me.”

Cameron’s movies have romance at their molten cores. Some of his most memorable characters - Sarah Connor, Ellen Ripley - are mothers, but for Cameron it runs deeper. “Chick flicks. Everyone always assumes I’m talking about Titanic, obviously that’s an emotional story, but they’ve all been chick flicks. Terminator was just ‘what if I wrote a story about a cyborg assassin going back in time to kill a woman whose unborn son will save mankind, and they fall in love?’ Judgement Day, same thing. The chemistry between Sarah and the Terminator, it’s electric. No matter the time or place, these two are drawn to each other.”

Cameron sat forward in his seat, eager to continue. “True Lies, to me, that’s my Terms of Endearment. Someone struggling to keep it all together, and what happens when your stable family base starts coming undone. Even The Abyss: my wife - whoever it was at the time - called that my ‘Georgia O’Keeffe phase’. Everyone understands how sexual the ocean is, it’s why my two documentaries were so well received. So, yes, by the time I got to making Avatar I was ready to run with the bulls. Make a movie by guys, for guys. Maybe that’s how it ended up being a chick flick - Avatar is my love letter to guys”.

My interest in the Avatar sequels remains unchanged.

That’s it for this week, thank you for reading! I am leaving for New York on Thursday, and I plan on being more insufferable than ever before, I’m very excited for it!