Californication and the life of a writer

There's this show on Showtime called Californication, which stars David Duchovny (of X-Files fame). It is kind of interesting, in that the main character is a New York writer who is living in Los Angeles, and he can't stand California. He's suffering from writer's block for reasons never really explicit, although the show hints that his rationality involves the fact that they turned his introspective third novel into a Tom and Katie love story, and he's upset. He's generally upset all the time. And he womanizes women all of the time.

I watched the first five episodes of the show before it finally dawned on me why the story seemed so familiar. No, it's not my story. Yes, I'm a writer, and yes, I had an interesting past involving a number of "interesting" women over the years, but that's about it when it comes to the comparisons. So, I often found myself watching the show and really not identifying with the main character, even though we both have problems with our writing and the state of California itself. And yet, I often find myself wondering why I'm drawn to the character.

And then it dawned on me. The main character doesn't remind me of me. It reminds me of Charles Bukowski. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized they practically ripped off the style of Bukowski and claimed it as their own. If you've ever read a book or a series of poems by Bukowski, you know instantly that this is the exact same story that would have been written about his life. This is the guy who attended a reading of his own work at a girls' college, and because he was still drunk from the night before, he walked out and onto the lawn. Then he found a nearby tree and vomited on it. A young woman remarked to him: "Man, you're fucked up" to which he responded: "Finally, a woman who understands me."

I guess that's why I find myself interested in this show. Even though the idea and inspiration is not original. But then, in Hollywood, what is original anymore?

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