I’ve been following the story of a mild controversy surrounding Dean Koontz all week, and now that Koontz himself has responded via The Los Angeles Times, it’s worth mentioning here.
Long story short: Last weekend, Koontz gave a speech to a Men of Mystery writer/fan event in which he recounted an anecdote about hating the film version of his novel HIDEAWAY so much, he pleaded with the Japanese head of Sony Pictures to remove his name from the movie. Unfortunately, he did so via a letter that began “Dear Mr. Teriyaki,” and went on to reference World War II (look it up, kids) and the Bataan Death March. Several people in attendance found it offensive. In this Times article on the whole brouhaha, Koontz claims the letter was meant to be satirical and that he’s not a racist.
And I believe him. As someone who has inadvertently offended a group in the past through their misrepresentation of my printed words, I can understand his position. (In my case, however, it was Tupperware salesladies, not an entire race of people still smarting over a horrific act of war.) But what Koontz seems to overlook is that humor – if that’s what he intended his letter to be – doesn’t translate all that well across cultural boundaries. That’s why action movies are huge worldwide and comedies languish. He’d be best to retire this anecdote for future speaking engagements; after all, the American public has long forgotten about the 1995 Jeff Goldblum/Alicia Silverstone flick he hates so much, and now he’s just resurrected its memory.
Me? I’m willing to forget about the whole thing and just look forward to FOREVER ODD, due in a couple of weeks.
Related posts:
- Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein: Book One – Prodigal Son
- Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein: Book Two – City of Night
- Koontz’s next another ODD one
- Odd Thomas
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If memory serves, I think the word that cheesed off the tupperware ladies was “tupperwhores.”
Just in case they’d forgotten.
That’s the one! You win a lettuce crisper.