Depressed suicidal artist bio pic alert!!!

Upon first meeting my lovely BF, I read him ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ and he read me ‘Tales of the City’. He laughed so much at my book, he thought he would buy me a book he thought was similar that I would enjoy. "The Bell Jar" tells the story of Esther Greenwood, a young reporter who seeks to make a name for herself in New York but spirals into depression and moves back to Boston. She eventually undergoes electroshock therapy and makes several attempts to take her own life….so….not exactly like ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’. Bless him. I read the back and that is about it. I was in my comedy phase then...guess I will have to pick it up and read it.

The novel is a thinly veiled account of author Silvia Plath’s life, and will star “10 Things I Hate About You ” star Julia Stiles, who will also produce.

Book is dark, but it is said the project will emphasize some of the more uplifting elements. "Esther Greenwood has a strong outlook on life, and we're really looking to bring out the humour in the character," Plum Picture's Celine Rattray, who will co-produce, said. "We don't want to do a depressing descent into the world of suicide."

Hmmm, so they are going to do a “Miss Potter” version of The Bell Jar, how will that work? Will they have happy little cartoon manifestations of her depression? Then again there are so many bio pics about suicidal artists (“The Hours”, “Pollock”, “Fur”, “Sylvia”- a straight forward bio pic on Plath starring our Gweneth, and on and on) that one has to wonder if we really need another. However it would be nice to see Stiles tap into some of that promise she showed in films like “The Business of Strangers”.

Hopes do not hold high for this. I guess I am just overly cynical of the whole awards bait of literary adaptations and portraying real life people, unless it is the Freddie Mercury bio pic (When will that happen???). I guess we will have to wait and see what happens with this, but it is interesting at how many of these types of movies are being made, most likely in the hope of catching Oscars eye.