Award winning screenwriter Diablo Cody turns her sharp satirical lens on rockstars and their dreams in Ricki and the Flash . While the movie is about a rockstar; by making her a woman, Cody makes acute observations on the nature of ambition, success and family.
Directed by Jonathan Demme, Ricki and the Flash follows rock chick Ricki (Meryl Streep) who is trying to reconnect with her daughter Julie (played by Streep’s real life daughter, Mamie Gummer). In Cancun, Mexico, the Cody talks about her inspirations and women in Hollywood. Excerpts.
Did you write this story specifically for Meryl Streep and Mamie Gummer?
I’m never so optimistic as to write for specific actors, because I go into every project assuming it will never see the light of day. So I just did my best to create the characters and hope that certain people would want to be in the film.
In terms of the screenplay how was it is collaborating with director Jonathan Demme?
Jonathan is probably my favourite person. I couldn’t believe how much he cared about the characters and the script — a level that I thought only I was capable of caring. And even after we wrapped everyday, we would sit down and talk more about the movie. And I said, ‘We’re like parents. You’ve just had a baby and can’t stop talking about the baby.’ We were obsessed with Ricki. If he wanted to, he could have just gone off and made the movie. He doesn’t have to cooperate with this screenwriter, but he did. And it was awesome.
Could you comment on the name?
I was trying to think what is a classic, female, rocker name? I was thinking Stevie and something that has a little bit of an edge to it, and that was where Ricki came from. As for the Flash, actually it has a kind of a multiple meaning. I was thinking about her having an epiphany in the movie, which, you know, is a flash. And also if you go to a tattoo parlour, they have all these sort of pre-designed tattoos on the wall and they’re called Flash, which means it is not an original idea, and this is a cover band. So that was one of the inspirations.
Could you comment on women in Hollywood?
Obviously there is a situation in Hollywood, where there is not enough recognition for female writers, female directors or female-driven stories. It is nice to be, well known and to have people recognize what I’ve worked on, but what is still hard for me, every time, is convincing people to make a film with a female lead who isn’t necessarily sympathetic or bubbly. So that is where the problem really seems to be. How do we embrace, a female scoundrel? It is so easy for people to love Jack Nicholson or Warren Beatty in a certain type of role, but it’s harder for them to embrace Meryl Streep.
How has your career choices affected your family life?
Part of the reason I wrote this movie was because I was interested in the idea of when you’re following a dream, when do you cross the line to selfishness? At what point is your family going to resent you for pursuing something that you love? And it is a question that haunts me as an artist.
Were you inspired by any real life musicians to write the character of Ricki?
I was actually inspired by my mother-in-law, who is the lead singer of a rock band, which is pretty cool. She has six grand-children and she is still out there every weekend gigging, on the Jersey Shore. She plays guitar, sings and she is wild on stage. When I met her, I thought, ‘You got to be kidding me.’ I noticed that her kids, even though they love her, they didn’t seem super impressed. They seemed like they were a little conflicted about the whole thing. And I was, “You guys are crazy. This is the best thing I’ve ever seen.” So that was definitely the spark for me.
Can you talk a little bit about what rock and roll means to you today?
I’m a huge rock fan. That is why I wrote this movie. The era that I love is the classic rock era. It is sometimes harder to find good rock these days, because it is not what is really dominating the airwaves.
