James Franco is Pissing Me Off

[squaresquared]

I didn't even get any response to my application from Houston.....

[HandsomeNerd]

saw this and thought of this thread

Edited April 28, 2011 by HandsomeNerd

[DrKT]

Seeing James Franco's GRE scores > Seeing Obama's birth certificate

LOL!!!!

[DrKT]

Yeah, I was unclear who he was actually (maybe I live under a rock?) but Wikipedia helped me out.

He seems like one of those kids I hated in middle school. They'd get out the biggest books from the library, sit in the corner, and read them with their brows furrowed and head resting on their fists so that you knew they were thinking REALLY hard.

Couldn't get multiquote to work just now

I didn't know who he is either but I did the same thing.... ran to Wikipedia and is it even possible to take that many grad classes at once and still be sane?!

[Amalia222]

IMHO, it's not about J.F. but about the sad state of universities today. The current economy and budget crisis is forcing them to appeal to celebrities. Having someone famous like J.F. go to their school is like free advertising. The name of the university spreads, and the school gets more students, more funding, more corporate sponsors. Universities see celebrity students as a good investment. Whether this is right or wrong is irrelevant--it is the nature of our capitalist society.

[bgreenster]

I actually don't see it as that big of a deal. I understand the frustration of us "normal people" struggling to get into these programs while some famous dude can just waltz on in. I don't mean this in a mean way AT ALL, but I think this frustration stems from jealousy. But which of us wouldn't take advantage of such a situation if it were presented to us? For example, if I were a legacy at some Ivy league school and could just get in because my grandfather funded a building, you bet your butt I'd go, even if I'd feel a twinge of guilt for taking a more qualified student's place.

That being said, I don't believe he is taking anyone's space. Maybe (this might be a stretch but MAYBE) his attending is making it possible for there to be an extra space. You know, if he is paying tuition (since he clearly could afford it) to a program where they would normally be funding someone instead of receiving payment, there is now that much more money in the kitty to dole out to other students.

Also, as some other posters wrote, it can be advertising to that program. Nothing like a celebrity attending to make the name of that program more well-known (although, admittedly this could be negative in some cases if it lowers the credibility...) And while it may be seen as cheapening our hard work, I don't think that anyone actually believes these celebrities are getting in on merit, or going through what we all have to go through, even if said celebrity is intelligent. I would be willing to bet that 9/10 people hear James Franco was accepted into Yale and think "what a stoner, obviously he only got in because he's a movie star."

So yes, it's frustrating and annoying, particularly when applying/getting rejected/whatever but I don't think it's as big of a deal as we make it out to be in our heads.

Sorta random thought that popped into my head- do you feel this way about stars like Natalie Portman? Or is the frustrating part about Fracno that he is so clueless as to what he wants out of his academic career and going about it pretty frenetically?

[Strangefox]

But which of us wouldn't take advantage of such a situation if it were presented to us?

May be those who are modest and decent people?

[Herbie]

He obviously doesn't need to justify himself to increasing groups of people who seem to have unwavering opinions about his intents and background. I honestly wonder how many of these people would feel if they were on the other end of the situation - news sites, board threads, radio discussions all about someone's involvement in higher learning which shouldn't affect you directly as a person or student.

That said, I don't know much about his "mockery," because I haven't looked it up and am not a Creative Writing/English major . . I read snippets of Palo Alto and didn't like it. This doesn't logically follow that his mind and coursework has the same quality. Correct me if I have the wrong impression, but it seems very easy for many people (if they have certain influence) to write books these days . . Sarah Palin, Jay - Z, etc. which doesn't warrant anything positive besides the fact that they're marketable?

If I could do it and afford it, I would. Paying in cash probably gives respective departments more leverage than loan payments from the gov't (I don't know how this works, I'm just presuming). I wouldn't be able to do neither the course load nor the traveling though.

Edit* bad grammar for the win

Edited April 29, 2011 by Chulianne

[bgreenster]

May be those who are modest and decent people?

Then I suppose I am not a modest or decent person

I'm just saying, if I had the opportunity to go to my dream program without having to go through the stress I'm dealing with right now, I absolutely would. Yes, I would feel guilty, but I would still do it. And maybe add cynical to the immodest and indecent list because I really doubt there are a lot of people who wouldn't.

How would you suggest it be done differently? You can't very well pretend to be someone else to try and get in without your famous name. At least he's trying to gain an education as opposed to the myriad of things others are doing these days. I'm not saying that he's going about it the right way, just that it's not soooo bad when put in perspective.

[Mal83]

Does Yale really need to advertise? Doubtful. And what publicity is coming out of him being there except for a few internet articles? Is it in the news? I had no idea until I read this thread. I'm sure Yale or any other school gets something out of a movie star attending their programs, but I don't think it's fair to assume that he's a total dolt and has been admitted purely because he's been in a few movies. He has to be relatively up to par with their standards. And it's also not as if he has taken up something that is a total departure from his work experience, wouldn't that be a hell of thing to put in your SOP for some kind of artistically oriented program.."I was in a major motion picture with Sean Penn....and was good." The movie Milk is the only one I've seen. We're always talking about how our work experience is just as important if not more so than an undergrad GPA or a GRE score. This is his thing. If he got into medical school because he was in a movie then yeah I might be bitter about it for a minute...you know along the lines of "it's all just so easy for those damn rich celebrities."

I think the idea that he's cheapening the process or adding to a perceived sorry state of university affairs is kind of bogus, in fact, I find what he's doing somewhat refreshing. So many celebrities are consumed with only their image, demanding more money per episode of whatever stupid sitcom their on, and living as extravagantly as possible. Here's one, who's young and current getting advanced degrees when he's not acting...his fans just might look up to him for it. I'd rather see Franco and his academic escapades covered positively in the news once and a awhile instead of just one more second of the train wreck that is Charlie Sheen and his disgraceful meltdown of epic proportions.

If we found out for sure that Franco has taken a more qualified applicant's placed based only on the fact that he is a movie star then there would be cause for complaint and outrage...but without that I too just don't see it as a negative.

[switch]

Does Yale really need to advertise? Doubtful. And what publicity is coming out of him being there except for a few internet articles? Is it in the news? I had no idea until I read this thread. I'm sure Yale or any other school gets something out of a movie star attending their programs, but I don't think it's fair to assume that he's a total dolt and has been admitted purely because he's been in a few movies. He has to be relatively up to par with their standards. And it's also not as if he has taken up something that is a total departure from his work experience, wouldn't that be a hell of thing to put in your SOP for some kind of artistically oriented program.."I was in a major motion picture with Sean Penn....and was good." The movie Milk is the only one I've seen. We're always talking about how our work experience is just as important if not more so than an undergrad GPA or a GRE score. This is his thing. If he got into medical school because he was in a movie then yeah I might be bitter about it for a minute...you know along the lines of "it's all just so easy for those damn rich celebrities."

I think the idea that he's cheapening the process or adding to a perceived sorry state of university affairs is kind of bogus, in fact, I find what he's doing somewhat refreshing. So many celebrities are consumed with only their image, demanding more money per episode of whatever stupid sitcom their on, and living as extravagantly as possible. Here's one, who's young and current getting advanced degrees when he's not acting...his fans just might look up to him for it. I'd rather see Franco and his academic escapades covered positively in the news once and a awhile instead of just one more second of the train wreck that is Charlie Sheen and his disgraceful meltdown of epic proportions.

If we found out for sure that Franco has taken a more qualified applicant's placed based only on the fact that he is a movie star then there would be cause for complaint and outrage...but without that I too just don't see it as a negative.

Franco's escapes have been covered extensively in the news, if you look around. The New York Times carried an article. The New Yorker published a profile of Franco and broke the news about his Yale acceptance. NPR did a story about Franco's Yale acceptance. Franco was the co-host of the Academy Awards. There was a joke at the Spirit Awards that Franco was being overreleased in the media because media stories about him are everywhere.

You said if Franco is as smart as the typical Yale PhD student, then................ As some people have already argued, his creative writing has not demonstrated the same strengths as his acting. While a layperson might say a drama program is the same as a creative writing programs is the same as a critical literary program, they're not the same. They involve different skills sets and understanding of the mediums, so that movement by itself shows a certain lack of understanding of literature and drama.

If he was as smart as the typical Yale PhD student, then why doesn't he release his GRE scores and grades to prove to the public this fact? It is more likely he's not as smart. Admitting someone with weaker qualifications does cheapen the process. By definition, it cheapens the process because he was admitted to a literary critical program without the credentials.

He doesn't seem that smart just from the fact that he's taking several PhD and graduate programs simultaneously. Professors don't write five books simultaneously. Research scientists don't conduct five research projects simultaneously. The rest of his Yale PhD cohort is smart, too, but they are finishing one doctoral program (at most two). Regardless of how much money Franco has to throw around, taking all of those courses at the same time doesn't make sense.

People are a little unfairly jealous of Franco, but people like you also unfairly rationalize and enable some of Franco's pretty dumb actions, so between the group that unfairly dismisses Franco and the group that unfairly enables Franco, Franco is apparently making out okay.

[Strangefox]

Then I suppose I am not a modest or decent person

I'm just saying, if I had the opportunity to go to my dream program without having to go through the stress I'm dealing with right now, I absolutely would. Yes, I would feel guilty, but I would still do it. And maybe add cynical to the immodest and indecent list because I really doubt there are a lot of people who wouldn't.

How would you suggest it be done differently? You can't very well pretend to be someone else to try and get in without your famous name. At least he's trying to gain an education as opposed to the myriad of things others are doing these days. I'm not saying that he's going about it the right way, just that it's not soooo bad when put in perspective.

How would I suggest it could be done differently? For example, this way.

Shakira is interested in world history and frequently studies the history and languages of the countries she visits. After her Oral Fixation tour ended in summer 2007, Shakira attended a class in Los Angeles at UCLA, on the History of Western Civilization. She used her middle and last names, Isabel Mebarak, and told the professor she was visiting from Colombia so as to avoid being recognized as a celebrity.

Another link:

The class began Aug. 6 and ended Thursday, though Shakira didn't attended the last few classes, according to course lecturer Robert Cleve. Cleve said he hadn't known she was a celebrity during the course and was astonished to learn she was a pop star.

See, other celebrities can do it!

In your theoretical situation involving yourself, you mentioned visiting only one school, right? ("For example, if I were a legacy at some Ivy league school and could just get in because my grandfather funded a building, you bet your butt I'd go, even if I'd feel a twinge of guilt for taking a more qualified student's place.") This is not so bad.

Bad is that Franco "studies" in several school basically simultaneously, which is very hard to believe. And he enrolls with the purpose to get the degree.

Now, look at Shakira. I think this is a wonderful example of how a modest and decent person would act. She is not advertising that she is a celebrity. She just sits there humbly and learns. Yes, she may visit different courses at different schools, but she does not enter the program with the intention to do all courses and get the degree. And that looks very realistic.

People here say: Franco has lots of money, he can afford that. He can fly from one city to another to study in different programs because he can afford it. But what about TIME??? Celebrities have no time for studying! Look at other stories of celebrities (I don't remember names, but there are many) who had to finish their school or colledge or whatever earlier because they became famous and had a lot of contracts, shootings, concerts, etc. If a celebrity visits some courses from time to time, I say - that is realistic and that is great. But if a celebrity enrolls in programs one by one - or even in two or more at once!! - saying that he/she visits all courses and gets excellent marks and will get the degree in the end - I don't believe that, I am sorry. And yes, it looks like mockery.

If your gradnfather had donated money to a school and you would have an opportunity to go to this school without paying for it from your own pocket - that would be totally fine. Because we are speaking about one program here. And James Franco is enrolled in many.

On the other hand, if a person used his/her grandfather's donation as an excuse not to go through the same process as everybody else, if he/she wanted a school to let them in just for the money their relative had brought in - I would not say that is fine. Ok, such a person could study, why not, but they just would not be on the same level as other students because the latter worked hard to be selected and the former basically did nothing - their grandfather did.

[bgreenster]

How would I suggest it could be done differently? For example, this way.

Shakira is interested in world history and frequently studies the history and languages of the countries she visits. After her Oral Fixation tour ended in summer 2007, Shakira attended a class in Los Angeles at UCLA, on the History of Western Civilization. She used her middle and last names, Isabel Mebarak, and told the professor she was visiting from Colombia so as to avoid being recognized as a celebrity.

Another link:

The class began Aug. 6 and ended Thursday, though Shakira didn't attended the last few classes, according to course lecturer Robert Cleve. Cleve said he hadn't known she was a celebrity during the course and was astonished to learn she was a pop star.

See, other celebrities can do it!

In your theoretical situation involving yourself, you mentioned visiting only one school, right? ("For example, if I were a legacy at some Ivy league school and could just get in because my grandfather funded a building, you bet your butt I'd go, even if I'd feel a twinge of guilt for taking a more qualified student's place.") This is not so bad.

Bad is that Franco "studies" in several school basically simultaneously, which is very hard to believe. And he enrolls with the purpose to get the degree.

Now, look at Shakira. I think this is a wonderful example of how a modest and decent person would act. She is not advertising that she is a celebrity. She just sits there humbly and learns. Yes, she may visit different courses at different schools, but she does not enter the program with the intention to do all courses and get the degree. And that looks very realistic.

People here say: Franco has lots of money, he can afford that. He can fly from one city to another to study in different programs because he can afford it. But what about TIME??? Celebrities have no time for studying! Look at other stories of celebrities (I don't remember names, but there are many) who had to finish their school or colledge or whatever earlier because they became famous and had a lot of contracts, shootings, concerts, etc. If a celebrity visits some courses from time to time, I say - that is realistic and that is great. But if a celebrity enrolls in programs one by one - or even in two or more at once!! - saying that he/she visits all courses and gets excellent marks and will get the degree in the end - I don't believe that, I am sorry. And yes, it looks like mockery.

If your gradnfather had donated money to a school and you would have an opportunity to go to this school without paying for it from your own pocket - that would be totally fine. Because we are speaking about one program here. And James Franco is enrolled in many.

On the other hand, if a person used his/her grandfather's donation as an excuse not to go through the same process as everybody else, if he/she wanted a school to let them in just for the money their relative had brought in - I would not say that is fine. Ok, such a person could study, why not, but they just would not be on the same level as other students because the latter worked hard to be selected and the former basically did nothing - their grandfather did.

I agree with all these points, thanks for such a well-put response! I love that you picked Shakira; she really is an example of a talented and well-meaning celebrity, and is by far my favorite. I think that is a good way to go about taking classes out of interest, it gets a little bit more difficult when you want to enroll and thus need to apply (and use your real name).

I do believe that how Franco is going about things is ridiculous and haphazard. I don't know the details of it all, but I believe Yale was the first school he attended in this whole mess? In that case, I think they don't look foolish because there ARE celebrities that attend regularly and actually pursue the degree. However, the ones that follow and let him attend at the same time as he is matriculating elsewhere are a different story. I absolutely don't think what he is doing is the proper way to do things, and I agree because of his bizarre actions my example doesn't hold up to scrutiny, but I guess I can't get myself to care as much about what he is doing because I don't think it *actually* effects us or the educational system. If anything, it makes him look pretty sllly.

I do still stand by my saying that he could be doing a lot worse things with his celebrity

[Strangefox]

If anything, it makes him look pretty silly.

I do still stand by my saying that he could be doing a lot worse things with his celebrity

I agree with both points!

I am not saying he is a monster or something. And he is not breaking any laws. Actually, he is free to get enrolled in 100 PhD programs if he wishes to. It's just that such actions make him look pretty silly...

[Herbie]

If he was as smart as the typical Yale PhD student, then why doesn't he release his GRE scores and grades to prove to the public this fact? It is more likely he's not as smart.

No offense, but this mildly reminds me of the recent Donald Trump win of coaxing Obama into showing his birth certificate.

[bgreenster]

No offense, but this mildly reminds me of the recent Donald Trump win of coaxing Obama into showing his birth certificate.

Ha, I thought the same thing. I don't make everyone else who gets into grad school show me their scores and grades (as much as I would LOVE to ) He probably doesn't feel like he has anything to prove, although I certainly share the curiosity.

[Mal83]

Franco's escapes have been covered extensively in the news, if you look around. The New York Times carried an article. The New Yorker published a profile of Franco and broke the news about his Yale acceptance. NPR did a story about Franco's Yale acceptance. Franco was the co-host of the Academy Awards. There was a joke at the Spirit Awards that Franco was being overreleased in the media because media stories about him are everywhere.

You said if Franco is as smart as the typical Yale PhD student, then................ As some people have already argued, his creative writing has not demonstrated the same strengths as his acting. While a layperson might say a drama program is the same as a creative writing programs is the same as a critical literary program, they're not the same. They involve different skills sets and understanding of the mediums, so that movement by itself shows a certain lack of understanding of literature and drama.

If he was as smart as the typical Yale PhD student, then why doesn't he release his GRE scores and grades to prove to the public this fact? It is more likely he's not as smart. Admitting someone with weaker qualifications does cheapen the process. By definition, it cheapens the process because he was admitted to a literary critical program without the credentials.

He doesn't seem that smart just from the fact that he's taking several PhD and graduate programs simultaneously. Professors don't write five books simultaneously. Research scientists don't conduct five research projects simultaneously. The rest of his Yale PhD cohort is smart, too, but they are finishing one doctoral program (at most two). Regardless of how much money Franco has to throw around, taking all of those courses at the same time doesn't make sense.

People are a little unfairly jealous of Franco, but people like you also unfairly rationalize and enable some of Franco's pretty dumb actions, so between the group that unfairly dismisses Franco and the group that unfairly enables Franco, Franco is apparently making out okay.

Yikes...sorry just don't agree. I never said that I know for sure he's just as talented as a typical Yale student...I said he should at least be relatively up to par with Yale's standards. I also said it's unfair to assume he's not smart enough to handle it. We don't know him personally, but according to this article he maintained a GPA of above 3.5 while taking boat loads of credits....http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/higher-education/james-francos-unusual-educatio.html A 3.5 undergrad GPA and a Master's from Columbia kind of puts an end to the "he's just not smart thing" doesn't it? I would hope so.

Just because some people got a hold of some creative writing project and didn't like it doesn't make him unworthy of a ph.D. Pretty sure not everything a Ph.D student does has to be brilliant and embraced by all in order to stay in the program. Why should he have to release his transcripts or GRE scores to the world? Does he owe that to you or anyone else for some reason? As long as he hands them over to the admissions committee like everyone else I feel that's quite enough...the demand for such a thing sounds a little Trumpesque to me. I get it, that creative writing is different from literature and not the same as English, but my point was, that it's not as if it's a total departure from his career and undergrad education, his BA is in English...also according to that article he concentrated in Creative Writing. So I don't see how anyone can claim that his undergrad education hasn't appropriately prepared him for and advanced degree in the field he's chosen, so his acting doesn't even really have to come into play, but I really don't think it's a stretch to say that it has granted him a few incredible experiences that look really good an SOP for an artistic program. It's not as if on whim a movie star thought that medical school would be fun and waltzed right in because he dropped off a slip of paper with his name on it to admissions and got in...that would be annoying.

Franco is not attending Yale and Huston at the same time, he was accepted to Huston for Fall 2011, but requested a deferral for one year, which has been granted.

If I have to look around NPR or The New Yorker for James Franco stories then I'm not sure that "extensive coverage" is accurate in this case. See I would use the word extensive to describe the coverage of Charlie Sheen's antics for example. And I'm not sure what hosting the Academy Awards has to do with his academics...he's an actor right?...what's next...he only got the job of Oscar host because he goes to Yale? If you want to equate me disagreeing with your unfair assertions and judgments with "enabling" then that's OK, but I still really don't get the use of the word in this situation.

[switch]

Yikes...sorry just don't agree. I never said that I know for sure he's just as talented as a typical Yale student...I said he should at least be relatively up to par with Yale's standards. I also said it's unfair to assume he's not smart enough to handle it. We don't know him personally, but according to this article he maintained a GPA of above 3.5 while taking boat loads of credits....http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/higher-education/james-francos-unusual-educatio.html A 3.5 undergrad GPA and a Master's from Columbia kind of puts an end to the "he's just not smart thing" doesn't it? I would hope so.

Just because some people got a hold of some creative writing project and didn't like it doesn't make him unworthy of a ph.D. Pretty sure not everything a Ph.D student does has to be brilliant and embraced by all in order to stay in the program. Why should he have to release his transcripts or GRE scores to the world? Does he owe that to you or anyone else for some reason? As long as he hands them over to the admissions committee like everyone else I feel that's quite enough...the demand for such a thing sounds a little Trumpesque to me. I get it, that creative writing is different from literature and not the same as English, but my point was, that it's not as if it's a total departure from his career and undergrad education, his BA is in English...also according to that article he concentrated in Creative Writing. So I don't see how anyone can claim that his undergrad education hasn't appropriately prepared him for and advanced degree in the field he's chosen, so his acting doesn't even really have to come into play, but I really don't think it's a stretch to say that it has granted him a few incredible experiences that look really good an SOP for an artistic program. It's not as if on whim a movie star thought that medical school would be fun and waltzed right in because he dropped off a slip of paper with his name on it to admissions and got in...that would be annoying.

Franco is not attending Yale and Huston at the same time, he was accepted to Huston for Fall 2011, but requested a deferral for one year, which has been granted.

If I have to look around NPR or The New Yorker for James Franco stories then I'm not sure that "extensive coverage" is accurate in this case. See I would use the word extensive to describe the coverage of Charlie Sheen's antics for example. And I'm not sure what hosting the Academy Awards has to do with his academics...he's an actor right?...what's next...he only got the job of Oscar host because he goes to Yale? If you want to equate me disagreeing with your unfair assertions and judgments with "enabling" then that's OK, but I still really don't get the use of the word in this situation.

Getting a 3.5 GPA from UCLA and a MA from Columbia is not sufficient credentials to get a Yale PhD. Harvard English PhD is one of most selective programs at the university with a 2% admissions rate. You need to be summa cum laude to get admitted. Columbia sells many of its M.A. degrees to the highest bidder; it's an open admissions process for many of its M.A. programs including the MFA. Very very easy to be admitted.

Just because you don't listen to NPR or read the NYTimes doesn't mean the rest of us don't. I was inundated with James Franco pieces. James Franco hosting this. James Franco admitted to this. Enough with James Franco! He's all over the place if you listen to the media. If you don't read or listen to the news, then don't make generalizations about what's on the media. The coverage was "extensive." Very extensive coverage.

His deferred going to university of Houston for one year. But a Phd in English typically takes 4-5 years. He still will have to finish 2-3 years of his English PhD at the same time he is starting his PhD in creative writing. HE IS CARRYING ON MULTIPLE PHD DEGREES AT DIFFERENT INSTITUTIONS AT THE SAME TIME.

[Mal83]

Getting a 3.5 GPA from UCLA and a MA from Columbia is not sufficient credentials to get a Yale PhD. Harvard English PhD is one of most selective programs at the university with a 2% admissions rate. You need to be summa cum laude to get admitted. Columbia sells many of its M.A. degrees to the highest bidder; it's an open admissions process for many of its M.A. programs including the MFA. Very very easy to be admitted.

Just because you don't listen to NPR or read the NYTimes doesn't mean the rest of us don't. I was inundated with James Franco pieces. James Franco hosting this. James Franco admitted to this. Enough with James Franco! He's all over the place if you listen to the media. If you don't read or listen to the news, then don't make generalizations about what's on the media. The coverage was "extensive." Very extensive coverage.

His deferred going to university of Houston for one year. But a Phd in English typically takes 4-5 years. He still will have to finish 2-3 years of his English PhD at the same time he is starting his PhD in creative writing. HE IS CARRYING ON MULTIPLE PHD DEGREES AT DIFFERENT INSTITUTIONS AT THE SAME TIME.

I like how this turned into me not ever reading or listening to the news. You're right I don't generally pay that much attention to what celebrities are doing unless I particularly respect them for some reason and I'm interested. But if I feel inundated with something that I don't care about or I find irritating then I switch channels, which I'm sure you know is an option at anytime. There's so much media out there other than NPR and NY Times, seriously not all of them are reporting extensively on Franco. For example maybe if you read The Economist instead you would have a more pleasant experience catching up on world affairs. But to each his own.

I'm fine with him carrying on multiple degrees...basically all I'm saying is that whether or not he's performing up to the standards is not my claim to make..or anyone's for that matter...unless...you're his classmate, professor, or adviser. And I'm about 98% sure that no one who posts in this thread is one of those.

As far as Columbia MAs being for sale to the highest bidder...wow, I didn't know Columbia was so easy, should have applied there, it could have been my back up just in case my top choice 3rd tier school didn't pan out, in fact every user in the forum who didn't get accepted to any schools they applied to should have considered Columbia as their last resort so at least they'd have somewhere to go this Fall, I guess Columbia's better than absolutely nothing. But in all seriousness I'd be a tad insulted by that statement if I were going there for my Master's...just sayin'.

But anyway, I think that like you, I've had enough of this particular aspect of James Franco's life.

[Normal]

Obviously editorialized, but then this came out:

http://www.avclub.com/articles/nyu-professor-fired-for-failing-to-appreciate-jame,66821/

[Two Espressos]

My thoughts on Franco:

1. He's a terribly overrated actor. Starring in stoner comedies (Pineapple Express, Your Highness) does not a good actor make. The only role I genuinely liked of his was Allen Ginsberg in Howl. He was excellent as the poet.

2. His writing is terrible. I only read parts of Palo Alto, but the writing I read was quite poor (things described as "shadow-colored," etc.). He's attended various reputable institutions for creative writing (which ostensibly should refine and improve one's skills), so I'm assuming he never really had the writing talent originally.

3. He's a douche, ostentatious for no apparent reason. He's certainly entitled to pursue multiple advanced degrees at the same time, but so doing makes him look like an ass, in my opinion. I liked the earlier post that discussed Shakira taking a history course at UCLA, using a different name so as to disguise her celebrity status and actually for the most part attending class. That's the way to do it; I think it's very honorable for her to subtly take a course that interests her.

[nightdreamer]

LOL! Some of the posts in here are so funny.

I had a friend that took several classes with James Franco. Apparently, he wasn't as dumb as everyone thought he would be, but he also wasn't a genius. He did skip out on some classes due to filming, but he befriended some classmates (mostly, if not all, women) that would supply him with notes.

Yes, he would have fan stalkers outside the classes. Yes, he did have women fighting (albeit not overtly) to sit next to him. Yes, most of the dudes in the class ignored him.

LOL.

[unitname]

My friend was in a UG class with him at UCLA. Creative writing. Apparently he showed up to every class, did every assignment, participated.. i.e. he was a serious student. Quit sippin' haterade, yall. =)

[unitname]

Side note-

Many of the posts here seem to be scrutinizing the possibility that he had low GRE scores/GPA, however, on every other board on this site people aggressively support the fact that "scores aren't everything". You can't judge a book by its (albeit sexy) cover. We don't know what Franco's life in academia was like. Did you know that he wrote, filmed, starred in, and directed his own movie? Which won many awards and was actually a great film? The manuscript of that alone, if one of us "normals" had written, would get us in anywhere.

Sorry but I think people need to relax. He is famous, yes, but he is also an intellectual. Franc-ly, I'm glad someone in Hollywood is actually IN SCHOOL.

[asleepawake]

Well, this sucks.

I know I'm reviving an old thread, but a lot of the posts in this old thing just really rub me the wrong way. I think the anxiety, pettiness, and downright meanness expressed in this thread toward somebody nobody here has ever met is indicative of a larger problem: grad students can be notoriously competitive and mean. Most people on this forum are kind and supportive. But the whispers around campus of so-and-so not deserving such-and-such exist everywhere. The whisper only becomes loud when we're talking about some stranger who represents more of an idea to us than an actual person.

I'd like to link to this great article by one of Franco's Yale professors, John Williams: http://www.slate.com...or_speaks_.html

Now, I don't know James Franco. He might be all of these bad things people are claiming. But he might not be. You don't know. Stop pretending you know. Stop imaging how awful he is and getting pissed off about it. Not just about James Franco, but everyone.

I need to work to take my own advice, of course.

Edited June 20, 2012 by asleepawake