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moodyvalentinestories · 5 years

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O Thomas Hunt, Wherefore Art Thou My Professor? | Chapter 24

Summary: Friday, featuring Hunt picking on Rachel during a lecture. Classic.

Notes: So... close. I can almost FEEL the masquerade... Also, apologies for skipping some time but there's been so much filler lately, I don't really think we need any more of that.

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The rest of the week went... well... pretty much as one would expect. On Tuesday, I had my first day of shooting Triangulaire, which went amazing.

Afterwards, I met with Chris Winters for coffee. Just a few weeks ago, I would have called it a big deal but it simply didn't feel like that anymore. Chris was a nice guy and it felt more like we were old friends rather than him being a celebrity and me being a fan. I had a great time with him and it seemed we were both on the same page about our friendship, after all.

In general, my time on set went much better than my time in school. Specifically, my time in Hunt's class. We butted heads more than once during the week, but at least there wasn't anything major. Mostly, it was just him telling Addison and me to be quiet in his class. Granted, I kind of avoided him as much as I could -- mostly to keep Addi happy and off my case. I knew that would change on Friday, though.

It was, in fact, a bit of a struggle trying to balance Triangulaire, classes, and my assignments -- once again, especially the one Hunt gave us -- but I managed. With lots of caffeine and very little sleep.

Come Friday, I was kind of relieved. No filming for Holly's movie was scheduled for the day, my schoolwork for the week was mostly done, and I would be going to a masquerade in the evening. Though I hadn't mentioned the latter to anyone and I wasn't planning on doing so.

Early in the morning, I met up with Addi at the coffee shop -- like we'd done all week.

"Don't worry, I think we did a great job," she said and plugged a flash drive into her laptop to show me the finished product. Hunt had us turn the first chapter of a novel of our choice into a film that, just as Addison had said, turned out far better than expected.

I let out a sigh of relief. "One less thing to worry about."

"Not for long," she laughed. "I'm sure Hunt already has something great planned for next week. Probably expects us to produce a full musical."

I laughed along. She was right, the things he asked of us were always nearly impossible. At least he hadn't given us any special treatment this week. I would most certainly not have had the time, nor the patience, to deal with that.

After we'd finished watching, we headed to class, where Addison handed the flash drive in to Hunt. I asked her to, but she probably would have done it, anyway. She was still wary of me being anywhere near Hunt. For good reason, too.

Shortly after Addi had returned to her seat, Hunt started his lecture... about no lesser topic than romantic comedies. Oh, this was bound to be fun.

"Today we’re discussing the decline of the romantic comedy, a genre that relies all too often on an unbelievable formula. How often have you seen the two lead characters spend most of a movie fighting with each other… only to end up together in the end because of some ill-established passion?"

I heard Addison chuckle next to me. "Don't we just love this topic, Rachel?"

"Shut up," I said. A little too loudly, unfortunately. It earned me a warning glare from Hunt, but nothing more.

"Real love is nothing like that. Once a genre full of heart, the majority of romantic comedies have descended into farce bereft of true emotion. But it still works, doesn't it? Every time a new romantic comedy is released, millions flock to theatres to watch. Why do you think that is?"

He looked around the room, but no one was willing to answer. No, we all knew that whatever answer we gave, he would mock us for it. But he wouldn't simply answer his own question. So I braced myself for the inevitable. And, predictable as he was, he called on me.

"Miss Fields, what do you think?"

"I think it's because they're fun to watch," I simply replied, hoping this would be over soon.

"Fun to watch?" he asked. "Does that not go for every genre? Why do people like action movies? Well, it's fun to watch. Why do they like fantasy, science fiction, horror? It's fun to watch. Be more specific."

I sighed. "I don't know. Maybe they lack romance in real life? Maybe their love life is depressing as hell so they just want to watch a love story that'll likely end with the couple being together for once? I don't bloody know."

"So, in your opinion, the big studios exploit people's need for romance. Would you ever consider starring in such a production, Miss Fields?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked, now getting annoyed. Couldn't he just move onto the next student? Obviously not. "I don't know what you want to hear. Do you want me to say that I'd prefer if my projects had meaning and weren't made by soulless corporations? Sure. Aren't we kind of all here because we consider ourselves artists? But if I say that, you'll tell me I'm delusional. Yet, if I say yes, you'll call me a sell-out. There's no winning here so why even bother."

"Why even bother?" he repeated, finally turning away and starting to pace the stage again. "Here's a lesson for all of you: compromise. It's what we all have to do here. You all want to make a living, doing what you love. So you won't always be able to only do things you're fully passionate about. I've been lucky enough to be in a position where I can choose what I do and do not want to do. Some of you may get there, eventually. Some of you won't. There is nothing inherently wrong with starring in big blockbusters. Except, of course, you'll be selling your soul..."

Hunt went on about how not every movie produced by large studios was bad and how not every indie film that was made with passion is good. He went on about finding the right balance, and occasionally compromising -- but not too much. As per usual, it was an interesting lecture. That ended with our next assignment.

"On Monday, you will be divided into two groups: screenwriters and actors. As per usual, what you will be doing will be determined by coincidence," he said, pointing to the dreaded golden bowl. "Screenwriters will be fixing scripts of what I consider to be mindless romantic comedies, and actors will be acting out the revised scripts. And here's a tip for the weekend for all of you: maybe learn a thing or two about emotions. Specifically, how to convey them."

Oh, I would be learning a lot about emotions. Probably more about repressing them than showing, but that had to count for something, right? Besides, I was already doing a film with a focus on romantic emotion. Quite an artistic, definitely-not-mindless-Hollywood-style movie, too. I had this in the bag. Just as long as I didn't have to be a writer. Not to be too hard on myself but my writing abilities were subpar, to say the least.

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Tags: @silversparrow02

#professor hunt #hollywood u #hollywood u: rising stars #Thomas Hunt #wherefore art thou my professor #rachel #hwu #hwu hunt

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