fandomhigh | It's Actually Not That Complicated; Tuesday, Second Period, 08/30.

Class would get started in just a few minutes, because there was a band of bears in the corner playing some sick riffs right now. Rosa was less concerned about being rude by cutting them off, though. She just thought they were just killing it, and wanted to see how this played out. But, eventually, they did finish thier set, the shaggy lead singer growled out something else into the mic, and then they took their leave to go play at their next random-ass venue, and it was time to go from metal to movies.

"Alright," said Rosa. "That was a thing. So. Anyway, if you're here, you're here for It's Actually Not That Complicated: Life Lessons from the Films of Nancy Meyers. But who, you may be wondering, because you're a degenerate with absolutely no taste, is Nancy Meyers? Well, she's only just one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful writer/director/producers of our time. Her movies are not only incredibly well told stories with amazing details and competent, relatable women in the lead roles, but they are a veritable feast for the eye, the mind, and the soul. And we're going to talk about them, because, quite frankly, nobody talks about them enough.

"I know the first week is usually for," excuse her for her barely contained roll of her eyes, "introductions, but there's only one person we're going to be interested in knowing today, and that's the woman herself."

With that, Rosa went to dim the lights and go to her computer, because, that's right, everyone. You were getting a slide-show.

An image show up on the screen. "This," Rosa informed them, "is Nancy Meyers. She was born in Philadelphia in 1949, where her father was an executive for a voting machine manufacturer and her mother was an interior designer, a career that would clearly later influence her daughter with her exquisite set design and gorgeous attention to detail. She became interested in theater at the age of twelve after reading playwright Moss Hart's autobiography, Act One, and started to involve herself in local productions. It was not until 1967, after seeing the Mike Nichols classic The Graduate that her interest in screenwriting itself was sparked. And the rest, from there, is history."

That they were all going to hear about now, because this was a class, dammit.

"After graduating from American University....which is a real school, even though it sounds completely fake...with a degree in journalism, she spent a year working in Philadelphia-based public television before moving out to Los Angeles and living with her sister Sally in the Coldwater Canyon area, and she started working as production assistant for the game show The Price is Right.

"Inspired, however, by The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Nancy decided that she wanted to try her hand at writing, and after two years of various script-related jobs and positions, and supporting herself by starting a small cheesecake business, she eventually got hired by Ray Stark, who then fired her for having the audacity to not be cool with the fact that he had two other writers working on the same script without the others knowing. So, already, we have a fierce bitch who knows what she wants and isn't afraid to do what it takes to get there."

Rosa went on like that for while now, with plenty of photos and movie covers and movie screenshots along the way, breaking the woman's career down in a very thorough and surprisingly loving way.

"For influences," she said, heading toward a conclusion....eventually, "Meyers credits the screwball comedies of the thirties and forties, and she tends to feature portrayals of middle ages women finding that perfect balance between the personal and the professional. She's also very particular about redirecting the male gaze typically found in most movies to offer a more critical look at male leads through the female gaze, instead, and says that her tendency to use lavish and beautiful sets are to help show that the women of her movies are successful and confident and can afford to create such beautiful and comfortable spaces for themselves.

"Through her hard work, incredible story-telling, and meticulous directing style, Meyers has become one of the most influential women in the romantic-comedy genre, and even in the Hollywood industry as a whole. There are criticisms that her work does tend to lean toward more of a heteronormative, white, upper-middle class status quo, which limits the scope of her work to a very specific nice, but you try and find me anyone who's out there using the boundaries of that socio-economic class in conjunction with the tired tropes of the genre in such a regenerative and original manner. I'll wait."

And here, Rosa paused to wait, just as she said she would, but not quite long enough for anyone to actually say anything before she finished up with, "That's what I thought. Now, we're not going to start getting into the actual movies until next week, but it wouldn't hurt to at least see where you're all at with this subject matter. Any questions? Do any of you currently have a favorite Nancy Meyers movie or one in particular you'd like to talk about? Or are you lucky and get to experience all of this for the very first time?"

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With some of your own gorgeous set design. Maybe some nice wine.

Metal to Meyers in two-point-five seconds. Get yourself a woman who can do both.

Like the class title says, it's really not that complicated, but if there are any questions or thoughts to share with the class, now's a good time to ask them, and the only thing saving you all from some sort of highlight reel or watching some interviews with the woman herself is the fact that Rosa wants to save all the good stuff for later.