Hehheh...after FIRST reading the quote by Pearl Buck and THEN this piece about Hitcock and Hayes, I've got to say the romanticized description of the "artist as creator" seems pretty ridiculous in this context. The artist also must gain a very thick skin or else the wits to deal with all the other predators out there. Old Hitch played hard-ball: he had to, not because he wanted to create, but because he wanted to survive in the business. Not sure the sensitive soul type really can exist in this business.

I am not enjoying the equation of sensitivity with weakness. I don't believe the Pearl Buck quote mentioned weakness or fragility. I think there will always be writers who are comfortable being part of the business of entertainment, and other writers who just want to write good, meaningful stories. There's probably room for both in film, just more money for the first kind. In this story of Hitchcock and Hayes, my sympathy is with Hayes. Hitchcock movies, and Rear Window especially, are among my favorites, but I've read Hitchcock interviews in which he completely demeaned the role of the writer. I know it's fashionable for other writers to just go along with this as part of the biz, but why not just think for a moment what you're saying?