Wildflower/Drew Barrymore
Wildflower by Drew Barrymore
Drew Barrymore is an actress, her book, Wildflower, brings that into sharp relief. I’m not saying it’s on a, “don’t quit your day job” level, I actually found it engaging, enchanting even. From the beginning it doesn’t try to be anything it isn’t, very “in character” for Drew Barrymore. I see the book get a lot of grief from the people who didn’t read the preface where Barrymore clearly states she wasn’t even, “…assuming anyone would ever read it.” She also, for those of you out there complaining of it being “disjointed” and “unorganized,” states abundantly clearly that she, “…didn’t write it in any particular format,” which is delightful since the format the book is in works exactly as it’s meant to.
Barrymore’s preface goes on to say, “This is not a sweeping life story but an elaboration on times in my life as I remembered them.” You could fit all the fucks she gives about making everyone else happy with this book into a thimble, and that is another thing I like about Barrymore and her work. I look forward to checking out the photography book I had no idea she did until I got ready to post this request.
I’ve been a fan of Barrymore’s work in film since she lit up the screen in Firestarter in 1984. I knew there had been a book released at some point about her struggles with drugs and alcohol, Little Girl Lost. but I never needed to read it. The story was prevalent enough in the media that even I knew what was going on, at least enough to know it wasn’t anything new for Hollywood. I was of the mind-set that it was just something a lot of famous kids go through, they either make it or they don’t, and she made it. It wasn’t smooth, but she made it.
Drew Barrymore had dug herself a hole, jumped into it, tried to climb back out, got pushed back in and then clawed her way up the side, muddy and alone and made it out while there were people trying the whole time to set her on fire. Dealing with the fact that she was the one giving them the matches the whole time couldn’t have been a highlight of living a life less tipsy. At one point she stopped struggling with her issues and started dealing with them. She started taking her mental breakdowns and turning them into mental breakthroughs. Her life changed and getting these stories out was a cathartic release for her as the memories were no longer tainted with some of the negative associations they once held…maybe? What the hell do I know?
I happen to be in the same age range as Drew Barrymore and we have some things in common, things that are core building, and I don’t mean exercise for the midsection, I mean things that shape you at the very core of who you are. We shared the single parent thing, the lack of a father thing, the losing a parent thing, among other things. It was the 70’s and as she so eloquently puts it, “Men left and moms worked were the messages I was receiving.” She talks about family bonds and the bonds of friendships she developed over years, sometimes painfully finding out that not everyone you think is a friend actually has your best interests at heart. She touches from time to time on the trials and tribulations of being a celebrity as well, not a cake-walk, I’m sure.
She also mentions the importance of family from the perspective a person who never really had a traditional one, something else I can relate to. She does imply that anyone who hasn’t had a family wants one, that isn’t always the case. She admits to the delusion that had she only had that stability at home, that traditional family, she wouldn’t have had the problems that she did. I don’t completely buy that but we all tell ourselves what we must to sleep at night. Sometimes it does seem as though she is doing just that, admitting that the assignment of blame is a delusion. There’s a lot of inspirational, “take your life into your own hands” kind of encouragement going on here. It isn’t pushy, it’s just there for you to take it or leave it.
I’m not gonna lie, after awhile the stories do tend to drag on but once again, she says very clearly in the preface that’s it’s the type of book you just pick up from time to time, she wasn’t trying to impress anyone or write some sweeping, mind-blowing tome that changes the world for centuries to come. She was having a cathartic release of whatever she was releasing, I can’t speak for her. As a writer however, I can dig that, I have dusty blogs full of release. The book is set up so you can start one of the stories and if it’s not to your liking, you can just skip it, perhaps the next will be insightful or entertaining, and at the end of the day, that’s all Barrymore is clearly attempting with this book, and she accomplishes it as well as can be expected for an award winning actress.
