Movie Reviews for Writers: Flannery

Flannery O’Connor is not only one of my favorite writers, but she’s also the subject of a PBS documentary named after her. Known as perhaps the Grand Dame of Southern Fiction, O’Connor is THE voice to be reckoned with in the world of fiction seen through the eyes of the South.

But she wasn’t what she seemed, neither a Southern lady nor a rebellious feminist. In fact, according to Conan O’Brien, discussing her and her work in an interview: “You think it’s this bitter, old alcoholic who’s writing these really funny dark stories, and then you find out she’s a woman and that she’s devoutly religious.” Her work and her life didn’t always line up with straight edges. There was overlap, and there were gaps where they didn’t quite join up like they should. 

But to limit her to merely a Southern writer, as Harvey Breit says, isn’t fair to her legacy:

I for myself think that although Ms. O’Connor can be called a Southern writer, I agree that she’s not a Southern writer, just as Faulkner isn’t, and that they are, for want of a better term, universal writers. 

They’re writing about all mankind and about relationships and the mystery of relationships.

To Flannery, that universal mystery she was writing about had a lot to do with craziness, according to Alice Walker:

She was able to go straight to the craziness without always trying to make the craziness black or the craziness white.

She just saw the mystery of the craziness.

Read the full review:

https://seanhtaylor.blogspot.com/2023/11/movie-reviews-for-writers-flannery.html