Thank You Mrs Harris, Julie and Julia

Crazy how long it's been since I wrote my last real blog. Not a transcript of a video of mine, or just an embed code for a podcast or something else I posted somewhere on the internet, but a genuine, casual blog. I'm not sure when life got so crazy, and I lost track of time. The last time I remember blogging seriously, I was 28 (I'm now 35). Definitely before the pandemic. Way before A.I started taking over everything. Probably more of a reason to blog now than ever before, if people are going to look for real, authentic views and opinions from a real person (look into the dead internet theory for context). 

I've been so obsessed trying to complete a feature-length film and trying to get my business running that a lot of other things have begun to suffer because of it. My blogging is one example (I'll blog about the other aspects later). It's been a wild few years. I wasn't even planning on writing this tonight. Here I am, home alone, realizing it's probably been 24 hours since I even heard my own voice. I call my mom to say hi, and I tell her I'm about to re-watch "Mrs Harris went to Paris" (click the photo for a copy), a film I showed her a while back on one of the few movie nights we get to have these days. She thought it was interesting that I wanted to rewatch it, and I realized from there that my mom really does not rewatch movies. She tells me she only watches a movie over if she missed something (so I send her the 7-hour cut of The Godfather).  Now, the only reason why I wanted to rewatch Mrs Harris is because I saw on Peacock that it was labeled as a drama. I didn't even think of it as a drama because it was so lighthearted. With my current project, Cable After Dark, being so raunchy and adult, I know that my next project will be something a little different. Something light-hearted.  ​

At this time, I'm not thinking about feature films, at least not in the traditional sense. My friend Jordan Emanuel has always been suggesting I should focus on TV instead of film for long-form storytelling, so I'm figuring out ways to translate my stories on social media platforms (then compile them into a feature afterwards). Trying to be less like Spielberg and more Dhar Mann Studios. So I decided to ask Chat GPT why it is labeled as a drama, and this is what I got:

​### 🎭 1. **"Drama" is a Broad Umbrella Term**

In the film industry, *drama* doesn't always mean "serious" or "heavy." It simply means a story that focuses on character development, emotional journeys, and personal stakes — rather than action, suspense, horror, or slapstick comedy. So even if a film feels **wholesome**, **uplifting**, or **funny**, if its core is a character-driven story with emotional depth (even mild), it often gets tagged as a *drama*.

### 🧵 2. **Tone vs. Genre**
* **Zone**: Lighthearted, whimsical, charming
* **Genre**: Period drama, character drama, or dramedy

*Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris* has a gentle tone, but it deals with real themes: grief, hope, classism, ambition, and reinvention — all core dramatic elements.
So, it’s a **light drama** or **dramatic comedy (dramedy)** — but many film databases (like IMDb or Netflix) simplify that into “drama.”

### 👗 3. **Period Piece Bias**

Because it’s a period film set in 1950s Paris, studios and critics often default to calling it a drama to emphasize its literary or prestige appeal — even if the execution is sweet and humorous.

### 🏷️ 4. **Awards/Marketing Strategy**

Labeling a movie a "drama" can help it get more attention for awards season, and makes it seem more prestigious. "Comedy" or "feel-good movie" sometimes gets taken less seriously by critics and voters.

*Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris* is **lighthearted in tone**, but it's a **drama by structure** — focusing on a personal journey, emotional growth, and social themes. That's why it gets the drama label, even though it feels like a warm hug of a movie.

So I asked how I could do the same and it give me this:

Having your dramas feel like Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris means you're aiming for:
🪄 Feel-Good Dramas — aka "Cozy Prestige"
These are stories that:

• Touch the heart without trauma
• Make people smile and think
• Center around underdogs, dreamers, or people seeking dignity
• Handle conflict without violence or despair
• Are often set in nostalgic or beautiful locations
• Use charm, whimsy, and style to explore serious ideas

🔑 What Makes These Kinds of Dramas Work

Tone
Light, gentle, hopeful, charming — even when stakes are emotional

Conflict
Internal, social, or cultural — not life-or-death

Protagonist
Kind-hearted, resilient, often overlooked or underestimated

Visuals
Stylized, colorful, cozy — production design matters a lot

Themes
Purpose, community, dreams, dignity, reinvention

Pacing
Relaxed, emotional beats are given time to breathe

Resolution
Satisfying but not too clean — earned uplift

🧵 Examples of Lighthearted Dramas Like Mrs. Harris

• The Hundred-Foot Journey – culture clash, cooking, and self-discovery
• Julie & Julia – passion project becomes a life-changer
• The Intern – intergenerational mentorship, stylish and warm
• Pride – activism + found family, very funny and touching
• A Man Called Otto (or the original A Man Called Ove) – grump with a heart learns to love again
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – romance and healing in post-war Britain

💡 Your Twist on It
If Carlemile Studios were doing this style, your take could blend:

• Cultural specificity (e.g., Black, immigrant, or working-class American stories)
• Fashion, food, or music as visual anchors
• Warm humor that doesn't undercut the emotions
• Big dreams in small places (like opening a boutique, chasing a lost dream, helping a community)

​What to Aim For
🧡 Heartfelt character journey
🎨 Visually warm or stylized
🧘🏾‍♀️ Low-stakes or community-centered conflict
🌍 Hopeful message, social texture, elegance or whimsy
​​​

Then I asked "how does it keep the story interesting and engaging (I'm thinking of the jospeh campbell hero's journey or the South Park writers' model of "This happens therefore that happens but then this happens").

It responded: 

This is the secret sauce behind why a “gentle” or low-stakes film like Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris can still be deeply engaging and emotionally satisfying. Even in cozy dramas, structure is everything, and they absolutely do follow a version of the Hero’s Journey or the “therefore/but” logic of South Park's story model.
Let’s break it down:


🎯 WHY THESE STORIES STAY ENGAGING
Even when the stakes are emotional, not life-or-death:

1. They center on an underdog with a clear emotional goal (justice, respect, identity, dignity, second chance).
2. They use escalating complications — the world pushes back at every turn, forcing adaptation.
3. They follow a cause-and-effect chain of decisions (“therefore” and “but”).
4. They build internal tension — the character must change internally to succeed.
5. The climax delivers poetic justice or earned grace.

📘 EXAMPLE: Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (through a story structure lens)
Hero’s Journey-style:

Ordinary World
Mrs. Harris is a widowed cleaning lady, ignored and underpaid

Call to Adventure
She sees a Dior dress and wants something beautiful for herself

Refusal of the Call
She doubts whether she’s worth it, or can even get to Paris

Crossing the Threshold
She scrapes money together and goes to Paris

Tests, Allies, Enemies
She faces snobbery, befriends models, argues with Dior staff

Approach
Her presence starts changing the fashion house and herself

Crisis
Dior won’t sell to her, she’s humiliated, then scammed out of her dress

Reward
She gets respect, earns real relationships, helps others transform too

Return with the Elixir
Returns home not just with a dress, but dignity and impact

🧩 South Park “Therefore/But” Logic:
Let’s apply that too:

• Mrs. Harris sees the dress, therefore she decides to save money.
• She saves money, therefore she buys a ticket to Paris.
• She arrives at Dior, but they treat her like a joke.
• She charms André the accountant, therefore she starts getting access.
• She begins to help others, but still faces rejection and loss.
• She returns home, therefore she carries the ripple of change back to her world.

Every step has emotional cause-and-effect, not just plot mechanics.

🧠 Final Tips

• Keep raising the emotional stakes, not just plot events.
• Each scene should have a character choice, not just stuff “happening.”
• Build in mini victories and setbacks like any hero’s arc.

    • Keep that “push/pull” rhythm — “but” and “therefore” are your gas and brakes.
​

​So, since I had that conversation with my mom and ChatGPT before the opening credits of Mrs Harris's even finished, I decided to watch "Julie and Julia" instead, ​since it was brought up on the list of recommended films  (click photo if you want to get a copy). Since I've been living alone, I've been learning to cook on my own a lot, so I figured this is up my alley.  I used to watch Julia Child on my old Google Home device while cooking at my ex's. A device I'm starting to miss and wish I didn't leave over there (but we don't cry over spilled milk over here, it's just material things). In "Julie & Julia", there’s a key early moment where Julie Powell (played by Amy Adams) is venting her frustrations about her life. She feels stuck, working at a government call center helping people with issues after 9/11, watching her friends succeed, and feeling like a failure by comparison. She's clearly overwhelmed and creatively unfulfilled. Her husband, Eric (played by Chris Messina), listens patiently and suggests that she should start a blog. First, he tells her to blog about living in Queens, NY. The problem is she hates Queens (I didn't take that personally). He reminds her that she loves to cook and that blogging might give her a new sense of purpose, something that's just hers. There was something about his next line, "Why not cook your way through Julia Child’s cookbook and blog about it?"  that hit me like a ton of bricks. Why am I not blogging about all these experiences I've been going through latley? 

From Business, content creation, filmmaking, to mental health, relationships, family, friendships... I have experienced alot in these last couple of years. When I was 14 years old, I got hold of the Eddie Murphy Cassette "Comedian", which was just a recording of Delirious, but it inspired me to become a comedian. After trying to write my stand-up at that age, I realized I didn't have any life experience to write about. 

I guess the same could be said about by early attempts at filmmaking and writing novels. The most I experienced was heartbreaks and hood drama.  Since then, a lot has happened. For good and bad, but I think I'm becoming a better man for it. A lot of the stuff I was figuring out how to turn them into vlogs, stand-up comedy sets, video essays, etc. I don't know why I stopped considering blogging, but this film has woken up the blogger in me. I should tell my story. If not me, then who? Just like the drama of a film, my own life experience, my character development, emotional journeys, and personal stakes, the wholesome, uplifting, or funny moments (or even sad, depressing, gritter moments) of being a neurodivergent enterprenual creative can be it's own character-driven story with emotional depth (even mild) even if its not fiction, cause face it, real life sometimes is stranger than fiction.

Side note: I just finished the movie, and it's a sweet film about finding a passion, cooking, and parasocial relationships, but it's no Mrs Harris Goes To Paris. 

But either way, Thank You to Mrs Harris, Julie, and Julia. The prodigal son has come home.