Dying of Politeness: A Memoir

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I had no idea she once dated Christopher McDonald, so that makes Thelma and Louis even more interesting. Dying of Politeness is a touching account of one woman’s journey to fight for herself, and ultimately fighting for women all around the globe. You get the sense of a normal person, with a normal family doing what they consider normal but to the rest of us, being in a different world.

i came because i wanted to learn about her time on the set of beetlejuice, little to no avail, and to get to know her better.I knew that he was also to blame because she strolled up the street and told him never to touch me again and then told me never to go up the stairs to his apartment again. most notably, stars as lead thelma, in thelma and louise—partly thanks to her, we have that beautiful scene of brad pitt shirtless (one of his first acting roles, if not his first). I ended up sort of perching across the corner of the bed while Murray placed the thing on my back for a total of about two seconds.

The way I understand is she was just in the right place at the right time and modeling was her foot in the door. But her growth to becoming this strong and resilient woman was a journey for her, which was unexpected. I found this long pole for hiking, and it would bounce if you put it on the ground, and I couldn’t move forward unless it was bouncing correctly. i didn’t realize how far we’ve come in how we promote women on the screen, and i also didn’t realize how much media impacts huge life decisions.I love Geena and it was so fun to listen to her read her own memoir, sharing stories about the various movies/shows she's worked on, including Thelma and Louise, A league of their own and Commander in Chief.

View image in fullscreen High achiever: Davis after winning the Oscar for best supporting actress for The Accidental Tourist in 1989. She's interested in improving roles and representations of women in media, particularly television, film and animation. Geena Davis's memoir, Dying of Politeness: A Memoir, may not change the world, but Geena Davis is still fighting to change her world and become a bit more badass every day. One detail that was interesting to hear about was that you never let your parents know that you didn’t graduate college.But the 66-year-old actor’s latest project is something completely different: a memoir titled Dying of Politeness, a collection of reflective essays that detail how her New England upbringing shaped her life and career in Hollywood, and the challenges that came with her success. While I like Geena Davis as an actress, she glossed over so much of what made her who she is today and how she got such big parts back in the 80s/90s, save for Thelma and Louise. She gave more attention to Jeff Goldblum but again, failed to elaborate why that relationship failed, yet states she regrets it. I had never spent any time around a woman who moves through the world like that, where she feels very comfortable saying what she thinks, what she wants and also seeing that nobody’s reacting.

It felt like she was telling me a story instead of reading me her memoir, if that makes sense- like there was still a layer of holding back/presenting it just so rather than rawness and realness. Can you tell me more about the romantic scene that was cut between Tom Hanks’s Jimmy and your character, Dottie, in the movie?

We did two or three or four takes, I can’t remember, and at some point, he nudged me with his elbow and said, all innocent and butter-wouldn’t-melt-y, ‘ What’s with you, you good? I’m constantly dropping things or tripping, eating Skittles compulsively, and you don’t realize until the end why I’m like that—and then you find out. Overall, this book is decent but leaves the reader wanting more and have a less idolized view of this Hollywood star.