Why "Deconstructing Harry"?

Writing a blog seemed a good way of making sense of what it is like being here in the US…but of course it fell at the first hurdle and I was struck down by writer’s block The question of where to begin didn’t even enter into it. First there was the endless rumination of what to call the blog. It obviously couldn’t be too obvious…shameless lifting of Alistair Cooke’s “Letter from America” was not only plagiarism, but also would draw unflattering comparisons. Having disavowed plagiarism of Alistair Cooke’s title, I was still drawn to appropriating Hunter S. Thompson’s riff on Las Vegas and offer up “Fear and Loathing in San Diego”, but that doesn’t really convey the (growing) sense of ambivalence I have about being here in the US. It is not unrelievedly bleak and dismal – the main problem is what it isn’t – it isn’t Melbourne in summer. So I thought I would turn to a personal title…and was instantly drawn to the possible uses of film titles…so it could be the Hitchcock title “The Trouble with Harry” or even the one from Dominick Moll “Harry He’s Here to Help” or even “Dirty Harry”. All were discounted for the somewhat bleak connotations of the title or the content of the movie. So in the end I went with “Deconstructing Harry” – though I have never been that big a fan of Woody Allen (with apologies to De and Neil). But it seemed an appropriate way to define my feelings about being some 8000 miles from the cricket, Cooper’s beer, the Magpies, Melbourne coffee shops, the smell of jasmine in city streets in summer, family and friends. The lesson to be drawn from this random choice of title was to do some research, let the buyer beware or some such thing. After googling the movie I have decided to issue a strong disclaimer to the effect that there is no resemblance between the Woody Allen character and me (notably I have not had six psychiatrists and don’t have any intention of writing a book dissing my friends). However there are, judging from the google entry, some funny lines in the film…perhaps I will do a revision on Woody Allen. Dubious titles for the blog aside…here it is, my excuse to vent and rant at the inanities of US life from the safety of the internet