Last week, Entertainment Weekly called my manager, and said that they were going to write announce Just A Geek in this week’s issue. I told my manager that I was concerned, because Entertainment Weekly has always written really cruel and misleading stories about me and my website, but the reporter assured him that this would just be a nice blurb announcing the release of my book.
Since the mainstream media have completely ignored me and Just A Geek, I was pretty excited that an influential magazine like Entertainment Weekly was going to give me a little ink.
That “nice blurb?” I just saw it on page 83:
“Whiner of the Week”
In his blog-cum-memoir Just a Geek, the former Star Trek, TNG cast member, now 32, fills 260 pages endlessly lamenting, “I used to be an actor when I was a kid.”
It’s pretty clear that the person hack who wrote this awful, mean-spirited, and misleading blurb didn’t read the entire book, because I DON’T spend 260 pages “lamenting I used to be an actor when I was a kid.” I spend the first chapter talking about those feelings, because it’s an important foundation for the rest of the story. A responsible journalist would know that.
It’s one thing to criticize the way I write, or opine that I spend too much time on one thing, and not enough time on another. That’s totally valid opinion . . . but to completely misrepresent me and the content of my book this way is despicable.
Someone at that magazine must have a vendetta against me, because Entertainment Weekly has tried very hard to portray me in a consistently negative light. When they reviewed WWdN about two years ago, they selectively quoted me out of context, and made me look really bad, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that they’re at it again, but it still hurts.
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For God’s sake, what do you have to do to catch a break from these dicks??? I keep reading shite books, watching shite films with shite actors in them and all I can say to everyone around is I cannot for the life of me understand why you are not up there in the lights where you belong. This really sucks. In fact, it is really starting to piss me off. Be assured I will also be writing to these dicks. Hang in there, your books were wonderfully written and your website is totally addictive, please don
Don’t worry, you know you’re doing something right when the ones who cannot create, cannot understand creation, and who do not live but merely exist try to tear you down. The difference between the faux journalist who wrote this blurb and the Wesley-bashers who infested the BBS boards which preceded Usenet and the Web is one of degree, not of kind. Just shine he / she / it on and remember that the True Reality is that you’re one of the Cool Kids, and they will never measure up to you, ever.
Dude…the people who read EW probably aren’t in your target audience. I own JAG (although kids and life have prevented me from reading it yet *sigh*) and Dancing Barefoot.
On the EW intern writer’s shelf, you probably would find such literary highlights as a phone book and a few chinese take-out menus.
Sleeze writers are sleeze writers cause no one else would hire them. He probably got out of school with his C avarage journalism degree and couldn’t get honest work at a real newspaper. I mean, really. In my grocery store, EW is on the same shelf as the Weekly World News and the other cheap tabloids.
Spend a quiet night with your kids. I’m sure after that, you’ll get it all back in perspective 🙂
PS I have just sent this letter via email over to these gits. Fell free to copy and paste people!
cx
For God’s sake, what does Wil Wheaton have to do to catch a break from you people? I keep reading awful books and seeing awful films with awful actors in them and all because you and your kind decide who is flavour (yes with a ‘u’, I am English) of the month this month.
Why do you have to put someone who actually has a real talent and real courage down like that? He might be big enough to get over this but why should he have to? His fans are growing in size and he has established quite a cult following and rather than seizing the opportunity to cash in off of the back of his self made success, you chicken out and take cheap shots!
How old was the person who wrote this anyway? Have they seen Stand By Me? They sure as hell didn
I was upset before I saw the cartoon drawing. Now I’m mad. Here’s the letter I sent to EW:
Dear Editor,
I am shocked and dismayed at the irresponsible nature of your review of the book I recently read called Just a Geek by Wil Wheaton. I have been a longtime reader of EW and know that your reviews are sensational and oftentimes scathing, which is fine, but I never imagined the reviews were, in fact, lying about the content of the material. I would expect that the journalist writing the review would have at least actually read the book.
As I read this particular book I discovered honest and heartfelt musings about a myriad of topics without the focus landing solely on any one, especially not what the writer used to be as the review asserts.
This is not a book about whining or bemoaning the past. Perhaps your reviewer skipped all the pages about writing, family, the joys of finding a second career, blogging, overcoming self-doubt, managing the self-given sense of entitlement and judgement of others, finding yourself, acceptance, love, life and all the other things that have absolutely nothing to do with “endlessly lamenting, “I used to be an actor when I was a kid.””
So for you, the Editor, I have just one question: What kind of a journalist writes a review without ever having read the material? I would strongly recommend you find a writer with greater integrity to represent your magazine.
The irresponsible nature of this review has made me seriously rethink the quality of your publication. I believe I will be taking my business elsewhere.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Carol P
Vancouver, BC
The good thing is, for every nameless, faceless hack out there looking to make a buck by lying to the general public, there are hundreds of us responding with legitimate outrage and an outpouring of support. That’s all I see now when I read the “review”. Take that EW!
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
*DEEP BREATH*
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
I remember getting the very first issue of EW all those years ago and thinking, “I wouldn’t use this to wipe my ass.” I haven’t touched an issue since.
You don’t need these elitist assholes, nor do you need their opinions. In the end the only opinion that counts about the work you have done, is yours.
I’ve never read a copy of Entertainment weekly; i’m not sure i’ve even seen it, really, as it looks like all the other glossy mags.
I’m now proud to say that i will *never ever* read an issue of entertainment weekly, even if it’s laying around somewhere free. it’s clear they’ve no integrity to speak of.
my letter to EW. They suck and I was still pissed when I wrote it (that always makes for my best letters, not my smartest but my best)
Subject: thanks for telling me what is cool…
One problem, you don
Boo! I’m going to go get my friend’s copy of EW (wouldn’t spend money on that shit) and burn it. Yeah! See how you like that, you bastards!
That’s it. I am totally cancelling my subscription. (Well, I was going to anyway, but now I do it with more zeal!)
We all will support you in whatever endeavors you choose. Don’t worry about the critics. Look at all this support you have!
In college, a generlized poll was taken to gather the both the intelletual and superficial perception of the general population on the veracity and importance of such newsmags as “Entertainment Weekly.” It was so laughable because 93 percent of the general populace identified “Entertainment Weekly” in the same manner they did “National Enquirer”. In othe words, most people truly do consider “Entertainment Weekly” the cultural mover-and-shaker they seem to think they are.. I have a funny story about “Entertainment Weekly.” My six year old son was battling a cold. We were in line at the supermarket and he reached out from the child’s seat in the cart to grab a handful of “Entertainment Weekly”, which took upon himself to use as a snot rag. My wife, embarrassed, looked to the clerk, expecting we’d have to pay for the magazine (which we never buy). The clerk smiled and said, “Don’t worry about it, honey. I’d use that as a snot rag, myself if I needed to.” Hehe..
Rick
Personally I think that magazine is full of crap for saying that. I really truly enjoyed your book and honestly was very sad when I was done reading it ONLY because there was no more to read. I really hope you will consider writing another one some day sooner then later.
Wow what a bunch of charmers at that magazine.
“Any publicity is good publicity”
Fuck ’em. The wanker who wrote that is jealous because you are a published author of 2 fantastic BOOKS not shitty ARTICLES in a shitty magazine.
Be assured Wil, if your book was like they depicted, no one would buy it and Amazon rankings don’t lie ;o)
You know, I was actually thinking about picking up a subscription to EW again after letting it lapse a couple of years ago.
Now, I don’t think that’ll be happening.
Even better than YOU writing a letter to the EW editor would be suggesting your readers do so. You have 164 comments here. . .why not 164 emails/letters to the editor??
I just sent mine off. 163 to go.
F*** em. F*** em in the ear. I **JUST cancelled my trial subscription to this mag. Wil, it’s not just you. This mag has nothing good to say about ANYONE. I suppose it is just the latest trend in PULP mags to tear down anything and everything.
Remember when Maxim came out, how cool an irreverant it was? 2 months later, there were 472 “clone” mags out. “Gear”, “Stuff”, “Men’s crud”, etc etc.
This magazine is no more than a glorified tabloid, scurrying to and fro, trying to sell copy. Did I mention F*** them in the ear????
And that’s why I ended my subscription many years ago. I was a subscriber from the first issue. I agree that the quality of the writing is questionable — been going downhill. Perhaps the word “entertainment” has taken on a new meaning for them.
Let’s put it this way – I’ll buy JAG, I won’t be buying Entertainment Weekly. They’re tabloidy, anyway, and the few quotes from EW I see elsewhere are always bitchy.
OMG, I am SO SO SO glad I no longer subscribe to that rag. I had a huge subscription problem with them and someone there actually told me my only option was to cancel my subscription. To which I said, well, OK then, cancel my subscription. And then I wrote a letter to them about what happened, and they didn’t reply or do anything to apologize or try to get back my business. Man, they suck.
The content of your book speaks for itself. Anyone who knew you and cared enough to read it wouldn’t need to read the opinions of an Entertainment Weekly journalist, yes? It seems quite clear that you have a following. On the other hand, bad publicity is still publicity, not that it makes you feel any better. Here’s to hoping for better reviews in the future…
I guess you can’t really expect much from a rag that featured such hard-hitting front page stories like “Favorite foods of the stars!!!”
Still, how rude.
I have never agreed with the reviews of anything in Entertainment Weekly. They usually have negative things to say about all the things I love. This is another one of those times. I read “Just A Geek” a few weeks ago & it was awesome. The book is full of feelings, thoughts & happenings. Much more than “I used to be…whine, whine.” You’re an excellent writer & a great actor. Plus, you have friggin Keith Coogan on your side. He’s much better than some jack ass as EW.
http://www.livejournal.com/~wilwheatonfans
Hey Wil,
I finished reading JAG two days ago. I quite enjoyed it. The real tragedy is that the reviewer did not get much past the opening and into the meat of the book. I found alot of things in there that I could relate to. Judging by many of the comments I have read about JAG, I am not alone. Those are the kinds of reviews you should take to heart.
Anyhoo, as someone else mentioned, at least they got your name right and mentioned the book. Any press is good press right?
I’m sure the only reason for EW (how ironic) being so damn moronic is that the writer is stuck tight in the closet and will never forgive you for wearing only moderately tight uniforms on TNG. Come to think of it, I won’t ever forgive you for that, either. 😉
It really is horribly pathetic for someone to continually rag on you, though. What the hell will that accomplish? Don’t worry; I’ll do my part and never buy their crappy magazine again, and I’ll buy not one, but *two* copies of Just a Geek. How do you like *them* apples? 🙂
Wil, Wil, Wil, Wil, Wil, Wil, WIL!!!
Welcome to entertainment “journalism” in the 21st Century! SURELY you couldn’t have been THAT naive, could you? So-called entertainment journalists read just enough to get a salacious “hook” that they think will stimulate the prurient sensibilities of their readership.
And about that readership… SURELY you can’t think that anyone who reads Entertainment Weekly is interested in accuracy in reportage, or even minimal standards of truth, do you? They are interested in reading something juicy, some “red meat.” This usually means reading about a celebrity being arrested, dying with their head bending over a toilet bowl in a seedy West Hollywood club, saying or doing something really stupid, or otherwise just being an asshole. In your case, this was the best – or worst – they could scrounge up. Consider yourself fortunate.
Your mistake is in serving them their “hook” right at the beginning, where their lazy-asses can grab it without having to earn it. If you believe the writer read ANY of the 260 pages beyond that first paragraph, you truly are naive.
If a former child actor is not a currently highly visible adult actor, readers want to read that he or she is either in prison, dead – probably of a drug overdose, or working as a security guard or a greeter at Wal-Mart. When a person who as a child seemed to have everything this culture seems to idolize – money and fame and a highly-rated TV series – ordinary Entertainment Weekly readers just LOVE to read about how they lost it all, and that now they are sucky-ass losers just like they are.
These writers are looking to draw readership for Entertainment Weekly’s advertisers by satisfying this demand; they are NOT writing journalism, because journalism isn’t what sells rags like Entertainment Weekly.
Wil,
I just sent an email to *[email protected]* telling them there are 50,000 Wil Wheaton fans who are pissed and demanded a public apology on your website. Here’s hoping they get the message.
Chin up! We all love you!
Freeman 🙂
Fuck EW, it’s a crap mag anyway. I work for Best Buy and the cashiers are forced to cram that shit down customer’s throats with a “free” 8 week trial run *cough*bullshit*cough*. My point is that I usually read that crap because it’s there in the breakroom. It’s poorly written and tends to be very cruel. Plus the news in it is usually weeks old by the time they print it and their reviews of movies are hacks.
I actually stopped subscribing to that magazine months ago, because progressively I realized just how unbelievably biased that magazine is. I don’t take anything they say very seriously.
Glad that people are reminding you of da love, Mr. Wheaton.
Here’s my angry letter to the bastards at EW:
To whom it may concern:
It is so very easy to play to people’s stereotyped images of individuals. It is far harder to challenge people’s preconceptions. How easy it was for your writers to play to the concept of failed actor when reviewing Wil Wheaton’s “Just a Geek.” How much harder it would have been to actually read the entirety of the book and write a cogent, thoughtful commentary. Wheaton’s tome is far from a reflection solely on his acting days; in fact, it’s a tale of remarkable sensitivity and depth. Your ‘review’ was a cheap shot with no real opinion behind it, just degrading invective. Stop playing to people’s worst qualities, including your own.
Mike Harris
Chicago, Illinois
Hi Wil-
I loved JAG and suggested everyone go out and buy it (or borrow it if they are totally broke). I also went to four different stores to get it (although they were all in a one mile radius).
I was dismayed by EW’s incompetent blurb. I decided to write to EW in disgust. Here was my email:
Dear EW-
In response to EW’s “Whiner of the Week” of the “Just A Geek” review, I have to say that it is obvious that the person doing the “review” had obviously not read the entire book. Wil Wheaton’s book was a poignant view of not only Star Trek stories but also had stories about his wife, kids, and well… life. If anything, it is a feat to have an accomplished book brought about by web logging. EW should have lauded it for that reason alone in a short statement instead of lambasting it for “whining”.
EW needs to be a little more obvious that their writers have actually READ the book instead of skimming through the first ten pages. It makes the magazine look petty.
———
Wil, keep up the great work. I look forward to your writing every time a new one is up.
Personally, I don’t read EW. Or “People”. Now, I *did* read them once, and to this day, I can feel my I.Q. draining away whenever I even look at the cover of either magazine. It frightens me.
I wouldn’t let “lowest common denominator” rags like EW get you down. It’s like getting depressed over some bad press from the freakin’ Enquirer.
It doesn’t take a lot of brains to write for one of these publications (read one from cover to cover and tell me I’m wrong), and we all know it doesn’t take a lot of brains (or talent) to be a critic.
So imagine the kind of foetid sewage that must fill the skull of the person who says, “Hey, I think I want to be a critic for Entertainment Weekly!”
Imagine, laugh, and have a better day, knowing that you could one day be standing on a street corner, holding up a cardboard sign to make ends meet, and still have a better job than these poor sucks. 😉
Here’s their customer service contact form. It states they will respond in 2 days. Lets fill their inbox and give them a nice monday morning surprise.
https://secure.customersvc.com/wes/servlet/Show?WESPAGE=am/Services/wes_email.jsp&MSRSMAG=EW
Screw those guys
Now I know what to wipe with after I take a Berman
Sent a letter, everybody should, EW sux
*squick*
This reads just like any one of the examples from Deborah Tannen’s _The Argument Culture_. She wrote the book as an academic analysis of her own extensive experience with media use of inflammatory language. Forgive me for the unsolicited advice– but I think the book might be a good read for a rising star who is only going to get more publicity from here on out.
Concider the source. I wouldn’t read that rag anyway. I prefer to get my Wil Wheaton news from WWdN! You rock, Man!
What can I say that hasn’t already been said? IF it were a decent mag I can see being truly upset, but seing as that it is a lame and biased rag like EW I think only perhaps minor annoyance with a side boycott will have to do.
Although it does suck that so many people read EW as it is a mainstream mag and will undoubtedly heed the writer’s foul and mean-spirited words.
For what it’s worth, all of your readers got your back.
I suppose it’s silly to say, but… don’t say yes when they ask again. You already have a good idea of how this publication will portray you. 🙂 You sound like an easygoing guy, I’m sorry that you had to be stomped on like that. Ah well, it’s only their opinion, right? *hugs*
Wil,
There are 191 comments to your entry. Now that in itself is pretty cool. I wish I could get the attention of 191 people. 🙂 The press are who they are. We’re here, Wil, and listening and reading every day. Don’t let them get you down.
Linda
Here’s what I sent to EW:
Regarding ‘Whiner of the Week’, page 83:
Maybe before printing a ‘review’ like this, the reviewer should actually read the book being critiqued. If they had done so, they would have possibly found why it was near the top of Amazon.com’s list of most popular books when it first came out and maybe, just maybe, if they would have read it, they would have found that ‘Just A Geek’ is about much more than Mr. Wheaton’s journey through Hollywood as a child actor, but how it was also about the insensitive, inconsiderate people he encountered in the Industry…just like the one who wrote this ‘review’.
Sincerely,
John Park
Nuke ’em from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
That’s it. I’m buying the book!
The Hell with that guy Wil!!!!!!!!!!!
Cheers,
Keith L. Dick
Xgaming, Inc.
Here is a copy of the e-mail I sent to EW:
In your September 17th issue of EW, you listed Wil Wheaton as “Whiner of the Week”. Did the writer of this little jab even bother reading Just a Geek? It is clear he or she only read the first chapter because they completely missed the point of the beautiful journey Wil writes about in his book. It is a shame that when a writer such as Wil bravely shares his life, another chooses to make ignorant, shallow remarks about it. Please tell the child who wrote this to grow up and get a heart. In fact, I know a good book that would be an excellent start.
Wil:
I read Dancing Barefoot last weekend and Just a Geek a couple of days ago. I realized that I had been reading WWDN almost since you set the site up, and that I had read most of your posts over the last few years — and you know what? It worked. It really worked.
The book that you wrote around those posts is so much more than just the posts (which, in and of themselves, were entertaining). What you poured into JAG was context, meaning, and reflection. Oh yeah, and a whole whack load of wit and humour.
JAG could well have been titled “Just a Human” because you touch on so many of the universal themes of being human. Self-doubt and Prove to Everyone plague us all at times, and while the details may change between individuals (“Should I have quit the show? ” vs. “Should I have stuck with English and Philosophy?” vs. “Should I have stuck with that hot Brazilian girl that never wanted to leave the bedroom?”), we can empathize with others going through the same feelings and experience catharsis as we reflect on our own parallels.
Perhaps the reviewer was being deliberately cruel as a way to exercise power over someone who has demonstrated “weakness” (admitting to such emotions, rather than only demonstrating manly-man strength in a stern Teutonic fashion), or perhaps because the reviewer has never reflected on their own path and existence. Either way, they’re not the kind of person you want to spend much time worry about, apart from feeling sorry for them.
Wil, you’re a fine writer. While EW is a magazine with a broad circulation and thus an understandably attractive publicity source, nobody would think it’s an authoritative source of book reviews.
Well, it only took a couple of times to be sure these guys are not worth your time so now you know – don’t work with these dicks anymore.
My letter was sent before I read this showing of support and noted the number of electronic “angry” mail already on its way. I think I’ll send another one recommending they read these remarks. Rock on man, ROCK ON!
-heather vesta