Alisa Valdes-Rodríguez takes to social media to Fight Dirty adaptation of her work

Lauren would not wear hotpants, nor would anyone I have ever known. She wouldn’t got to a “party” in a camisole, either, or slurp jello shots off anyone’s belly. Lauren’s appeal, as I wrote her, is that she is an insecure everywoman, prettier than she realizes, and bulimic. That Luisa describes her in this way is ridiculous, and panders to the outdated “Animal House” view of college life that has nothing whatsoever to do with the studious, insightful, conflicted and almost Holden Caulfield-like person I created.

Following that post, Rodríguez wrote on Dec. 24 that the network sent her a cease-and-desist letter.

As noted in a Dec. 26 thread at Julio Varela’s blog, this is not the first time Dirty Girls has faced issues in being developed for the screen: option deals with Columbia Pictures and the Lifetime network fell through (the latter, Rodríguez said, because an executive told her her script “wasn’t Latin enough”), and a deal with Cienfuegos Films did not pan out due to a lack of financing. Rodríguez added this comment:

It was then that Ann Lopez called, promising to let me look at every script before submitting it, swearing she and her team were the right ones for the job, that they would stay true to the book. That obviously didn’t happen. My mistake in signing a deal with them. It is sad to say, but you really can’t trust ANYONE. I trusted Ann. She sold me out.

On Jan. 1, however, she added another post asking supporters to refrain from criticizing NBC, saying “people are listening”:

It is important to note that I have received respectful emails of support for my creative vision and voice from within the network in recent days. The tone the executives have taken with me is one of understanding, not enmity. I have no doubt the network shares my desire to see this project made well, and I know from correspondence with NBC that people there loved the book and my voice and vision, which is why they chose to develop the project in the first place.

“People are listening” might turn out to be the key phrase in this instance. If this newfound attention by NBC produces something satisfactory for Rodríguez, might other POC creators find encouragement in social media as a means to leverage fan support against Hollywood encroachment?

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