Oscar-winning screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin connects with HFC’s MCA students

Detroit native and Oscar-winning screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin spoke about his career with HFC Media Communication Arts chairperson Susan McGraw and 14 MCA students during a recent Zoom visit.

“Doing the writing and having something to write about are the two keys in this business,” said Rubin, of upstate New York. "Letting go of your ego is the best thing possible in life."

“It was truly an honor to have such an esteemed screenwriter visit our class,” said McGraw. “Mr. Rubin shared insights with our student media writers about his career and candid advice for navigating the industry. I have always respected and admired his great work. I grew up with his movies, and part of the reason I have such a passion for the art of film is because of him. This was a full circle moment for me and an invaluable lesson for our students.”

Classmates were Martin Scorsese and Brian De Palma

During his days at Mumford High School, Rubin was involved in theatre, acting in and directing school plays. As a teenager, his interest in filmmaking was sparked after seeing the 1957 Swedish drama Wild Strawberries at the Krim Theater in Detroit.

Rubin attended Wayne State University. He later transferred to the New York University Tisch School of the Arts. His classmates included future Oscar-winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese (The Departed) snd future Oscar-nominated filmmaker Brian De Palma (Carrie). De Palma directed Jennifer, Rubin’s first student script.

Rubin’s first job after college was as an assistant film editor for NBC’s The Huntley-Brinkley Report. He left that job after a year and went on a spiritual quest, where he discovered meditation and hitchhiked through Europe and Asia.

In 1974, Rubin and his family (wife Blanche and their two sons) moved to Indiana. Blanche attended graduate school at Indiana University, while Rubin worked odd jobs and attempted to launch his screenwriting career. He sequestered himself in a hotel room and disconnected the TV so he could write uninterrupted. After eight days, he completed his first screenplay. After 12 days, he completed his second screenplay. Although neither was ever produced, he experienced the process of writing and finishing screenplays.

A ghost story from the ghost’s perspective

Rubin’s early work includes the 1983 film Brainstorm, starring Oscar winner Christopher Walken (The Deer Hunter), and the 1986 film Deadly Friend, directed by the late horror auteur Wes Craven (Scream). Later work includes the 1990 film Jacob’s Ladder, starring Oscar winner Tim Robbins, and the 1993 film My Life, which was Rubin’s only directorial effort, starring Oscar nominee Michael Keaton and Oscar winner Nicole Kidman. He also penned screenplays in 2002, Stuart Little 2, in 2007, The Last Mimzy, and in 2009, The Time Traveler’s Wife.

In 1990, Rubin came to prominence with Ghost, starring the late Patrick Swayze (Dirty Dancing), Demi Moore (A Few Good Men), Tony Goldwyn (Scandal), and Whoopi Goldberg (Sister Act) in her Oscar-winning role. The idea for Ghost came from his desire to tell a ghost story from the ghost’s perspective.

“One day, I was watching a production of Hamlet, which begins with the ghost of Hamlet’s father saying, revenge my death,” he recalled. “I thought, ‘Wow, let’s transpose that into the 20th century; it’d be an interesting story.’ And the idea hit me.”

Something very primal

In Ghost, Sam Wheat (Swayze), a banker, and his girlfriend Molly Jensen (Moore), an artist, live in Manhattan. Though he loves her deeply, Sam would only say “ditto” in response to Molly’s “I love you.”

At work, Sam informs coworker Carl Bruner (Goldwyn) about unusually high balances in several bank accounts. That night, Willie Lopez (the late Rick Aviles) attacks Sam and Molly. A gun fires and Sam chases Willie off. Turning around, Sam sees Molly holding his dead body, realizing he was killed during the fight. Now a ghost, Sam is invisible to the mortal world. As weeks pass, Sam remains by a distraught Molly’s side and connected to the mortal world, unseen and unheard.

Behind the scenes, Sam eventually learns Carl was laundering money and sent Willie to steal the bank accounts’ passwords from Sam, not kill him. To protect Molly, Sam enlists psychic Oda Mae Brown (Goldberg). Oda Mae can perceive Sam, but no one else can. In the end, Sam thwarts Carl’s evil plans and shares a final kiss with Molly, who is able to see him, before ascending to heaven.

“The movie taps into something very primal with people,” said Rubin. “It’s that urge to have one last moment with someone you love; it satisfies that fantasy… coming from the other side just to say ‘I love you’ – something he couldn’t say to Molly when he was alive – and that’s very powerful.”

“The love inside, you take it with you”

Initially, director Jerry Zucker (Airplane!) was opposed to Swayze being cast as Sam.

“Patrick nailed it,” said Rubin. “When he read the last line, ‘The love inside, you take it with you,’ everyone in the room started crying (even Zucker) and he got the part.”

Ghost became the top movie of 1990, grossing more than $505 million worldwide at the box office. “I was as surprised as anybody else,” confessed Rubin. “It was pretty amazing.”

Rubin won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Winning the Oscar, a lifelong dream, was a transcendent moment for him.

“It was one of the most remarkable experiences, the most perfect film experience I’ve had,” he said. “Movies come and go with the seasons. For Ghost to still be part of the culture more than three decades later is very special. (Parents) tell their children to see it, who tell their children to see it. It talks about something meaningful to the human psyche. This idea that death isn’t an ending, I think that’s very important for a movie to address or affirm. And then there’s this incredibly romantic idea that you’re able to have one last moment with someone you love. Those are the key elements to why the film keeps playing.”