MovieChat Forums > Wonder Boys (2000) Discussion > What was wrong with Tripp?

What was wrong with Tripp?

posted 12 years ago by hunterofserenity-2
7 replies | jump to latest

Why did Tripp have those spells? I can't remember it being explained in the movie.

[–] Foxbarking 11 years ago

Spells? Sheesh. You make sound like he's in a Tennessee Williams play. He doesn't get spells.

[–] bwilk-1 11 years ago

Wonder Boys seems like a biography of Richard Yates. If so, why has this not received any mention? Also, Yates had the same seizures due to alcoholic epilepsy.

[–] AllieMDA 9 years ago

Wonder Boys seems like a biography of Richard Yates.

Nope. A semi-autobiographical novel by Michael Chabon. It's long; got a lot of subtlety of course, as well as several major plotlines missing in the movie. The book is quite a good read on its own - as long as you know not to expect a screenplay-like experience. It could never all fit into a movie - I wouldn't even want them to try. It would be a disaster.
This is one of the very very few instances where the book and the film are both good, but each as an individual entity.
Actually I can't think of another instance such as this. Anybody?

[–] CharteredStreets 9 years ago

What would you call them then?

If I have to tell you again, we're gonna take it outside and I'm gonna show you what it's like!

[–] Foxbarking 8 years ago

Episodes.

[–] Future_Games 11 years ago

There's a hospital scene in the script that was either not filmed or it was and it ended up being cut. The doctor puts Grady's spells down to a mixture of a drug problem, anxiety and his ankle wound becoming infected.

ROCK STARS HAVE KIDNAPPED MY SON

[–] tallkennj 9 years ago

Panic attacks... unclear whether his drug use was a cause or an effect. In other words, we can't tell if his drug use was making them worse or if he was self-medicating the anxiety that was causing the attacks. Either way, both the pot smoking (et al) and the spells appear to have stopped at the same time.