Deadline reports that director Roger Kumble’s latest YA romance film, Beautiful Disaster (an adaption of a book by author Jamie McGuire), has started filming in Bulgaria. While I first noticed the inclusion of Dylan Sprouse (as one of my eras’ Disney Channel stars), it is McGuire rightfully getting all the attention:

The author of that book is an outspoken white nationalist who approves of using violence to attain her political aims.

— Courtney Milan 🦖 (@courtneymilan) October 25, 2021

Oh goody, one of the most staggeringly misogynistic “romance” novels I’ve ever read, written by an anti-vaxxer MAGA-loving racist who supported the Capitol attack, is getting a movie, because fuck everything, right? https://t.co/16K6kBZpOr

— Kayleigh Donaldson (@Ceilidhann) October 25, 2021

#BeautifulDisaster author Jamie McGuire on Jan 6, 2021: “Are you all watching the Live Feeds? This is just the beginning. patriots will fight against fraud and tyranny. We might be looking at the beginning of a new civil war.” pic.twitter.com/7Df8QWoZPn

— Raimey Gallant (@raimeygallant) October 25, 2021

What’s the deal with Jamie McGuire?

To talk about half the stuff the woman has said would need its own article. Mcguire remains a horrid person with a popular series from 2012 rivaling bad fanfic. She cites debunked crime stats and conspiracies ranging from the blatantly (rehashed) anti-semitic to anti-Covid safety (masks, vaccine, etc.). On every platform she resides (Facebook, Parler, etc.), McGuire spews racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, and all-around hate garbage. But, lest you point that out, and you’ll be called the actual racist. The recycled material should show you everything you need to know about her writing, too.

McGuire isn’t all mask-off all the time, though. For example, when Ahmaud Arbery was chased and murdered by two white men while jogging, she posted a Change.org petition linking on her author’s Facebook page. However, on her private one, she shared a video of everyone’s (current) favorite Black conservative, Candance Owens, slandering the man and trying to blame him for his death. Owens is a favorite of McGuire (like other white nationalists) because she can point at agreeing with her as a paper shield proving she’s not racist. McGuire also played “devil’s advocate” on George Floyd’s murder, too.

the fact that beautiful disaster is being made into a movie while jamie mcguire (the author of that book) is like THIS. it makes me fucking sick and anyone who chooses to be in this movie is questionable too. pic.twitter.com/0vzcXZ5HQB

— samantha (@jumpscaregay) October 25, 2021

After years of her racism and homophobic behavior, Marsal Lyon Literary took until August of 2020 to stop representing McGuire. There were too many connections to Proud Boys, white supremacists, etc. to ignore, I guess. While bigotry can be very profitable to indie authors (McGuire isn’t the only big name, but the only one I’ll name), it’s riskier for publishers. They have to think about a wider group of people they employ and the authors they represent.

What no one asked for

The success of Shonda Rhimes’ adaptation of Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton (which over 82 million accounts watched) on Netflix proved that the demand is there for romance adaptations. On the subject of Netflix, the adult comedy Always Be My Maybe and Jenny Han’s YA series To All The Boy’s I’ve Loved Before show that Brigderton wasn’t the big, expensive gamble non-romance fans thought it was.

What’s confusing to many readers is out of all the popular, successful romance novels and series, why McGuire’s book? In addition to people calling out the bad writing, her book is a physically abusive love story. Some of the passages are hard to stomach and make Twilight look tame.

you could wake me up in the middle of the night, demand the names of very buzzy romance novels that would make good movies, and I could give you ten titles in ten subgenres before i even knew i was awake (and none would be written by white nationalists)

— Cat Sebastian (@CatSWrites) October 25, 2021

*that* novel for adaptation? Really? In this climate?

(Jamie McGuire’s dark stalkery novel that was problematic then and remains so now and also she’s awful chummy with the Proud Boys and seriously, when I asked for more romance adaptations post-Bridgerton, THIS WASN’T IT)

— Kate CuthBOOrt 📚 (@katydidinoz) October 25, 2021

When we said we hoped to see more romance novels adapted to the screen we did not mean the ones by authors who have cutesy in-jokes with Pr*ud B*ys. https://t.co/XtZMFg8OY7

— What Would Danbury Do? (@bridgertonpod) October 25, 2021

Only this year venturing into an adult, fiction romance more deliberately with Alyssa Cole’s Reluctant Royals and Runaway Royal series, I don’t personally have many suggestions—mostly because I know there’s probably going to be five white adaptations for every one couple of color. Half of those will be interracial, with one partner having to be white. I didn’t make the rules; these are just observations.

Anyways, for the romance readers out there, what books (YA or 18+) not written by a white supremacist bigot (the new floor) would you love to see adapted into a movie or TV series?

(via Deadline, image: Raimey Gallant and Alyssa Shotwell.)

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