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58-428: The plot involves a love triangle between the characters portrayed by Reynolds, Kristofferson, and Clayburgh. Semi-Tough also includes a parody of Werner Erhard 's Erhard Seminars Training ( est ), depicted in the film as an organization called "B.E.A.T.". The film is based on the 1972 novel of the same name by Dan Jenkins . It was adapted for the screen by writer Walter Bernstein and director Ritchie, who added

116-481: A cult and a new faith. The film includes a parody with B.E.A.T. as a stand-in for est . In American Film Now , Friedrich Bismark is simply described as "the Werner Erhard character". The Grove Book of Hollywood describes Bert Convy as a "Werner Erhard-lookalike", in his portrayal of Friedrich Bismark. Barbara Jane Bookman's guilty feelings for not "getting it" after completing her B.E.A.T. seminar are seen as

174-461: A rivalry , in which two people are pursuing or involved in a romantic relationship with one person, or in which one person in a romantic relationship with someone is simultaneously pursuing or involved in a romantic relationship with someone else. A love triangle typically is not conceived of as a situation in which one person loves a second person, who loves a third person, who loves the first person, or variations thereof. Love triangles are

232-474: A "cheeky film" that poked fun at the "est" craze and other human potential fads. TIME called the film one of 1977's best comedies, and also noted that it was: "without a doubt the year's most socially useful film". The film did not receive a positive review in Variety , where the reviewer commented: " Semi-Tough begins as a bawdy and lively romantic comedy about slap-happy pro football players, then slows down to

290-485: A Bengali feudal lord), and Ayesha (the daughter of a rebel Pathan leader against whom Jagat Singh was fighting). In television shows, a love triangle is often prolonged, delaying final declarations of love between the pursued character and suitors that may prematurely end this dynamic or displease fans. Love triangles also featured prominently on soap operas , and can span more than a decade, as shown by Taylor Hamilton , Ridge Forrester and Brooke Logan on The Bold and

348-466: A common narrative device in theater, literature, and film. Statistics suggest that, in Western society, "Willingly or not, most adults have been involved in a love triangle." The 1994 book Beliefs, Reasoning, and Decision Making states, "Although the romantic love triangle is formally identical to the friendship triad, as many have noted their actual implications are quite different ... Romantic love

406-684: A film reviewer for the campus newspaper, and where he joined the Young Communist League . He graduated from Dartmouth in 1940. In February 1941, Bernstein was drafted into the U.S. Army . Eventually attaining the rank of Sergeant, he spent most of World War II as a correspondent on the staff of the Army newspaper Yank , filing dispatches from Iran, Palestine, Egypt, North Africa, Sicily, and Yugoslavia. He wrote of his experiences in Palestine in an article titled "War and Palestine". Bernstein wrote

464-477: A late-night phone call from actress Valerie Harper , known in Hollywood as a devoted student of Werner Erhard. She related to Convy that Erhard was "pleased" with the role, and she wished him success in the film. Convy suspected that her real reason for calling was to subtly pressure him to go easy on his parody of Erhard in the film. Harper is mentioned by name in the completed film. The film grossed $ 37,187,139 at

522-503: A letter from Erhard stating: "it would be great for us to get together". Of the est seminar itself, Convy recalled that when another attendee complained of a headache during the course, the group leader told him to "experience it", and when another attendee wet his pants, he was told to "experience the warmth". In a scene from the film, a woman exclaims to Friedrich Bismark in the middle of a seminar: "I peed in my pants and it felt good. " During actual filming on Semi-Tough , Convy received

580-400: A love triangle between Juliet, Romeo, and Paris. Although more subtle, Dumas's classics The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers also feature love triangles strong enough to seek revenge and start a war. Bengali writer Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay 's 1865 novel Durgeshnandini also follows a love triangle between Jagat Singh (a Mughal General), Tilottama (the daughter of

638-415: A love triangle results in the breakup of a marriage, it may often be followed by what has been called "the imposition of a 'defilement taboo'...the emotional demand imposed by a jealous ex-mate...to eschew any friendly or supportive contact with the rival in the triangle". The result is often to leave children gripped by "shadows from the past...they often take sides. Their loyalties are torn", and – except in

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696-627: A major aspect of Indian television shows . Three of the highest grossing movies of all time adjusted for inflation ( Gone with the Wind , Titanic and Doctor Zhivago ) are romantic epics that feature a love triangle at its core. Young adult literature has seen a rise in the popularity of the love triangle story structure (such as Twilight or The Selection ). But the love triangle story structure has been around since before early classic writers like William Shakespeare and Alexandre Dumas . Shakespeare's famous play Romeo and Juliet featured

754-497: A man is better able to control himself in a love triangle than a woman". Stereotypically, the person at the center of a rivalrous love triangle is a woman, whereas for a split-object love triangle it is a man, due to the same reasons that polygyny is far more common than polyandry . Those who find themselves tempted to become the Other Man may, however, still find a cynic's advice from the 1930s pertinent on "the emotional position of

812-427: A new storyline that included a satire of the self-help movement and new religions . Semi-Tough follows the story of pro football friends Billy Clyde Puckett and Marvin "Shake" Tiller, who have a third roommate, Barbara Jane Bookman. A romance develops between Shake and Barbara Jane when he becomes self-confident after completing a self awareness course called "B.E.A.T.", at which point Billy Clyde slyly makes

870-707: A number of articles and stories based on his experiences in the Army, some of which originally appeared in The New Yorker . These were collected in Keep Your Head Down , his first book, published in 1945. Bernstein first came to Hollywood in 1947, under a ten-week contract with writer-producer-director Robert Rossen at Columbia Pictures , working uncredited for All the King's Men . After that he worked for producer Harold Hecht , which resulted in his first screen credit, shared with Ben Maddow , for their adaptation of

928-543: A part of the McCarthy era actions against individuals with communist affiliations. Throughout the 1950s, however, he managed to continue writing for television, both under pseudonyms and through the use of "fronts" (non-blacklisted individuals who would permit their names to appear on his work). In this manner, he contributed to television programs of the era, including Danger , the CBS News docudrama series You Are There , and

986-428: A play to win her for himself. The film received mixed receptions. Some reviewers praised its parodies of the est training, Erhard and other new age movements such as Rolfing . Others criticized the script and direction, noting that some of director Ritchie's previous films had more of a personal tone. Still other reviews lamented the film's departure from the novel Semi-Tough , which dealt with football rather than

1044-558: A reference to: "how creeds like est put nonbelievers on the defensive". The book also notes: "The film captures the peculiar mixture of spirituality and pragmatism that surrounded est", and also describes the minister's capital gains tax advice to Friedrich Bismark at Shake's wedding as "sardonic". A 1977 review in TIME refers to Friedrich Bismark's B.E.A.T. as "an est-like movement", and notes: "the Ritchie-Bernstein version of an est seminar

1102-429: A straight three-handed operation ... which may be operated with any assortment of sexes: three men, three women, two men and a woman (' Ménage à trois '), or two women and a man ('The Tourist Sandwich')". Love triangles are a popular theme in entertainment, especially romantic fiction, including opera , romance novels , soap operas , romantic comedies , manga , tabloid talk shows , and popular music . They are

1160-608: A teacher. He studied at the Erasmus High School in Flatbush, Brooklyn . After graduating from high school, he went on to study a six-month immersive language course at University of Grenoble , where he lived with a French family who were acquaintances of his father. It was here that he was exposed first to communist ideas. He returned to the United States and attended Dartmouth College , where he gained his first writing job, as

1218-662: A too-inside putdown of contemporary self-help programs." Variety noted that stars Burt Reynolds, Kris Kristofferson, and Jill Clayburgh were "excellent" within the "zigzag" script and poor direction they were given. Michael Costello of Allmovie also criticized the script, and wrote: "While much of this is quite predictable, a number of the jokes score, Burt Reynolds works his charm overtime, and Jill Clayburgh and Kris Kristofferson are effective as comic foils." In American Film Now , author James Monaco commented on director Michael Ritchie's directing style in Semi-Tough , stating that in

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1276-576: Is a drama about a restaurant cashier (played by Woody Allen ) with no real talent or political convictions who is hired to act as a "front" for blacklisted television writers during the 1950s. It earned Bernstein an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay and the WGA Award for Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen . Bernstein made a cameo appearance in Allen's film Annie Hall (1977). Bernstein

1334-411: Is agreed upon by all parties is sometimes called a triad , which is a type of polyamory even though polyamory usually implies sexual relations. Within the context of monogamy , love triangles are inherently unstable, with unrequited love and jealousy as common themes. In most cases, the jealous or rejected first party ends a friendship – and sometimes even starts a fight with – the second party over

1392-416: Is called Bismark Energy Action Training, or B.E.A.T. After Shake completes his course, Barbara Jane and he have sex and start a relationship. They plan to marry after the football season ends. Barbara Jane is not a follower of B.E.A.T., and Shake is warned by his leader Bismark that "mixed marriages don't work". Barbara Jane is determined to make it work, so she attends B.E.A.T. in an effort to "get it". At

1450-482: Is created" automatically, as "in Truffaut 's film Jules et Jim " . René Girard has explored the role of envy and mimetic desire in such relationships, arguing that often the situation "subordinates a desired something to the someone who enjoys a privileged relationship with it". In such cases, 'it cannot be fair to blame the quarrel of the mimetic twins on a woman. ... She is their common scapegoat'. When

1508-476: Is done with marvelous malice". Psychiatry and the Cinema characterizes the film as a "devastating parody" of the est training. After Semi-Tough' s release in 1977, Bert Convy was contacted by a number of est followers, as well as by Werner Erhard. After Convy appeared on The Tonight Show and discussed his experiences attending Erhard Seminars Training in preparation for his role as Friedrich Bismark, he received

1566-405: Is seen as a spoof of "a Rolf-like masseuse". Big Ed Bookman is seen crawling around on all fours practicing something called "creep therapy" or "movagenics". Movagenics is seen in the film as a way for individuals to find their "lost center of consciousness". Big Ed Bookman is also shown proselytizing for "Movagenics", a fictional group in the film which TIME referred to in its review as both

1624-458: Is typically viewed as an exclusive relationship, whereas friendship is not." The term "love triangle" generally connotes an arrangement unsuitable to one or more of the people involved. One person typically ends up feeling betrayed at some point (e.g., "Person A is jealous of Person C who is having a relationship with Person B who, in Person A's eyes, is "their person."). A similar arrangement that

1682-604: The Gerald Butler novel for the film Kiss the Blood Off My Hands (1948) for Universal . He subsequently returned to New York, where he continued writing for The New Yorker and other magazines, and eventually found work as a scriptwriter in the early days of live television. In 1950, because of his numerous left-wing political affiliations and related activities, his name appeared in the publication Red Channels , resulting in his blacklisting by Hollywood studios as

1740-459: The Writers Guild of America in the "Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium" category, for his adaptation of Dan Jenkins' novel. The press disagreed on the satire of Erhard in the film, some praising it, some not. The Wall Street Journal criticized the film, save for its satirical nature: "The movie isn't much - an erratic ramble - but it has some pleasant moments, and a delicious send-up of

1798-675: The Arts in the Department of Dramatic Writing . Bernstein also served as a visiting screenwriting instructor at Columbia University School of the Arts in the 1990s. Bernstein's book, Inside Out: A Memoir of the Blacklist , was published in 1996. In his memoirs, he recounts joining the Young Communist League at Dartmouth College in 1937, and the Communist Party itself the year after he left

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1856-554: The Beautiful , or between Luke Spencer , Laura Spencer , and Scotty Baldwin on General Hospital . Warned of a love triangle by one of his prospective partners, Albert Einstein conceded to her that "You have more respect for the difficulties of triangular geometry than I, old mathematicus, have." Walter Bernstein Walter Bernstein (August 20, 1919 – January 23, 2021) was an American screenwriter and film producer who

1914-534: The U.S. Army. Bernstein was married four times, with the first three marriages to Marva Spelman, Barbara Lane, and Judith Braun , ending up in divorces. He married literary agent Gloria Loomis in 1988. In the 1950s, he was also in a relationship with actress Maggie McNamara . He had two children with his first wife Marva Spelman, Joan Bernstein and Peter Spelman; three children with his third wife Judith Braun, Nicholas Bernstein, Andrew Bernstein , and Jake Bernstein . He died of pneumonia on January 23, 2021, at

1972-417: The adulterer, and why to avoid it... Did I know what a mug's game was? – No. – 'A mug's game,' he told me, 'is breaking your back at midnight, trying to make another man's wife come " . A love triangle should not be confused with a ménage à trois , a three-way relationship in which either all members are romantically involved with each other, or one member has relations with two others who are reconciled to

2030-410: The best of cases – "the one left 'injured' can easily sway the feelings of the children against acknowledging this new relationship". As to gender responsibility, evidence would seem to indicate that in late modernity both sexes may equally well play the part of the "Other Person" – that "men and women love with equivalent passion as well as folly" and that certainly there is nothing to "suggest that

2088-413: The box office. Semi-Tough was later developed as a short-lived television series with a similar theme, and was a candidate to be picked up in the fall of 1980. The 1980 series starred Bruce McGill playing Burt Reynolds' original role, with co-star David Hasselhoff . The film has since been released in both VHS and DVD formats. In 1978, Walter Bernstein received a nomination for a WGA Award from

2146-438: The death of one of three people" – or alternately a comic one: "A man at the funeral of a friend's wife, with whom he has been carrying on an affair, breaks into tears and finally becomes hysterical, while the husband remains impassive. 'Calm yourself,' says the husband, 'I'll be marrying again'." It has been suggested that if men "share a sense of brotherhood and they allow a woman into their relationship, an isosceles triangle

2204-431: The end of the long training session, she is worn out from Bismark's "sadistic abuse, pious drivel, and sheer double talk". She also feels guilty that she did not "get it". Shake is insistent that the training has had proven results for him, noting that he has not dropped a football pass since completing B.E.A.T. Billy Clyde also has feelings for Barbara Jane and, without telling Shake or Barbara Jean beforehand, enrolls in

2262-447: The eternal triangle can be represented as comprising three points – a jealous mate (A) in a relationship with an unfaithful partner (B) who has a lover (C) ... A feels abandoned , B is between two mates, and C is a catalyst for crisis in the union A-B". It has been suggested that "a collusive network is always needed to keep the triangle eternal". This may take a tragic form – "I saw no prospect of its ending except with death –

2320-432: The face, starting a general brawl. Billy Clyde makes a disparaging remark about Bismark to Barbara Jane, causing her to realize that he had been sandbagging all along about having "gotten it" from B.E.A.T. The two of them leave in the commotion, and reveal their feelings about each other as they walk along the beach in their wedding attire. Semi-Tough is based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Dan Jenkins, and

2378-406: The film Ritchie was "speaking in a professional voice". Monaco noted that Ritchie's prior films evoked a more personal tone, and had more of a sense of wonder than Semi-Tough . Chapman's In Search of Stupidity characterized the film as: "Possibly one of the best movies ever made by Burt Reynolds", and described the film's parody of est as accurate and amusing. Leonard Maltin criticized parts of

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2436-434: The film adaptation of his book Baja Oklahoma was: "a lot more faithful to the novel than Semi-Tough ever was". Burt Reynolds began training with Kris Kristofferson to get in shape before film production. Before work began on the film, actor Bert Convy attended one of Werner Erhard's est training sessions to prepare for his role as B.E.A.T. seminar leader Friedrich Bismark. Pro football stars were hired to give realism to

2494-539: The film, including John Matuszak , Paul Hornung , Joe Kapp , and Ed "Too Tall" Jones . The football scenes were shot at the Cotton Bowl . Bernstein and Ritchie's modified screenplay based on Jenkins' book includes a storyline with "satiric jabs" at new religions, self-improvement, and the Human Potential Movement. A form of Rolfing is also parodied in the film by Lotte Lenya , whose character Clara Pelf

2552-423: The mystery series Colonel March of Scotland Yard . (It has been incorrectly stated in some sources that Bernstein's blacklisting resulted from "unfriendly" testimony given to HUAC in 1951, but, in fact, he was not subpoenaed by the committee until the late 1950s, and never actually testified.) Bernstein's screenwriting career began to rebound from the blacklist when director Sidney Lumet hired him to write

2610-577: The new age movement. Wide receiver Marvin "Shake" Tiller and running back Billy Clyde Puckett are football buddies who play for a Miami pro team owned by "Big Ed" Bookman. Bookman's daughter Barbara Jane is roommates with both men, and the film depicts a subtle love triangle relationship developing between Barbara Jane and her two friends. Initially the three of them are just good friends, but she begins to have romantic feelings for Shake, who has become more self-confident after taking self-improvement training from seminar leader Friedrich Bismark. The program

2668-425: The patterns of the childhood relationship to each parent in turn and to both parents as a couple". In such instances, "you find men who are attracted only by a married woman but who can't sustain the relationship if it threatens to become more than an affair. They need the husband to protect them from a full relationship...as women who repeatedly get involved with married men need the wives". "In geometric terms,

2726-524: The same B.E.A.T. training session as Barbara Jane in order to understand what she is going through. In the training, Billy Clyde is shown coping successfully with the seminar rules that prohibit going to the bathroom or talking to other trainees. When the trainees are encouraged to express their most repressed feelings, he exhibits the strongest, most primal display of them all. Shake is surprised to see Billy Clyde emerge from Barbara Jane's B.E.A.T. training session. Billy Clyde "confesses" to Shake that he took

2784-454: The screenplay for the Sophia Loren movie That Kind of Woman (1959). From then on Bernstein was able to work openly on films such as Paris Blues (1961) and Fail-Safe (1964). He worked uncredited on the screenplays of The Magnificent Seven (1960) and The Train (1964), and was one of several writers who worked on the script for the ill-fated Something's Got to Give , which

2842-511: The screenplay was written by Walter Bernstein . Bernstein and director Michael Ritchie used parts of Jenkins's novel and added parodies of self-help groups, new religions, and the Human Potential Movement . Ritchie was partially influenced by Adam Smith's book, Powers of Mind . Though the screenplay altered his original work, Dan Jenkins wrote that Semi-Tough "wasn't a horrible movie in my opinion". Jenkins later commented that

2900-428: The script, stating that Reynolds' charm filled in for the film's other deficiencies. Hunsberger criticized Ritchie's screenplay adaptation in his work The Quintessential Dictionary , complaining that the game of football should have supported the film as a plot device, but was instead left to the side in favor of other stories. Love triangle A love triangle is a scenario or circumstance, usually depicted as

2958-422: The self-improvement guru Werner Erhard." The Charlotte Observer praised Bert Convy's portrayal of the self-help guru Frederick Bismark, and called Convy: "… a hilariously smug consciousness-raiser with a more than passing resemblance to EST's [sic] Werner Erhard". Magill's Survey of Cinema described the film as a chiding of American "religious fads and philosophies", and The Grove Book of Hollywood called it

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3016-421: The situation instead of being in conflict. Ménage à trois is French and directly translates to "household for three" meaning it is usually composed of a "married couple and a lover ... who live together while sharing sexual relations". This differs from a love triangle because each participant is equally motivated purely by sexual desires. The ménage à trois may be considered a subset of "The Sandwich ...

3074-457: The third-party love interest. Though rare, love triangles have been known to lead to murder or suicide committed by the actual or perceived rejected lover. Psychoanalysis has explored "the theme of erotic love triangles and their roots in the Oedipal triangle". Experience suggests that "a repeated pattern of forming or being caught in love triangle can be much dissolved by beginning to analyse

3132-414: The training so that he'd be able to mock it more effectively afterwards, but says that he actually "got it". For a time, he pretends he underwent a conversion to Bismark's way of thinking, often using B.E.A.T. terminology and clichés in everyday conversation. Shake worries that Barbara Jane hasn't "gotten it", and Billy Clyde tries to reassure Shake that it doesn't matter, but Shake remains dubious. During

3190-411: The wedding, as Big Ed escorts Barbara Jane to the altar, the minister turns to Bismark and gives him some advice on how he can avoid capital gains tax in his business. When the minister asks Shake if he takes Barbara Jane to be his wife, he hesitates and finally says "no". An outraged Big Ed vows to trade Shake to the worst team in the league, then tells Bismark to "experience this" as he punches him in

3248-653: Was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studios in the 1950s because of his views on communism . Some of his notable works included The Front (1976), Yanks (1979), and Little Miss Marker (1980). He was a recipient of Writers Guild of America Awards including the Ian McLellan Hunter Award and the Evelyn F. Burkey Award . Bernstein was born on August 20, 1919, in Brooklyn , New York, to Eastern European Jewish immigrants Hannah (née Bistrong) and Louis Bernstein,

3306-452: Was left uncompleted at the time of the death of its star, Marilyn Monroe , in 1962. Paris Blues was his first feature film collaboration with director Martin Ritt , a friend since the 1940s (and himself a victim of the Hollywood blacklist); they subsequently worked together on The Molly Maguires (1970), which Bernstein also co-produced with Ritt, and The Front (1976). The latter film

3364-720: Was nominated for the WGA for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium for Semi-Tough (1977) and for a BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay for Yanks (1979). He stepped behind the camera as director of his only feature film, Little Miss Marker (1980), a remake of the 1934 film based on the Damon Runyon story of the same name. He also wrote and directed one segment of the made-for-TV movie Women & Men 2: In Love There Are No Rules (1991). Bernstein served until his death in 2021 as an adjunct visiting instructor and screenwriting thesis adviser at New York University's Tisch School of

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