Subject
Pale Fire & homophobia; American Beauty (fwd)
Date
Body
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the big problem i have with the american beauty and lolita connection (and
also with the recent lolita film by adrian lyne) is that the grown man/young
girl match is much weaker today--in the scandalous sense--then it was 50
years ago. the closer film to nabokov's lolita is actually tod solondz's
film happiness, which has a married man desiring, and then raping a young
boy after doctoring his tuna sandwich. in this movie, our sympathy for the
father (who the filmmaker never makes us hate or loath, but pity) combined
with the modern moral outrage attached to man/boy (nambla!) matches comes
closer, i think, to the effect or charge nabokov's novel achieved in its
time. if you are to make an accurate film version of lolita you must change
from dolly to johnny.
charles
the big problem i have with the american beauty and lolita connection (and
also with the recent lolita film by adrian lyne) is that the grown man/young
girl match is much weaker today--in the scandalous sense--then it was 50
years ago. the closer film to nabokov's lolita is actually tod solondz's
film happiness, which has a married man desiring, and then raping a young
boy after doctoring his tuna sandwich. in this movie, our sympathy for the
father (who the filmmaker never makes us hate or loath, but pity) combined
with the modern moral outrage attached to man/boy (nambla!) matches comes
closer, i think, to the effect or charge nabokov's novel achieved in its
time. if you are to make an accurate film version of lolita you must change
from dolly to johnny.
charles