Re: The Catcher in the Rye movie

Brendan McKennedy (suburbantourist@hotmail.com)
Fri, 27 Mar 1998 22:35:55 -0800 (PST)

>
>How the hell do you know about this movie thing? Are you totally sure?? 
'Cause
>I don't want them to go and make some crappy version of it! Although 
Kubrick
>is very good, I'm still unsure of the decision.
>
>		

I've only seen a few Kubrick films, and they were excellent, but I've 
heard numerous opinions that while Kubrick's films are good, his 
adaptions are terrible.  That is, he pretty much feels no qualms about 
scrapping the original manuscript for the sake of his personal 
vision--witness "the Shining".  While I feel no loyalty to Stephen King, 
I do feel great loyalty to Salinger, and am terrified of the prospect of 
the movie for a number of reasons--the foremost being the invariable 
fact that from its release day forward it will replace Cliff's Notes as 
a teenager's favorite way to get around expanding his experience with 
the actual novel.  When my girlfriend and I went to see Romeo and 
Juliet, the most recent one (which was excellent, by the way) we were in 
the company of a theatre full of 10th graders who had just read the play 
in their curriculum.  After the film, the mob of crying girls could be 
heard saying very sensitive things like, "Did you cry when Mercutio 
died?  I did.  Leonardo was really good, too."  

I imagine a 10th grade English teacher giving extra credit for seeing 
the movie, and for some reason I can't articulate, it makes my gorge 
rise.  I remember having to watch the terrible Gatsby adaption in 11th 
grade after reading the tremendous novel, and found the film an 
insult--and what was more disappointing than the film was the fact that 
none of my peers seemed to notice that it was a terrible adaption.

Sorry, Mr Kubrick, here's one fan of your films who cannot support the 
adaption of Catcher.  My god, has he even read it yet?  Does D.B. and 
the word "prostitute" come to mind?

I'm sorry, Camille--I don't think you a liar, but I'm still having a 
very hard time believing the info.  Mostly because I can't imagine 
Salinger after all these years going, "You know, now would be a the best 
time to go ahead and get Catcher on the big screen--while Hollywood is 
at its best."  

Of course, I'll see it if it does indeed ever arrive, and I'll hate it 
the whole time.

Brendan
  

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