WEIRDLAND: Outlaw characters

Monday, April 27, 2009

Outlaw characters

L.M. “Kit” Carson: "Like a lot of North Americans coming of age in the Sixties, I thought of my self as an outlaw. The fact that Edie [Sedgwick] pushed the edge was part of what attracted me to her". Edie Sedgwick with Allen Ginsberg in "Ciao! Manhattan".

"When I interviewed L.M. “Kit” Carson about the production of Anderson’s first feature, Bottle Rocket, he told me that when he read the script for the first time, he felt as though he were reading “The Catcher in the Rye as written by Holden Caulfield.” Like Holden, Bottle Rocket’s hero, Anthony, has undergone a period of institutionalization and dotes on his kid sister.Anderson’s privileged milieus and his naive, gregarious, but often maladjusted characters are Salingeresque.
Anderson's films, like Salinger's stories, are filled with loquacious, combative, often hyperachieving individuals who seem fully formed and secure in their identities but who reveal themselves as deeply damaged—by class anxiety, social expectations, and family dysfunction. They are too smart by half, and both artists let us know that their characters’ intelligence affords no insurance against despair or death".
Source: www.movingimagesource.us

"But Salinger's refusal hasn't stopped the studios from borrowing the Holden model for such movies as "The Graduate", "Diner", "Dead Poets Society", "Rushmore", "American Beauty" and "The Royal Tenenbaums."

"Most young male characters in the movies are based on the character of Holden Caulfield," says Raymond Haberski, 33, author of "It's Only a Movie! Films and Critics in American Culture." "It's been a very steady influence in the last 30 years. Every young man goes through the experiences of Holden Caulfield.
"Toby Maguire has made a career of being an updated Holden Caulfield. 'The Ice Storm' is almost a direct takeoff on 'Catcher in the Rye.' Since 'Dead Poets Society,' Ethan Hawke has played on that type of theme. Even Edward Burns, although not as young as the others, seems to fit that category."Jake Gyllenhaal in "The Good Girl" (2002) - Senior Tuna (Deleted Scene).

Add Jake Gyllenhaal to the list. In the current "The Good Girl" Jennifer Aniston starts an affair with Gyllenhaal, a disturbed young man who has renamed himself Holden and is fascinated with "The Catcher in the Rye."
"Salinger touched on what's at the heart of American repression: familial neglect. Parents are not paying attention or are aware of the movement of their children. That's one of the worst things you can do. My 'Good Girl' character is disturbed, and I place the blame on the parents". Source: www.sfgate.com

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