Subject
Lolita film (fwd)
Date
Body
From:
Susan Bordo, "True obsessions: Being unfaithful to 'Lolita'"
_The Chronicle of Higher Education_ Washington, Jul 24, 1998
Well, it is sexy. But when was sexual titillation ever the
point of Lolita? True, Nabokov was not a moralist: At many
points in the novel, we are encouraged to empathize with,
identify with Humbert. But, at the same time, we are called on
to look squarely, clearly, consciously at his created dream
world and its disjunction from reality. Therein lies the
morality of Nabokov's Lolita, and the mistake of Lyne's. His
movie-once again a barometer of the cultural Zeitgeist-hasn't
awoken from Humbert's dream.
Suellen Stringer-Hye
Jean and Alexander Heard Library
Vanderbilt University
stringers@library.vanderbilt.edu
Susan Bordo, "True obsessions: Being unfaithful to 'Lolita'"
_The Chronicle of Higher Education_ Washington, Jul 24, 1998
Well, it is sexy. But when was sexual titillation ever the
point of Lolita? True, Nabokov was not a moralist: At many
points in the novel, we are encouraged to empathize with,
identify with Humbert. But, at the same time, we are called on
to look squarely, clearly, consciously at his created dream
world and its disjunction from reality. Therein lies the
morality of Nabokov's Lolita, and the mistake of Lyne's. His
movie-once again a barometer of the cultural Zeitgeist-hasn't
awoken from Humbert's dream.
Suellen Stringer-Hye
Jean and Alexander Heard Library
Vanderbilt University
stringers@library.vanderbilt.edu