James Franco vs. Literature
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- Опубліковано 29 чер 2024
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
00:00 Nebula Classes!
02:24 Intro: Adaptation.
05:43 Why Would He Do This?
22:53 Modernism Baby
31:47 Faulkner 101
36:59 Franco is Kind of the Problem
1:02:56 But Franco is Not the Only Problem
1:07:37 Does This Deconstruct?
1:24:40 Farmers Are People, Too!
1:33:02 So How, Then?
"I slept with students but I didn't explicitly select them to be in my class with the intention to sleep with them" the bar is *in hell* if this makes it okay
I mean, they're consenting adults but okay
@CyranoForever101 its called abuse of power, it exists regardless of whether students are of legal age or not 🙄
@@CyranoForever101Just because it's not rape doesn't mean there are no longer any ethics to consider.
@@CyranoForever101 meaningful, informed consent isn't very feasible when dealing with a person who has that much leverage over your future success
@@Romanticoutlaw that isn't how it works in college my guy. One professor can't make or break your success. It's more likely that you could potentially destroy their career by making up lies after the relationship and spreading rumors throughout campus. They could easily get sacked from something like that.
You probably wouldn't want a boss mingling with an employee either. You want to control people. Let adults make their own choices and form their own relationships with who they want, regardless of power imbalance.
The way the toothless guy is represented and how JF talks about farmers having rich inner lives gave me flashbacks to Sia's autism movie and the interviews she gave about it.
James Franco worked as a guest/visiting professor at our university, and while I never took a class with him because I was a game design major I was techincally in the film school and were friends with film students. I heard that from film students he was generally self obsessed, liked having his ego stroked, and an asshole. No one seemed to like him, but his class gave an opportunity for a tv show to be pitched and potentially be a real show so students played nice. Frankly I never liked the guy. His preference for younger women/girls always creeped me out, so totally not surprised to hear from other folks to stay away/be cautious around him.
One of the things i hate about the film/media industry, even just for aspiring folks, is the invisible incentive to tolerate weird/asshole behavior on the offchance that the person in question might somehow help or hinder you getting your project made.
Especially because 98% of the time it's completely futile and you might as well have just told that person to piss off.
sounds about right..
What games are you designing now? Or what company?
*frankoly*
the way when franco was talking about them “talking like farmers” you can tell he started to say “a bunch of hicks” and stopped himself
Gosh i caught that too. At least he tried to be respectful. He failed but he tried.
lol i came down here to say the same thing. when he hit that "a bunch of" somehow i just knew his instinct wasnt to say "farmers"
now i want a zoom performance of “as i lay dying” where each zoom box is a perspective
dude i will literally organize this
I haven't acted in a while because of disability but I would LOVE to act this omfg
Franco visited my school numerous times for film festivals and the film department itself, and became pretty notorious for being absolutely terrible to the female student chaperones the school assigned him. I wasn't in the department, but the rumors were bad enough to leak into mine. What an asshole
no girl, I'm a highschooler and im pretty sure every single person in my english class including myself could write a better essay than james franco
idk, high school essays range from super impressive to completely unreadable. i think james would probably be dubbed as slightly better than average for a high school writer, which yknow is not super impressive for someone who characterizes himself as a renaissance man
I gasped at around 1:17:00 when I realized the split-screens weren't for the sake of demonstration within this video essay, but that they were in the actual film as it was made. It hadn't even occurred to me that the movie was actually made like that??? Yikes.
I was going to make a joke about Franco never learning how to manage proper coverage during his journey into directing, but then I realized it's supposed to be a visual adaptation of the multiple PoVs and I - * unintelligible wailing *
Also I can’t tell if the ultra washed out color palette was the result of video compression or just a really bad color grade. And if it’s on purpose I’m gonna be even more dumbfounded because you don’t set your movie in Mississippi summer and then mute the greens
@@tatehildyard5332 I'm so glad somebody bought that up. It just looks bland and distracting in a way that makes a film like The Snowman look vibrant and colourful. Lol.
I thought it was just a way to avoid the copyright bots oh God lol
I was wondering if that was just a UA-cam-copyright-avoid thing, but it turns out it's just how the movie looks
This was a brilliant video. The bit about the idea that only exceptional rural people having a sense of poetry and ability to grasp complex ideas hit a nerve. It's defintly weird considering the hundreds of years of Folk songs, ballads and stories from all over the world.
Recently read As I Lay Dying for AP literature class. I really enjoyed the writing style and the characterizations. We watched a little of the film in class and found it cheesy and the editing gimmicky. We were a class of 6 girls, and we all knew about James Franco. We talked a lot about feminism, sexual assault, and misogyny in that class. Honestly, it was a really great class. After about 15 minutes we all concluded that there was no point in continuing the film. I am really enjoying your take on things!
"mama mia thats a spicy imdb page" unparalleled line, incredible
I was unnecessarily upset when Franco said he and Raimi came up with the “complex” version of Harry Osborn. The character was like that in the comics before that point, they did not invent that lmao. Like hell, the 80’s cartoon show also has Harry Osborn in the same type of story: his dad likes Peter more, he’s a sad jealous guy, and he becomes evil eventually. Also, Harry becomes green goblin for the first time in the 70’s, so the “adding the twist” that Harry is after Spiderman also wasn’t their original idea. In most versions he becomes friends with Peter then turns on him when he finds out he’s Spiderman/believes he was involved in his fathers death. I fail to see where either of them changed or added anything significant to Harry’s origin story, the only thing I can think of is they might be closer friends in the films then they were in the comic but I’m not sure if that is even true. This is all so unimportant but boy did it make me annoyed that he took credit for a character that was already established as what he played it as, especially since he claims he “expanded on it”. Whatta arrogant guy.
Sorry for the rant lol, great video as always!
Totally understandable to get upset about. I watched Ex Machin a yesterday and it reminded me of how Nathan mistook Calebs quote into calling him a god.
also, i have to say Franco played a pretty underwhelming Harry Osborn, given the source material he could've drawn from.
I couldn’t help but notice the fact that they really sidestepped the relationship the family has with the black slaves in the book.
There is one of my favorite modernist scenes ever in the novel, where Dewey Dell is having a conversation with a member of the black slave family next door who are helping her and the family plan the trip. They are interrupted by the much more educated doctor and they just stare at him silently when he tries to insert himself until the doctor awkwardly leaves, as if he’s just interrupted a scene onstage in a play.
If this had been in the movie it would have also made it very clear that the family would, honestly, not have even been able to make Addy’s dream come true without this relationship. These black people know without being told that the family needs help so they offer their services often and it’s pretty much unsaid that the main characters do too, showing on some level that the family relate to these enslaved black folks more than any of the white characters shown.
The overwhelming sense I get from James Franco's interviews is that he really, really thinks he knows what he's talking about and wants to show everyone he does, but in reality he doesn't know shit and is operating on a middle school comprehension level.
Franco came from a background of astonishing wealth and privilege, and never bothered to learn about anyone else. His attitude that the characters in the story are special because they of all farmers have these rich inner worlds is because he literally doesn't understand human existence because his entire life he's never had to experience life as the majority of people know it.
Its finally out 🙌🏾😮💨 now I can gush about it publicly ❤️ thanks again for including me in this epic, Lola!
Thanks for being here for the wild ride !! I couldn’t have done it without you.
Foreign!!! Talk about worlds colliding 😊😱 I’m so delighted and intrigued to see you here with Miss Lola! 🤩😎🤘
Hey, Foreign! Thought I recognised your voice! Love what you put out.
Your reading was so good!
a million other things to praise here, but i always admire the breadth of the connections/references to other media you make in your videos. you truly know your shit
😭❤️
That reading from Franco's book feels like Ready Player One for classic literature, which sounds like a funny concept in theory, but the reality of it is pretty disappointing.
i lol'd
The Bojack comparison is poignantly accurate... in a lot of ways he's a perfect caricature of the self-important, past-his-prime, sexually exploitative, narcissistic, mediocre actor.
I adore this, it is the fair even handed nuanced brutal roasting Franco deserves.
Theres a shot in Reimis third spiderman film where Franco turns towards camera smugly, and winks like look at me I am a smug ahole. I think that shot is the most I have ever believed Francos acting, I think because its not really acting thats just him.
I value relatively faithful yet sub-par adaptations of complex books into movies. It's like putting a head on a pike outside the gates; It serves as a warning to the next person who tries it.
This made me laugh out loud, love it
I don’t think anybody has more perfectly exemplified an unflattering caricature of a person more than James Franco.
I don't know why but this man's smile always made me so uneasy, there's something in that smile that says it all.
@@c.w.8200 Says what, though? I am genuinely asking. As someone who is blind, I have no direct experience of this sort of thing, but I find there to be something inherently problematic in the idea that we can identify dodgy people on sight.
And don't get me wrong, from what I've heard the guy's a creep - but that's based on actions, not vibes.
@@hughcaldwell1034 uh, this is probably something you’ll never experience, but visual cues are the first sign to register for seeing people that something is “off”.
@@hughcaldwell1034 like, yes, there are problematic aspects that come with it, specially when trying to rationalize it, but that’s literally how we as humans evolved to perceive danger and why we still hold some of that inside that primitive lizard brain part of us.
If anything you could imply that someone born without sight might be less biased, but that also comes with its own set of advantages and disadvantages from not being able to absorb visual cues that there’s something wrong. We as humans are v much a “by the vibes” species(whether that’s a good or bad thing, I’ll not comment on).
@@Flatcetera yeah, our brains are weird and wonderful things. a lot of the reactions and impulses we have are shaped throughout our years as individuals, using data our brains have collected and processed - sometimes actively ("i don't like the way that tasted" = avoid that food in the future) but the bulk of it happening behind the scenes.
i'd wager that every human on earth has found themselves in a situation that gave them the heebie jeebies, the creeps, the willies. some might describe it as "a feeling in the pit of their stomach" others might call it their "intuition". whatever you call it, it's the same thing! your brain is constantly sifting through all sorts of information, relevant or otherwise. but when you suddenly get that uneasy feeling that puts you on edge and it seems to come from outta nowhere, that's your brain warning you of a potential danger it has taken note of for you by quickly sifting through aaall of the relevant experience that's gotten you to wherever you are now!
maybe you're at the gas station and your focus is entirely on pumping gas into your car. sure, that's what you're *actively* and *consciously* doing, but there's all of these neat and helpful processes running in the background! and they happen in the blink of an eye! thanks, brain! so when a feeling of dread starts to take over, the active you becomes confused because all you're doing is filling the tank... meanwhile your superhero brain clocked an intimidating dude glaring at you from the edge of the station lot using just your peripheral vision as you first exited the front seat. it then ran through tens of thousands of filing cabinets filled with data to compare and contrast; is it actually a real potential threat, or an unfair bias constructed by society?
well, your brain thought it was significant that the man in question doesn't appear to actually require any services offered by the gas station, rather it looks like he's chosen that particular area to have a good view of the patrons while remaining inconspicuous to most. and they haven't taken their eyes off of you since you drove up!
the you busy pumping your gas never noticed, but your brain did. any time you shifted just enough to put him back into your peripherals, or when your side mirror came into view for the briefest of moments as you turned to screw the gas cap back on and his full height was reflected in it - your brain processed each and every moment!
as incredible as all of this probably sounds (and it should!! brains are amazing!!) your brain is still just a brain. without you, none of that information matters! which is why it's so so SO important not to ignore that gut feeling, don't try to convince yourself that you're being silly, paranoid, or dramatic! whenever that feeling happens, it's because your brain has done its part and now it's time for you to step in and assess everything. redirect your focus away from whatever you're doing and actively look for the potential threat! most of the time, hopefully, you'll find that your brain just made a clerical error and there is no threat to be found - it happens. humans are imperfect, we're not machines! and even if we were, that statement still rings true as machines were created by us. ;)
but if there *is* danger, you'll be so glad that you paid attention and listened to the sirens going off in your head!
sadly when it comes to men like franco giving off weird vibes, it's usually to the average woman who has had far too many worrying or downright frightening experiences with men in her past. and those experiences range from total strangers to romantic partners, and everything in between! so i'm more inclined to trust their gut reactions, rather than outright dismiss them as an ill-informed, unfair bias. after all, their brains have massive amounts of data to pull from, both conscious and subconscious!
“One foot in the film world and one foot in the academic world” hey uhh hey james. In film school they make you do the academia parts too.
Maybe I’m built different but it does *not* come off like he reads 💀
That description of As I Lay Dying is embarrassing
“Strange stylistic flourishes” the... the details? Of the plot? The visual cinematographic language that you could use to translate the language of written fiction?
Like how stories work?
“There’s just truth and untruth” thanks yen sid
I know mikaela is his actual daughter but I still feel uncomfortable for her being in the same room as him, like I’m worried about her safety
The idea that hitler went batshit murdery because he wasn’t accepted to art school
EUGENICISTS HAVE NO CONCEPT OF REALITY
And they are terrified of the world underneath because it forces them to confront their humanity
I read As I Lay Dying the week my father had died of suicide. It was a comfort for me in a way I can't describe. It tethered me to reality through the dysfunction of their family. I can't explain it but it was a comforting and eye-opening book for me that the movie could never ever touch
I'm sorry about your loss.
How wonderful that you could find so much meaning for you in a piece of media.
I remember when I first read As I Lay Dying (now my favorite novel of all time) in an English class. The teacher said he was going to show us a movie to help us visualize the scene in the river which can be hard to do just reading the book for the first time as it’s a long and complicated scene. Before he puts on that scene from James Franco’s As I Lay Dying, he tells us that this film is not very good and is in fact very bad and not a good adapatation. He was doing this purely to give students a visual reference for this scene. He showed us the film and I was in shock.
Can’t wait to watch this video.
Lola is the only person that could make me willingly sit through a James Franco essay reading. SO excited for this video!
Amazing as always, I can't wait for part two
thank you !!
Maybe that's a tangent because I haven't read a lot of American modernism, but your video made me think about how visual novels as a media are the closest we get to actually putting images to something that doesn't have images (and why anime based on visual novels are rarely as good as the novels they try to adapt).
Agreed, as a massive fan of VNs! There's something about the fact that the illustrations still tend to be limited, meaning there's still room for the reader's imagination to flourish and fill in gaps, that I think really works to the medium's advantage.
44:20 for Randle McMurphy fancam
i cannot begin to describe how loudly i squealed, that lil fan edit section brought such joy to my day...
Your Why Are Disney Adults is one of the best video essays to grace this platform, and I'm glad I got to see it while it was up. Excited to see this one!
When I read as I lay dying in English class, my teacher surprised me by showing us the James Franco movie in earnest. This teacher is someone I admire a lot and is one of the most insightful well-read instructors I’ve ever had, and he praised this movie as being a successful adaptation of the Faulkner novel. I still don’t really understand why he thought so. Not only did I find this movie to be weak in its own right, but it barely even attempts to contend with what I think was Faulkner’s most compelling theme: the limitations of spoken language and the abstraction of realities that occurs when reality is condensed into language. Faulkner as a writer showing deep concern and even exasperation with the boundaries of his own medium was what made the novel so aglow with nuance and grit. Honestly, this could be so cleverly adapted into a film version, struggling with the limitations of film in the process of adapting text. The movie ends up suffering from these limitations rather than tapping into Faulkner’s analogous themes to elevate the story in a new medium. I didn’t expect anything much from Franco, but it was disappointing nonetheless because of the role language and its boundaries plays in Faulkner’s novel and it’s characters.
I can’t believe Franco basically removes Cora Tull from the movie. Like consider the passage in the novel where we’re given both Cora’s and Dewey Dell’s perspective on Darl standing over Addie Bundren and watching her. Cora sees this as evidence that Darl is the only one who really cares about Addie. However whenever we get Dewey Dell’s narration, we realize is just there to tell Dewey Dell he knows Addie is dying and that he’s taking her favorite Jewel with him because he wants him to help him load wood. That’s such a classic comedy cut in a movie. You could have Cora pointing Darl out to Tull and have her go on to him about how much he loves her, just taking the dialogue almost as is from the novel, and then cutting to inside the room where we hear Darl’s admission.
Also taking Cora out makes Addie less coherent as a character because her whole chapter is just as much a rant against Cora as it is against Anse or the construct of motherhood.
I worked on a Rabbit Bandini project they were trying to pitch to HBO and I, as a department head, was only paid $75 a day for 12 hour days. He was disrespectful to everyone below the line and that’s also the job I worked on with his ex-girlfriend, who was 17 at the time of their relationship in New York, when he was 35. She told me things that made my jaw drop.
God, that's horrible. I hope that woman is doing better.
@@MsLorrr they aren't my stories to share, but I can say a lot of verbal and emotional abuse to a literal child from a grown ass man.
Although our literary tastes don't usually coincide. I have to say, your videos inspired me to go back into reading classic literature and reignited my love for it. Ever since I finished high school, I found it hard to read anything. Between college and work, I could hardly focus on any text let alone narratives that required more than what standard fiction or YA novels required. Yet, after your video on Lolita, I have gotten back to reading. In the last month, I finished a couple of Agatha Christie novels between To kill a Mocking Bird and Go Set a Watchman. Tonight, I will start reading Dostoevsky's The Gambler.
This video was incredibly relaxing, moving, and analytical. Though Gabriel García Marquez and William Faulkner are not my cup of tea, your reverence and deep appreciation for their works is touching. Thank you for creating such wonderful videos.
yesss i read lolita bc of her!!!
That clip of Franco explaining a core theme of the book without realizing was just, mwah 👌, wonderful! Complex! Satisfying and yet DEEPLY frustrating! Conflicting emotions! Split-screen emotions!
There you are, Mr. Franco! The complicated thoughts and feelings of a farmer!
What bothers me about these split screens is how a lot of those shots don't look like they where shot thinking about how the composition would look in a split screen, there's things weirdly cut, movements that doesn't fit, close ups that would look fine they took the whole screen but look way too close in the split screen. Like they shot everything the same way and later went on picking what they would split.
And the comparison with other movies and scenes with split screens only made this more obvious, all of them look purposeful, the scenes look like they were shot with a square of screen in mind to put what's actually important there and thinking about the whole composition. They look planned and deliberate, while this movie's split screens look like those comparison edits people post on the internet.
I've been so excited for this! I both love Faulkner and hate James Franco so this is a perfect intersection of my interests
Edit: About Anse "not being able to sweat or he'll die"; I legit read an essay as a part of my research essay (about class and As I Lay Dying for a modern american lit class) that tried to argue it was a medical condition and I also felt like that was completely missing the point; it's a meant to point to a characteristic of Anse's, not something literal.
@@friendofmaglor yeah I could also see it being a mixture of both. Faulkner definitely leaves it to interpretation, especially since the way you’re introduced to this quality of Anse’s through the eyes of someone else
I worked on one of Franco’s films (camera department AC), and it was one of the worst shoots I’ve ever been on. Producers rushing us to unsafe degree and giving us grief when we’d object. Franco was on set for a small number of the shoot days, and spent the whole time being grumpy and broody, when he wasn’t doing takes (played another broke and rural character, though this time was a deadbeat dad who disappears from his family). It was also a pretty pointless script. Usually shooting everything, you start to see all the pieces come together like a puzzle, but on this shoot I began to wonder what the point even was of the project other than sad for these people. Legit one of the few sets where the end of the shoot was not a bittersweet parting, but a thank-f&@king-god-that’s-over moment.
youre a lot smarter than james franco. they should give you 5 million dollars to make a movie.
I’m writing a TV show, let me know if you know anyone…
@@LolaSebastian omg for real?? dude now is the time to make that known, get this information everywhere
Wait…they “added” the stuff about Harry wanting to kill Spider-Man in “Spider-Man 2”? Unlike in the comics? Where Harry became the second Goblin and tried to kill Spider-Man?!
James Franco is the literal personification of "i read a book once, watched an obscure movie and did a semester of philosophy and now im the most smart straight white rich men you've ever seen" with a plus of his personal rancid vibe of "I like underage girls" 🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢
Just wanted to say that this is a fantastic and brilliant essay. Great work here. I was a student when James was teaching and attended his weekly university classes from approx 2012-2015. It was a truly bonkers experience and super interesting to juxtapose with everything you've gathered here. I'm writing from a burner account, but happy to answer anyone's questions about what his classes were like
What is one memory from that time that jumps out to you!
@@emmaolivera3018 Going to Disneyland as a class, cameras in hand, and getting to film whatever we wanted as part of an "art project." We got to go backstage and interview the princesses, etc.
"It's giving very One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" is my new favorite insult for bland prose.
You are so inspiring and I love this so much 😭💜💜💜
😭 means a lot coming from you !!
The thing that kills me about Anse is that instead of giving tim blake nelson any real direction about his diction or how his rotting teeth/dentures plays into the themes, nelson was left doing his best deep holler voice and lolling his mouth open.
My first experience with James Franco was Spider-Man and I started hating him almost immediately from the age of six
that Lolita/Franco cover made my entire body clench in revulsion, good lord
You've inspired me to branch out into Modernist literature. I've always been a bit of a bookworm, but I somehow skipped a lot of the "classics" for a good portion of my life. It's only been in my 20s that I've really explored literature that wasn't solely fantasy or written since the 1980s. In my 12th grade Honors English class, we read Frankenstein, The Hot Zone, The Great Gatsby, and an author of our choice for a final project (my group chose Jonathan Swift) but my teacher wasn't interested in actually trying to prepare us for the CLEP exam, so we missed a lot of literature that should have been covered for AP equivalent courses. I took various literature courses in college purely because I wanted to, but none of my professors were interested in Modernism. I really like how you described Faulkner's work and juxtaposing how Franco failed to adapt it really piqued my interest.
Gonna second you on Franco needing to unoack some biases surrounding rural folks cause hearing the way he talked about these characters like having a rich poetic inner life amd being a farmer is soke unheard of thing was uncomfy. Like as a person from a rural area the idea that people from there are less smart or other really irks me in general though. Excited to hear more!
1:23:33 - I just wanted to draw your attention to a movie called Timecode from 2000 directed by Mike Figgis. It's an experimental movie divided into 4 split-screens following 4 different stories of 4 different characters. I don't remember whether this was a successful experiment or not considering I saw it about 20 years ago, but it's at least memorable enough for me to suddenly think of it while watching your video. Maybe you might wanna take a look.
Me and my friend did a live reactions
to James Franco’s poetry on face time and we were in literal tears 😭😭 it was insane. I honestly don’t remember the context of which we decided to read it I think it had to do with Lana del rey but I could be wrong
Some people considered pretentious are, in fact, very smart, and may even have deeper insights than the average person. It's possible to be a truly great artist, but to also be considered pretentious.
James Franco is not that kind of pretentious.
I would very much like to be able to pay you for a mug reading "enjoying the vibes. The horrible, horrible vibes."
Just putting that thought out into the universe.
I will look into it 👀
Having neither seen nor read the source material… this was a really interesting watch! It seems like the movie was made up of a lot of kind of artistically baffling choices - ESPECIALLY the split screen!
Not much more that I can add that hasn't already been said already about how great this is, but man the way you write and talk about literature not only makes me want to actually grapple with these works that have always felt dense and unapproachable, but it deepens and enriches my appreciation for the art I already love. All while analyzing a deeply atrocious film!
Not the jack Nicholson fancam I'm YELLING!!!!!!!! Lola you make our world more expansive. Love what you do. #streamrightousgemstones
to add to the list of very old works who are aware they fiction (and are therefore kinda postmodern) I would add the Bacchae. as it turns out a play about the god of theater (among many other things) has a lot of opportunities for self-awareness.
I can't wait for the second part of this!
The moment you held up the postcard book with James Franco Lolita I went "Oh no" and was besides myself with giggles as you put on your reading glasses and I took in the set design. I had to pause the video to finish laughing.
The "Reading Is Cool" and "Men Explain Lolita to Me?!" Are my favorites.
that franco interview at around 1:27:00 sounds like a teen who did not prep for their ib literature oral lmaoo
So, I admittedly haven’t seen or read every adaptation of Lolita like poor Lola seems to have (rip girl I’ve been watching all the way and I am genuinely appreciative of the sacrifice you’ve made to save the rest of us from that suffering 😂) but I feel like I have a good idea for how to adapt it into a visual media that I don’t THINK has been done yet? Feel free to correct me if this already exists, but I think the best way to adapt Lolita would be to hide the fact that you’re adapting Lolita. Most of the craptastic adaptations I’ve seen play out from lo’s perspective, but in a way that either comes off as straight up misery porn, beating you over the head with the fact that lo is a child and that child abuse SURE IS AWFUL as if we’re unaware, or make lo complicit in her own abuse as if it’s cheeky and cute… I feel like that’s the wrong way to go, bc the framing from humbert’s perspective and his feeling of innocence while being the monster of the tale is a HUUUUGE part, the main crux even, of the drama and tragedy of the story. We know he’s an unreliable narrator and that he’s an abusive creep, but the entire story tries to make him sympathetic not so we feel bad for him but to make a bold statement about the nuances of evil actions.
I honestly think the way to go would be to follow what seems to be a by the numbers if very unhealthy and taboo romance, with both Humbert and Lo depicted as grown adults. Maybe still make the audience aware she’s his stepdaughter or maybe don’t and make her seem to just be a manipulative femme fatale who pushes herself into his life. Keep in the way they fight, the way they hurt each other, don’t pull punches, but make humbert the perspective character and make him seem like a sympathetic man being tormented by his situation, the same way he sees himself… then towards the end of the story reveal that we aren’t seeing the story as it literally happened, but as understood by an audience surrogate being told the story by humbert himself as he tries to explain that he’s in trouble and wants their help. Have it be an old friend or confidante to explain why they would see humbert the way he sees himself when not knowing all the details, and why humbert would admit to some of the more destructive parts of his relationship with Lo. And then have it revealed to the audience and the friend at the same time what lo ACTUALLY looks like; an 11 or 12 year old little girl who absolutely didn’t have the capacity to manipulate humbert the way he described. Make the friend find this out by being asked to share info humbert shared with them in confidence and refuse until being shown the reality that Lo was actually a child who is suffering severely or dead due to humbert’s actions.
It might seem strange and antithetical to have a rendition of Lolita where we’re barely see the real Lo, but that’s actually much closer to the original, and at least from my perspective as a survivor of child abuse myself feels much more respectful, to make it clear her suffering is not her fault and that her complicity in it was something completely made up by humbert to preserve his own self-image as the victim. It would also avoid depicting the sexual objectification of Lo as being the “sexiness” of a literal child or show her abuse directly just for the shock value of seeing it depicted. And to top it all off you would organically feel the same disgust and betrayal from humbert as his friend would in the story bc you would have no reason to doubt him til his true monstrosity is revealed in full.
Idk, I think it would work. Maybe I’ll start working on a graphic novel or something since a director I am not lol. What do you guys think?
I actually really like this idea. It fits with how HH would want the story to be seen, with Lolita as much more mature and with more agency than she actually had as Dolores. And it would sidestep a lot of the problematic elements of adapting Lolita to a visual medium
Ooo I dont make things (i want to) and i want to make this. I see it. I feel it. This is correct.
I'm not as culturally aware as most of the people in this comment section, apparently, lol, but that reminds me of a book which I only realised was a sneak adapation of the Sword in the Stone story near the end
As I lay dying changed my life... Literally. I had never read experimental prose, never read a classic except Call of the Wild...
The chapter, "my mother is a fish" was the best goddamn thing I'd ever seen
dear lola, this has nothing to do with the essay (which i thoroughly enjoyed) but it's, like, the third time i discover music through your essays and i know it's not what you do but PLEASE DROP THE PLAYLIST!! please share more music you love through any means i swear i will listen to all of it, i only found out about joanna newsom through your video 3 days ago and i haven't been the same since, this is consuming my life, it's like my sufjan stevens experience all over again...
Me who has absolutely no idea what's going on through this entire essay, but loves this channel and it's content:
yes queen! go off!
his writing voice is giving "what I did on my summer vacation". I lament the work we could have enjoyed if he had adapted his own work instead of that of other authors. MST3K can always use more options.
I just finished reading as i lay dying. I bought it about 36 hours ago and just devoured it i havent read so much in such a long time. I have watched this video essay before so a lot of it was “spoiled” (i dont think that’s important) but i really enjoyed it and thank you for introducing this book to me. I’m probably going to reread and really dissect it in the near future.
"Do you expect your audience to be high schoolers?" It's funny you should say that, because I know As I Lay Dying (the movie) to be the movie my high school class watched that made us even more confused about As I Lay Dying (the book).
I've been so excited for this to go up publicly and I remain excited! The dissection of the film! The vivisection of Franco's creepy self! The whole attempt to define and discuss modernism in a satisfying way! It's such a good video!
thanks so much ❤️
Incredible as always Lola! As a girl I was deeply, romantically into literature, and loved making intertextual references more than anything in my essays etc. You've reconnected me to this neglected passion of mine and I've been reading so much again since watching your videos
Really great use of Das Rheingold. So many think they're a fearless Siegfried when really they're just Wotan, inescapably aware of their imminent twilight.
It is a very long video but it felt like short one, can’t wait for the next parts!! I don’t really know anything about American literature but this video essay made me want to find something that I would enjoy and something that would give me some food for thought!! Thank very much, your work is INCREDIBLE and I can’t imagine how much work and research it takes to create videos like this!!
You earn my undying allegiance for bringing Joanna Newsom, and a clip of one of the best songs ever written, into a discussion about Faulkner adaptations. Ys and his works are so intimately linked, and I agree are a beautiful adaptation of sorts of his themes. Your videos have all been interesting and well done, but this is my favorite from you yet. I anxiously await part two!
I love all the music in this is really good and oh so appropriate. Another great essay. I love spending time here it's like being back in college talking about books & ideas
If this is deconstructing, James Franco would just imitate Godard because Jean Luc Godard entire career is basically what Faulkner is doing in As I Lay Dying.
As Doctor Who once said,
"You can always judge a UA-camr by the calibre of their collaboraters."
Another enthralling piece, thank you.
Omg!!! I was sitting a few days ago thinking 'man, I want to see something new from Lola Sebastian' and here it is!
I love your works very much ❤️❤️❤️
2 james franco vids (this + broey) right after i got pissed about him being casted as castro? god bless. He is such a creep.
Broey & I are psychic apparently 😳
In AP English IV we read this as a class along with our amazing teacher Mr.Geries(love you!) at the time I found it striking how this novel could capture our short attention span and really drag us through the mud with the family members. This was also around the time when Franco’s movie was going to be released, I remember my teacher saying he was excited to see it. Almost ten years later I feel bad for the guy cause he probably didn’t like it.
(He also was the film analysis teacher at our school)
Lola's videos are literally always so insightful and interesting, even as someone who has almost no investment in the material being covered on its own (though, honestly, I may have some new books added to my reading list)
The Sound and the Fury has been on my TBR list for two years and I’m gonna read it now so I’ll know what you’re talking about in time for the next vid
Oh you're in for a mindfuck. Be not afraid of reading guides, comrade
@@freddywilson6784 hahaha will do
Great video. Recently read As I Lay Dying and this is w i l d to see. I saw Franco's production of Of Mice and Men on Broadway when I was a teen™, which was....interesting. We need to collectively shred his library card.
I literally had a spit take with James Franco's essay about the art of adaptation where he launches into the second paragraph opining about the deep character work with Harry Osbourne. "You see I could have literally played him like a 2 dimensional cartoon drawing, but director Sam Raimi had this crazy idea that Harry isn't close with his father."
Great video, I can't wait for the next part. Also the "No Nuance" picture on the wall in the back sent me every time I saw it and I can't even explain why.
You're honestly one of the best creators on youtube right now, I learn so much every time I watch one of your videos!! I always watch them several times to fully take them in.
Also I've felt such vibes from Franco ever since I was a tiny baby watching him in Spiderman. The "white man tortured because his brain his just too big, he's just too deep" archetype is one of the worst imaginable
James franco says rural ppl in Mississippi have no inner thoughts while making a movie by a Mississipian. as a Mississippian myself I'm disappointed, not surprised.
I love your videos so much. Im sad to finish this one and I cant wait for the next one to come out. You always inspire me. I hope you have a great day.
I know it's been well over a month since this video was posted. But if anyone who works in the film industry reads this, and has in sights they'd be greatly appreciated. It's crazy to shoot a movie twice right? I know test footage is useful. I'm sure major releases use them (especially for VXF heavy work) But I can't imagine a bigger money and time suck than shooting an entire 160 page script twice. Especially for a small budget independent film. I could see maybe doing some test shots. Maybe filming the entirety of the scene of the family crossing the Mississippi to figure out some of the logistical problems ahead of time. I just want to know if this as crazy as it sounds.
Also, I've known James Franco was a creep from what I've heard from like, celebrity gossip stories and whatnot. But scrolling through this comment section makes the impact of this very real. I wish the absolute best to everyone who shared their stories. Anger makes it hard to be poignant so I'll leave it at fuck that guy and the systems that enable him.
Wow! Wonderful video as usual! I am always blown away by your literary analysis and all your references. I am a slow reader and though I wish I did it more, I read only a couple books per year. I picked up As I Lay Dying just to be able to better enjoy this video and I absolutely adored it! I even took on the challenge of reading it in English which isn't my first language. Superb work both from you and Mr Faulkner. Unfortunately can't say the same about Franco :///
James Franco, to me, has always been that guy in school/college who's really into art and does all of them (acting, music, writing, painting, photography, video, etc), and isn't really good in any of them but people compliment them because they're so passionate; and eventually they end up thinking they're an art genius. What some art lovers need to learn is that it's okay to just consume and share art, you don't always need to be out there and be the most artsy of artists. I love art, but I'm terribly uncreative. I do well with Excel though lol
So happy you posted another excellent video! It seems like the video essayists are all on major burnout so the once-every-couple-months adrenaline surge of seeing some new thinky content hits hard. I "read" Faulkner in high school but I've been telling myself ever since that I was actually going to get through one of his books before I get old old. Maybe I'll actually pick one up now...
Thank you for this very entertaining and educational video-essay. Again and again I'm impressed with your work (and the amount of reading you can do)! I'm looking forward to part Il.
You're a genius, Lola, and this video is fantastic! Thank you so much for such an insightful and well-written video. My favorite part was talking about Adaptation (2002) because I grew up next door to Susan Orleane and went to Passover at her house a few times so it felt like a hometown hero moment.
My grandparents on both sides were farmers, my parents are doctors and 5 of my Dad's 7 siblings have advanced degrees. Why? Because university education was opened up to everyone by the social democrat government, my grandparents aren't less smart, they just had no access.
FOREIGN! The voice cameos here were really great things to see, I love your taste in people. New sub!
Who the hell is that person who I could have sworn was Jessie Gender, but she's not listed as a voice?
it was jessie! she was also a script advisor.
1:26:40 something about how he was heading into that "the family is a bunch of-" made me tense up with dread for how he was gonna finish that sentence lol. hopefully "a bunch of farmers" was the intended trajectory.
So I might have left this video in the first few minutes, read the entire book, and came back.
Worth the read, tho, really glad this video gave me the push to finally read it.
This is gorgeous and I'm stealing your segment on the postcard booklet for a lesson on voice I'm teaching
It took me a disgustingly long amount of time to realize the constant split screen was not you trying to avoid copyright claims but is actually what seems like most the film? 💀
Edit: This comment was written before her section on the split screen, but literally right before it which i find even funnier
I can't believe my hero, james franco from spiderman 1 to 3, would do this
I really love the way you express your opinions, your voice is so soothing. Can't wait for the next video, I'll try to do my homework and read the book before it comes out!
Hi- haven’t finished this yet but I love your work and I’m so excited: Faulkner was such an incredible writer. I love “as I lay dying” so so much
“Light in august” is my favorite, in case anybody asks
Also godamn it you said “are we sure it’s Jules mothers that’s a horse” that section and that metaphors or whatever it is is so striking and compelling. When the kid is talking about his mother being a fish and then like a chapter later the thing about the horse. Chefs kiss