MovieChat Forums > The Squid and the Whale (2005) Discussion > References to literature?

References to literature?

posted 11 years ago by pauluswiggus
3 replies | jump to latest

The literature references in this film bothered me. They all seemed far too obvious/simplistic for a character that was being portrayed as an arrogant English Professor. In reality the references would be far more obscure than The Great Gatsby or Metamorphosis. I see three possible reasons for this but I'm not sure which it is:

1. Ignorance / laziness from the filmmakers
2. Intentional dumbing down for the audience
3. Intentionally basic references, to demonstrate that he wasn't really the intellectual he thought he was.

What do people think?

[–] MoviemanCin 9 years ago

3.

Schrodinger's cat walks into a bar, and / or doesn't.

[–] Chenille333 8 years ago

Who care's what they've read and haven't read. The main problem is that they are completely incapable of discussing the works in any relevant way beyond "this was good and this wasn't".

Imagine going on IMDB and every thread reads either "good film" or "poor film". That's how these "intellectuals" approach literary discussion.

[–] Wuchak (8733) 6 years ago

Probably intentional dumbing down for the audience