MovieChat Forums > Genius (2016) Discussion > Wearing A Hat Indoors

Wearing A Hat Indoors

posted 8 years ago by gonzo_don
17 replies | jump to latest

Has anybody found anything historical about Max Perkins never taking off his hat?
Even today, leaving your hat on inside a building is considered by cultured folks to be ridiculous and laughable--this film takes place in the 1920's and 1930's when leaving your hat on inside would have been cause for a fist fight!
I mean, seriously, the guy's wearing a fedora in his office, in a restaurant, IN HIS OWN HOUSE.
Manners?
His employer would have fired him.
We're not talking about some idiot raised by rednecks who thinks it's okay to wear his ballcap backwards in O'Charley's because he's too stupid to know better--we're talking about educated men with good jobs in New York City.
Did Max Perkins have head lice? Was he raised by wolves?
This is a great movie--and this is the only thing I can think of when I watch it.
Max--didn't your mother teach you any manners???

[–] rd2105 8 years ago

Max even appeared to be still wearing his hat inside while wearing pyjamas. Come on, man. That just won't do.

[–] PacificHeights 8 years ago

It was his "signature". It was stupid but that's why he wore it everywhere. When he wore it to the dinner table it made him look ridiculous.

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] mysay-97-581086 8 years ago

I think it was a movie thing. I googled him and the only image with him wearing his hat was the one that came up with Firth.
Even that fishing photo that's taken with Fitzgerald doesn't have him wearing it.

[–] j-m-d-b 8 years ago

That was Ernest Hemingway.

[–] piranger 8 years ago

It was probably symbolic or something.
He took off the hat at the end.

[–] au561 8 years ago

Read the book. Perkins was a bit OCD and a bit Hypochondriac. He thought the hat helped him avoid illness.

[–] TxMike 8 years ago

Don't know why it should seem strange to some. Look around today, go to any public place, there are many guys wearing hats indoors. I used to work with a guy in a lab, he always wore a hot indoors, but in his case he was embarrassed by his premature baldness. My dad always wore a hat outdoors but rarely indoors. Different strokes for different folks.

Max

[–] milo44 8 years ago

Indeed ... to each his own .

"A man that wouldn't cheat for a poke don't want one bad enough".

[–] Horsewomyn 8 years ago

Yeah, it was a symbolic thing, IMHO. It represented his repressed emotions, how he kept everything bottled up inside. That's why he took it off at the end when he cried. Total technique symbolism.

[–] SnappinTurtle 8 years ago

I agree, the last scene with the hat carried symbolism. However, the image of Perkins constantly wearing the hat was a true personality quirk, and not something invented for this movie.

Below is a link to another thread on this topic, and it contains two links to articles that touch on that issue if you are interested.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1703957/board/thread/258789817

[–] The-Enforcer1978 8 years ago

Strange, because in the OP’s user photo he’s wearing a hat... indoors.

[–] ScriptiSandy 8 years ago

I looked the guy up and the picture of him had no hat. It is distracting and strange that he never took it off in the movie. It bothered me enough to come here and make a comment on it and then found all of this! :-) Glad I am not the only one who felt this way.

[–] mmoch 8 years ago

I agree, it was simply distracting. It must have been what he did. At the dinner table?