Lolita and Madonna @ 50.

"When Lolita debuted in American book stores in August 1958, the 310-page novel, a wordy tome heavily dependent on the narrator's twisted and often poetic internal monologue, was already at the center of an international uproar about morality, social responsibility, and obscenity," writes Rodger Jacobs in a piece for PopMatters on Vladimir Nabokov's novel, Graham Vickers's Chasing Lolita: How Popular Culture Corrupted Nabokov's Little Girl All Over Again and, of course, Stanley Kubrick's 1962 adaptation:

Updated through 8/19.

Despite the critical accolades that Kubrick's movie has received over the years, as an adaptation of the novel Vickers correctly refers to the James Mason/Peter Sellers vehicle as "a patchy misfire." On her own role as Lolita, [Sue] Lyon, who avoids interviews since retiring from acting in 1980, said at the time of the film's release: "I feel sorry for her. She's neurotic and pathetic and only interested in herself." Lyon, of course, is referring to Kubrick's own interpretation of Nabokov's character, not the titular heroine of Nabokov's novel. The two are distinct and polar opposites.

Nabokov's own scenario, largely unused by the master filmmaker, was published as Lolita: A Screenplay by McGraw-Hill in 1974. In his foreword Nabokov wrote, "My first reaction to the picture was a mixture of aggravation, regret, and reluctant pleasure... I keenly regretted the waste of my time while admiring Kubrick's fortitude in enduring for six months the evolution and infliction of a useless product."

As it happens, Madonna, whose first single, "Like a Virgin," lingered in the #1 spot on the US charts for six weeks in late 1984, and who'd make her film debut the following year in Susan Seidelman's Desperately Seeking Susan, turns 50 tomorrow. You can find plenty of relevant hoopla at the Guardian and a bit more in the London Times.

Update, 8/19: In the Guardian, Aida Edemariam chastises Camille Paglia, Julie Burchill and Germaine Greer for turning on Madonna when she's actually "doing what they liked her for in the first place - going her own way, fighting her own fight, mores be damned."

Posted by dwhudson at August 15, 2008 12:02 PM