Interview With The Vampire - Does It Hold Up?
Welcome to the hold up, where we analyze media from the past. Each episode features a different host that brings a fresh take on a film, TV show, video game, or music album of their choice. Do old favorites have a shelf life? Will the classics hold up?
Speaker 2:Hello, and welcome to this episode of the classic hold up. I'm your host, Kalia Patterson, and I'm currently a senior at Michigan State University majoring in digital storytelling with a focus in audio. In this episode, we will be discussing the 1994 film Interview with a Vampire. This gothic film is a live adaptation of the 1976 novel Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice. We follow along the tragic lives of the three vampires, Louis Dupont du Lac, Lestat de Leoncourt, and their daughter, Claudia.
Speaker 2:The story begins in 1991 San Francisco with eccentric journalist, Daniel Molloy, played by Christian Slater, conducting an interview with the vampire Louis. We follow the narration of Louis, played by Brad Pitt, who brings us to late seventeen hundred's New Orleans, where he once resided as both a human and a vampire. His story begins in 1791, a time when he was mourning the death of his wife, who had just passed during childbirth. Lestat, played by Tom Cruise, a vampire who developed an interest in Louis and desired for him to be his eternal companion, took advantage of Louis' desire for death and transformed him into a vampire. At first, Louis struggles with his morals, despising the need to kill humans in order to feed.
Speaker 2:This brings us to the introduction of the last vampire of the family trio, named Claudia. The 12 year old orphan girl, played by Kirsten Dunst, is discovered by a starving Louis, who feeds on her blood briefly before being discovered by Lestat, who laughs at him for his hypocrisy. He runs away shamefully, only for Lestat to find him again and bring him back to Claudia, who he ends up transforming into a vampire to save her life and clear Louis' conscience. She continues to grow older throughout the following three decades, remaining in her 12 year old body as she ages. She begins to hate Lestat for turning her into a vampire, and her resentment leads her to eventually murdering Lestat in order to set both her and Louis free.
Speaker 2:Louis and Claudia journey to Europe in search of other vampires, eventually reaching Paris in the year 1870, where they meet the vampire Armand, the leader of the theater of vampires. Armand desires to have Louis as his companion, just as Lestat did, and Claudia desires a companion of her own. She finds a woman named Madeline and forces Louis to turn her. In result of them breaking the forbidden rules, the vampires of the theater kill both Claudia and Madeline. Armand spares Louis, who ends up killing the vampires of the theater as revenge.
Speaker 2:Decades later, Louis returns to America and briefly reunites with Lestat, who later meets Daniel Molloy after the interview. My first exposure to Interview with the Vampire was not through the film nor the novels, but through the ongoing 2022 TV show adaptation. I never cared much for gothic or a vampire series, though after watching the television show, I quickly fell in love with its story and its many complex characters. I eventually wanted to learn more about the original series and my friend who happens to be our guest today introduced me to the film one night a few months after I'd watched the show. My first thought after watching the movie was simply that the TV show was better.
Speaker 2:There are many reasons as to why I prefer the show over the film, but maybe it's simply because I like TV shows more than movies. I have mixed feelings towards the film for a multitude of reasons though, and I'm more than excited to discuss this all with my guest today, who is an avid lover of the film.
Speaker 3:Hi. My name is Janea Richardson. I just graduated from MSU in May and I really, really like the movie. I'm a really big fan of it.
Speaker 2:When did you first watch Interview with the Vampire?
Speaker 3:I think it was in 2009 or 2010. Like, whenever I was six or seven, I was pretty young. My grandma has, like, this movie case with, like, 50,000 movies in it. It was one of the movies we chose that day and I was like, yeah, you know what, I love me some Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise so, but that will be our grandma.
Speaker 2:So it's like a nostalgic movie for you?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's more of like a nostalgic kind of thing for me as well. I like it because it's like old and I like old themed kind of things and it has vampires in it and I love like vampires like
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:I love the whole gothic kind of thing.
Speaker 2:So why do you like this movie? Like, what makes it good, do you think?
Speaker 3:Well, for one, I think the actors, like, my number one, like, my number one reason for watching any movie is because of the actors, like, it's Kirsten, it's Brett and it's Tom Cruise. I'm, yes, it's, it's just, it's great. All three of them. It was really great to see them in a movie together. But then also just like the concept of like, you know, just that main character who's like depressed and he's like really sad and he's lost everything and then here comes this man.
Speaker 3:Kinda like a savior kind of thing but it's not a savior because it's kind of like a good and bad thing because now I have eternal life. But now I'm internally stuck with this person who's evil and it's like Yeah. It it kinda gives off like like dark kind of romance kind of thing and something. I think this is good storytelling in my opinion. Like, but it's from the nineties so there are some like there is room for improvement but still.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of a lot of stuff in there that There's
Speaker 3:a lot of flaws but
Speaker 2:A little Yeah.
Speaker 3:Like the like the like, even like the color, like just like Twilight, I like the color of Yeah, and I like when they dive into like supernatural kind of things.
Speaker 2:So the movie was released in 1994, right? And it was pretty well received. Yeah. Why do you think that is?
Speaker 3:Well, I think that any movie released in like the nineties and like before that would be well perceived just because I feel like the standards of like, like how we accept things was just different now, right? So I just feel like you can put out anything back then and people would just eat it up. That's true, yeah. Because there's nothing to go off of really and so I just feel like you got those actors, the hot actors like in that time and these are like their starting movies like they're the hot actors, they're the top actors in the industry right now. So it's like, it's nice to see these people.
Speaker 3:And then it's like also the themes. I mean, like, I don't know. I guess some people just relate to it. And it's vampires too.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 3:And vampires was like a eighties, nineties vampires is like a really like, there's so many Vampire movies. So it's just like, I don't know. I just feel like it's well perceived because people like the concepts, actors, the theme, and for the book lovers too.
Speaker 2:But the the novel, it was like a best seller in whatever. It was released nineteen seventy something. Like, oh my gosh. Oh. It was was really popular.
Speaker 2:So like like Harry Potter, Harry Potter book fans, they were probably super excited to see the movie. So Yeah. It's probably the same with Interview with the Vampire.
Speaker 3:I know it just gives off dark romance and I feel like the women, they be eating it up and so seeing it put in a movie, definitely well perceived.
Speaker 2:How do you think the movie is now viewed?
Speaker 3:I don't think the movie is perceived in any negative way as of now, but I wouldn't say I think it's as popular as it was when it first released, right? Because I feel like with the show's release, I feel like they show us a lot more themes and concepts that are more like relatable to our time. Like we have a black male lead and we have no, we have like LGBTQ in the show now and so it's like, it's kind of more relatable and it's kind of something that we can like watch and be like, like we like, you know when you're watching a show and it's like, I don't know, you just like, just feel excited and you don't know what to expect and I feel like with the movie it's kind of predictable, it's old so like some of the acting and like the script is kind of like outdated. And I just feel like, a lot of things to be a lot more controversial now because you know, like, like with Louie and Lestat being like slave owners and then like, you know, like Claudia and Relationship. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so like, is there a lot of controversial things that now we can look at and be like, maybe that wasn't okay. Yeah. So Right. But I don't think that anybody looks at the movie like, horrible. It still was a good movie.
Speaker 3:Those actors are still pretty good. Just think that the show just like kind of just shows a different perspective that people can actually enjoy to see.
Speaker 2:Yeah. It's also like a lot different than the original plot because the movie is more true to the book's And
Speaker 3:then we get more backstory on the characters so now that we can like, we're like, actually understand why he did that. And we get to see more like side effects or like even with Claudia, right? Like in the movie, you can like sympathize with her situation of being turned to a vampire and being this woman trapped in this little girl's body. But I feel like you can only see that so far because they don't show you so much. But in the show, we get to see like how like her love interest couldn't really grow as much she wanted to and it's like, it was a whole lot of stuff, like shown in a different way that kind of was like, I can see.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:I can see what you're talking about now, Claudia. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And like the movie, it's like two hours and you have to fit so much in like a two hour timeframe. So with the TV show, they like were able to dive deeper into like certain storylines. Yeah. Yeah. The movie is still viewed good.
Speaker 2:I feel like, you know, there's a lot of people. It's either like you like it or you don't kind of because
Speaker 3:I see Anna's a bit on TikTok and they're always like comparing and contrasting but it's never like a bad compare and contrast, it's always just like, they all ate, they rolls up and I can see how like it's good on either way. But I feel like the show is a lot more experimental, right? Because you can see hints of things in the movie, but I feel like you can only go so far in the 90s before you get ridiculed for certain things. But now we're in a different time, where now we can see a whole bunch of stuff happening that we wanna see. You know.
Speaker 2:Right, because like, yeah. Well, because with the romance aspect of the whole series, they couldn't like really explicitly go into it in the movie. Yes. But in the show, they're just, they're together. Yeah, like, you know.
Speaker 2:It was released, if the movie was released right now, how do you think it would do?
Speaker 3:I feel like there would be mixed reviews, right? Yeah. Because, like I said, I don't think people would hate the movie because Brad Pitt won't, I don't know if Brad Pitt is real perceived now these days, right? Because of, you know, scandals with his life and Tom Cruise is really well perceived. Mean, he's still coming out with those movies.
Speaker 3:They're all dated, but he's still coming out with those movies, right? And so I just feel like, if it came out now, it would be, I don't know if too many people would be like this hit, right? If the show also came out at the same time because it just doesn't really fit the timeline these days. I don't know, I would say mixed reviews. I would say there were people who would like it because it's true to novel.
Speaker 3:But some people would be like, this is not right. This isn't okay. And they would probably watch the show. I
Speaker 2:think especially because this show's out now and has, you know, its audience. A lot of people would, I feel like, hate that the movie would come out right after the show, especially with all those themes. Yeah. You know, the all white cast, I would like
Speaker 3:The all white cast, dealing with slavery. Stuff like that. So it's just like, we not in those times anymore. Like, we're cast other ethnic groups too.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So, yeah. We talked about how it was like viewed in the past and also the present. How do you think it's gonna be viewed in the future? Like in ten years?
Speaker 3:I don't think, I don't think anyone would probably enjoy it. And not just because of like, because of the themes in the movie, it's just because it'll be a different time. And I feel like the kids and the next generation just won't get with that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I didn't think about the next generation.
Speaker 3:They're not gonna mess with that at all. No. And it just depends because like, well, 1994 wasn't really my generation.
Speaker 2:2003
Speaker 3:is mine, but it like, you grow up with that and it just like, I don't know, it's something that's nostalgic for me. So if you're not raised on that, I don't really think it's gonna hit for you. And so like in the future, I'm just gonna be like, there'll probably be better movies out that can like, and then there'll be like more like, there'll be more cultural stuff like incorporated in movies because like all white cats crazy. Yes. Like
Speaker 2:That I mean, yeah.
Speaker 3:Everybody can get a chance. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I get that like nostalgic thing. Like there's media that I used to watch, like TV shows or movies that were just probably problematic. And I still look back and I enjoy it because I was a kid. A grew up on it, it's nostalgic. So I feel like in the future there will probably be people our age or older that are the same.
Speaker 2:If, yeah, you're right. If the next generation isn't raised watching the movie, they're not gonna like me.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and their eyes are just gonna be more open than ours because we weren't really taught to look at those things in a movie or in a show. It's just we grew up with it, we enjoy the entertainment. It's just like watching Nickelodeon and seeing all this stuff. There's nothing wrong with that. But now we're older and we're like, it's not okay.
Speaker 3:So it might be different in the future. Yeah.
Speaker 2:My name is Sarah Cherry. My name is Carly Close.
Speaker 3:My name is Elle Hebelin.
Speaker 2:When I complete my degree, I want to work in video production. I want to be an editor.
Speaker 3:I want to be a sports photographer.
Speaker 2:My name is Sarah Cherry. My name is Carly Close.
Speaker 3:My name is Elle Hebelink.
Speaker 2:I am Com Arts Start your journey at comartsci.msu.edu. Some students gave us five questions about the movie. Okay. Did it perform well in the box office? I looked this up.
Speaker 2:This is what we were talking about earlier. Yes. Yes, it did do well. It performed significantly well and it earned like 36 something million dollars during its opening weekend. And it held like two records about the biggest opening or something, R rated opening until 1997 and it was overtaken by something else that I don't remember.
Speaker 2:I don't know. Basically, what we talked about earlier, you know? Yeah. It was popular because the actors
Speaker 3:Because the novel. White man. They got them in there. They
Speaker 2:got the popular white man, the famous Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt. And it was like a few years after Tom Cruise. What was that movie? Top Gun. Yeah, that's what
Speaker 3:I was talking about earlier. Like, he's still dropping Top Gun movies.
Speaker 2:I don't know what's going on. It's been it's too it's too much.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I was like, okay.
Speaker 2:It's old, man.
Speaker 3:Differently and then also can show like with the actors, like their versatility, like how versatile they are with like, because he, I mean, was acting in that movie. He was insane.
Speaker 2:He was crazy. He was good as Lustat. I liked him. I did, I didn't think I would like him because I didn't, I don't really care. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I don't really care for Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt but like, they did, they did pretty good.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Oh yeah. He
Speaker 2:was doing good, she was, I don't even know how old she was.
Speaker 3:They told, I read something online that was something about like how, because I think Kirsten was like nine or 10 at the time. And so she was acting only based off of what the things that they were telling her because they had to keep a lot of the things like that were explicit away from her knowledge.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, because she's like nine.
Speaker 3:That's crazy. She did a really good job of like not knowing anything and just, you know, just reading her lines.
Speaker 2:Nine year old acting like a 12 year old and then acting like a 30 year old woman trapped in a 12 year old body. That's crazy. How you do Okay. Two. How does the film use Louis and Lestat's contrasting personalities to explore themes of morality and immortality?
Speaker 2:And okay, so that's kind of a lot. It's
Speaker 3:I kind think, well, because what I was saying earlier when I was just talking about how these, not really the dark romance kind of thing, but how this man shows up and he kinda gives him a good and bad kind of life for himself now. And I just feel like Louis kind of embodies that mortality, Trying to be this normal person who doesn't have anything to live for at all, but now that I'm this vampire, I wanna try to still be somebody who has these permissible morals. So I want to only eat animals. I don't want to eat humans. I wanna be normal.
Speaker 3:I can't get out of this loop now, now that I'm here. What do I do? And then you have Lestat on the other hand who's just evil. And he's like, well, I'm immortal. At this point, there's no point of trying to be a regular human being.
Speaker 3:I'm not even regular anymore. I can't pretend to be something I'm not. So I'm just do whatever I want. Right. And so I just feel like it's just that whole, that's what the movie's about, honestly.
Speaker 3:It's that whole thing. And then I feel like Claudia is something that kinda like, I feel like just exposes that to them even more, especially like Louie because then she's like an embodiment of both of them, right? Because she doesn't wanna be this way, but then she also just doesn't even care.
Speaker 2:Yes. I feel like, yeah. Cause since, okay, this is like off track of the question. Yeah. But because Claudia was like turned into a vampire so young, I feel like a lot of her humanity was like, her morals were taken away from her immediately and she was like already vampire mode.
Speaker 3:Yeah, because what morals do you have at nine years old?
Speaker 2:Right. But yeah, so Louis in the movie, the difference between Louis in the movie and the TV show with his morality. At first, he was struggling a lot with his morality. He didn't wanna kill humans, so he was just eating animals and stuff. But in the movie, when we first meet Claudia, Louis Louis trying to kill Claudia.
Speaker 3:So I was like,
Speaker 2:what's going on? But then he feels bad about it because Lissa makes him feel bad about it and then blah blah blah. But then eventually he starts like, I guess eating humans again. They don't not eating humans. Just drinking their blood, but killing them.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Because they don't really talk about it. But I think with in the movie, the thing with Louie is that I feel like he wanted to do what he, like I want, he did what he wanted to happen to him to Claudia. Like I don't think he, I think he just wanted to put her out of her misery. Yeah.
Speaker 3:And he wanted to be put out his misery too, but Lestat just doesn't understand how to put people out of their misery. He just gives them more misery. I didn't want to live, I lost everything, I wanted to die. Claudia didn't have a mother and she was sick, it was like, you know, Louis was kinda like, I'm just gonna put her out of her misery because, I mean, there's nothing that can happen
Speaker 2:Right. For
Speaker 3:was the eighteen hundred's, what can we do for her? Right. But then here's Lestat with this immortality scheme and he's like, what are you doing?
Speaker 2:But the movie doesn't go deep into Lestat's backstory. Mhmm. So it's like, why is he doing this? It's confusing. Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's confusing.
Speaker 3:The thing about movies is that they can't really go too far. Yeah. Without passing the limit, but they can be like, it can only be like two hours.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Also, the stats like like 200 something. He's been a vampire forever. So I feel like definitely since he's a lot older. Yeah.
Speaker 2:As a vampire, his morality
Speaker 3:is gone. It's gone.
Speaker 2:He doesn't care.
Speaker 3:He doesn't care. Yeah. But I feel like in the movie we can see like, we didn't really get to see Louis' family. We just know that he lost them and he wanted to die. But like in the show, we learned that Louis like lost his brother and like, and then he's struggling with, cause he's a black man in this time, he's struggling with that and with money and like trying to uphold his name in the streets.
Speaker 3:It's like, there's a lot going on and you can kind of tell with him why he wants to hold on to his morality a lot more than Louie in the movie because it's like, well, kinda just seem like you're just doing this and you're suicidal but then in the show he's suicidal but then he's also like, well.
Speaker 2:He has like so many reasons. Yeah. TV shows go way deeper into certain storylines. And I
Speaker 3:think that's just because it's TV shows. Yeah, they have more time.
Speaker 2:How does the film balance horror and romance?
Speaker 3:For one, I think it does a really good job at balancing like horror and romance. I think the way that it does that is that well, I mean, there's vampires and then there's murder and there's violence and that's the horrific themes in the movie. But I think there's also this romance because then we also see Lestat and Louie being together and they have conversations and they laugh together. And he tries to teach him like how to be a good vampire and that you can see like some romance and some care. It's like, know, he's like trying to sculpt him into being this person for him and I find that very romantic, right?
Speaker 3:It's manipulative, Yeah. Is the right word, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:But it just seems romantic for a movie. But it's definitely horrific because then you see the dark side of these things, the dark side of having to be with a statin and having to be Louie himself. I have to kill people to survive and I have to kill these rats and I have to put this girl out of her misery or, you know, just, there's a lot of horrific things about it, but then you can also find the romance in it as well. I feel like the show dives deeper into the romantic aspect. I think it's horrific in a way that it's more like gory.
Speaker 3:I feel like it's more gory and like, what is going on here?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 3:But I feel like they dive a lot more into romance in the show.
Speaker 2:For the movie, I feel like they do balance horror and romance. But I feel like the horror is more seen and obvious than the romance. Like, the romance you have to like really just pay attention. I mean, it's there like, you know, Louie and Lizette are living together and they have a daughter together.
Speaker 3:It's like, okay.
Speaker 2:But it's like, you gotta pay attention, it's not explicit. They're not like, you know, they're not kissing. They're not
Speaker 3:Yeah, they're not doing what they did
Speaker 2:in the show. They're not doing what they did in the show. And then in the show, I feel like it's the opposite. Like there is horror and it's scary and stuff, but like, then there's more explicit, like, romance
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Shown on the screen. So it's like, they're kind of like opposite in a way.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I feel like this show dives more into the dynamics of like, romance. And I feel like in every like plot that I've seen in the show so far in season one, it's just that there's some kind of turn to the romance of being in love with a vampire, any vampire. And I feel like that's what turns things into being horrific is when you're like what will happen to you with being with this person and things you have to do to stay true to yourself and like, what you have to do to get what you want. And so that's why I'm like, it's romantic, it dives more into romantic aspect.
Speaker 3:Versus the movie is just this like horror and then it's trying to cover up what maybe Anne Rice was trying to write
Speaker 2:in her book.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I don't know.
Speaker 2:In what ways does Claudia's character challenge traditional ideas of childhood, family and identity?
Speaker 3:I mean, she's not happy to be a child.
Speaker 2:I mean, yeah, nothing about her character is traditional.
Speaker 3:Traditional way at all. She's not happy. Because you know what? People are always talking about how they would love to be a child forever. Because you know how you don't have to worry about anything.
Speaker 3:And then it's like seeing this person who's a child forever and then it's like, well actually, we have to grow up at some point because we want things, we need things, we want to explore, we want to grow up physically and emotionally and And when it's only mental, it feels like you're trapped. And so it was more of like, I'm trapped in this body forever and I can't grow, nobody's gonna see me for who I am. Give me what I want, give me what I need because I'm this child forever. Nothing is traditional about it.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. It's sad, that's what's horrific about it.
Speaker 3:Yes. Totally horrific experience.
Speaker 2:Her whole character is just It's so sad. Yeah. And I feel like even with everyone, like even Lestat and Louie, they know she's like a 30 year old woman in this 12 year old girl body, but they still see her as a child.
Speaker 3:Yes. Disrespectful.
Speaker 2:So it's just weird. And like, even at the end when when Or not at the end, but like, when Claudia tries to kill Lisette, I feel like he didn't really take her seriously because he's like, oh, she's a child. You know?
Speaker 3:I'm a child.
Speaker 2:He thought, oh, you can't outsmart me because you're a child and I'm smarter than you are. Then you would die.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Because I lived with you for forty five years, of course, understand how to get around these things and plan to kill you. Right.
Speaker 2:Nothing about her character is traditional. Yeah. And like, with her family and her identity, nothing about that's traditional. It's not a traditional family who live with these crazy vampire men. Your mother died from whatever, the plague or something when you were 12 and her dad, I don't know, don't think he He was never mentioned.
Speaker 2:Not there. And then you turn into a vampire and then you just with these crazy people and nothing, nothing.
Speaker 3:I have these urges that are new and then I have to kill people for it and I don't really care but now I have to control myself and it's like, this is all too much for me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then her identity, she's like, really has no identity. She's just this like vampire.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's kinda like the stat, she's just a girl, right? But then she has a little bit more morality than he does. Yeah. Just because of the things that she wants, right? And he probably was like that too, but then over time, it kinda just disappears once you do the same thing over and over again, desensitize the things.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Do you sympathize more with Louis or Lestat and why?
Speaker 3:I sympathize a lot more with Louis, but sometimes I can feel a little bit like Lestat, right? Because sometimes you can feel like a really good person and then you can lose everything and you turn into a Lestat, right? It's kind of that kind of thing. But I feel a lot more sympathetic towards Louis. And like, I feel like I relate to him more because it's just like, I mean, I have a lot of morality right now.
Speaker 2:Like I have a
Speaker 3:lot of morality and so I care about a lot of things and then like, I don't wanna see people hurt and I don't wanna hurt people. And like, I feel like I'm very in tune to my emotions so I can
Speaker 2:get emotional about a lot
Speaker 3:of things and Louis seems like that type of character who's just so sensitive about a lot of things, right? And Lestat just doesn't care about anything but himself and sometimes that's a good thing, but like sometimes it gets a little chaotic. Right. And so, I don't know, I just don't feel like I can be sympathetic towards the evil person, that's just who I am. But I can find a loophole sometimes, right?
Speaker 3:I can understand Lestat in some way, but I sympathize and relate it more to Louis.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'd say the same. I definitely sympathize. I think a lot of people would sympathize more with Louis just because we're humans and he's more, I mean, obviously he's a vampire, he has more human morals
Speaker 3:than Lestat who just doesn't care. Does anything.
Speaker 2:But I do sympathize with Lestat a little because I know some things about his backstory, but I don't know that much. But overall, I sympathize the most with Claudia.
Speaker 3:Yes, Claudia. That's the only one that should have been the question.
Speaker 2:Yes. Well, that would be an easy answer though. Yeah. Because who wouldn't sympathize with her? Her whole life is just- Probably list that.
Speaker 2:Terrible.
Speaker 3:Because in the movie he really wanted to spoil her. Think he really liked the concept of having a family. I think that's why he did what he did, right?
Speaker 2:At first, yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think he really wanted a family but then I think he realized how annoying they were and how they were not like him at all. It's like being somewhere where you're just completely different and that drives you crazy when you're, I mean, you're already crazy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because it, I mean, because they, yeah, they both had human morals. So they were both similar in that way, Claudia and Louis. That's definitely why Lissat was like, oh.
Speaker 3:Y'all not like me at all.
Speaker 2:I don't want this anymore.
Speaker 3:I don't want this anymore.
Speaker 2:But yes, we both sympathize more with Louis. Yep. As many people probably would.
Speaker 3:Probably would, yeah.
Speaker 2:So do you think the movie like holds up to like current time?
Speaker 3:Yeah, like current standards? Probably not entirely. I'd say like maybe 50%. Yeah. It would hold up just because like there's still things in there that people can find to like.
Speaker 3:We have we have rapper, we have Tom Cruise, we have Kirsten, we have like the vampire, the gothic theme, like it could still hold up. It just doesn't really exactly target bigger audience. Yeah. Right? With the all white cast and then like it's just, it wouldn't like target a lot of people.
Speaker 3:I mean, targeted like me like because my grandma just loves movies so we'll watch anything really, right? It doesn't matter. And a lot of the movies that we do watch are really predominantly white people because that's where the movies back then, that one spare black person in the back, right? But I feel like this show is just, it would hold up a lot more in the future and as of now just because it targets the bigger audience and it lets you feel like I can watch this and see somebody that I can relate to.
Speaker 2:TV show is a lot more diverse and it goes more into like different storylines like we were talking Yeah, different storylines.
Speaker 3:It gives us a lot more to go off of and to watch and feel excited for and think about.
Speaker 2:I feel like the movie would hold up now if certain things that happened in the movie didn't And then, you know, the all white cast. Without the slavery and without the weird relationship with Claudia and Louis at the end. Yeah. If those things were out of the picture, but it still had the same plot, I feel like it would still be fine. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Because it follows the book. But I don't know what goes on in the book, I don't even know.
Speaker 3:Don't think following the book is in anymore, right? Like some people are biased where like Harry Potter, like they wanna see the book explicitly laid out the way that it's on the pages. But I feel like times now it's nice to see you experiment with your own ideas. Give us the story but give it to us in a way that just doesn't seem repetitive. Like, it doesn't have to be the
Speaker 2:way that it was written. Right.
Speaker 3:But it's like, as a director, when you want to find something, you kind of just, you get the base form of it and then you bring it to life in your eyes.
Speaker 2:Like,
Speaker 3:yes, respect the author, but sometimes more of like, you'll see the vision once that.
Speaker 2:Also, yeah, it's like, and it's different time, it's a different generation that's gonna be seeing this. So it's like
Speaker 3:You gotta appeal to the target audience. And the target audience isn't just white people anymore, white straight people anymore, really.
Speaker 2:I mean, yeah, it never really was but.
Speaker 3:And that, but I'm just saying those are the people that like, kinda like caught on to the movie though and that's because they were too scared to like, you know, incorporate the concepts that like would, you know?
Speaker 2:Because it would have been viewed as controversial and probably wouldn't have gotten as much money.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so our consensus is, you know.
Speaker 2:Our consensus is no. No. The movie does not hold up. Yeah. It's a good movie.
Speaker 2:It's just, there's just stuff in it that's not appealing.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And I'm more of a movie person so like I'll just choose the movie any day but if I would say no, it doesn't hold up just because it's not.
Speaker 2:It's just not right.
Speaker 3:It's not right.
Speaker 2:It's just not right.
Speaker 3:Thank you for this opportunity to talk about my favorite movie.
Speaker 2:Yes. Thank you. Thank you for being my guest.
Speaker 3:I love yapping.
Speaker 2:Thank you for listening to this episode of the classic hold up with me, Kalia Patterson, as your host and my guest Janae Richardson. Janae Richardson.
Speaker 1:Find the classic hold up on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow us at audio video land for updates, teasers, and behind the scenes content of all audio video land productions. The classic hold up is an audio video land production by students of the college of communication arts and sciences at Michigan State University in collaboration with Impact eighty nine FM.