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In the previous decade, Adrian Lyne had made two movies (Fatal Attraction and Indecent Proposal) that had grossed over $100 million in the US alone. With carte blanche to do whatever he wanted, he made an adaptation of the Nabokov novel about a 40-year-old pedophile’s obsession with his adolescent step-daughter – and no distributor wanted to release it. In a decade rife with the commodification and sexualization of young teens (see our previous episode on Drew Barrymore), what lines did Lyne’s Lolita cross?
Adrian Lyne, Jeremy Irons and Dominique Swain on-set of Lolita
SHOW NOTES:
Sources:
“A ‘Lolita’ for the ‘90s” by Sean Mitchell And John M. Wilson, LA Times, June 10, 1990
“‘Lolita’ Loses Her Chaperon” by Judy Brennan, LATimes, Sept. 24, 1995
“Another Fatal Attraction?” by Christopher Goodwin, The Sunday Times of London, Sept 8, 1996
“Lolita in Hollywood” by Tad Friend, Vogue, November 1996
“Waiting for Humbert” by David Gates and Corie Brown, Newsweek, Dec 16, 1996
“Nobokov Cocktail” by Charles Fleming, Vanity Fair, January 1997
“Lolita Comes Again” by Elizabeth Kaye, Esquire, February 1997
“Lost Without a Screen: the Fate of 'Orphan' Films” by Ingrid Abramovitch, NYTimes, March 9, 1997
“Nymph Mania” by Richard Goldstein, Village Voice, June 17, 1997
“A New ‘Lolita’ Stalls in Europe” by Celestine Bohlen, NYTimes, Sept 23, 1997
Lolita Chic: Nasty Fashion-Speak by Suzy Menkes, International Herald Tribune, Oct. 7, 1997
“Lolita's Fatal Attraction” Newsweek, October 5, 1997
“A Movie America Can't See” by Caryn James, NYTimes, March 15, 1998
“Too Hot for Hollywood? Try Cable” By J. Max Robins, TV Guide, July 25, 1998
“Revisiting a Dangerous Obsession” by Caryn James, NYTimes, July 31, 1998
“High and Lo” by Tom Carson, LA Weekly, Aug 11, 1998
“Problem Child” by Tom Gilatto and Elizabeth Leonard, People, Aug 17, 1998
“The Girl Can’t Help It” by Alyssa Katz, The Nation, August 24, 1998
“Moved to a Large Screen, 'Lolita' in All Its Detail” by Janet Maslin, NYTimes, Sept. 25, 1998
Adrian Lyne Interview w/ Charlie Rose, Lolita, 1998
“Two Years After Fuss, Lyne’s ‘Lolita’ Goes on Sale” by Susan King, LA Times, Oct. 14, 1999
“'Unfaithful': Unfathomable Attraction” by Stephen Hunter, Washington Post, May 10, 2002
“An Affair To Forget: How To Make Adultery Boring” by Lou Lumenick, NY Post, May 8, 2002
“Fiona Apple’s Art of Radical Sensitivity” by Emily Nussbaum, March 16, 2020
Lolita: The Book of the Film by Stephen Schiff
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Dominic Swain, Lolita, 1997
Sue Lyon in Kubrick's Lolita, 1962
Music:
The music used in this episode, with the exception of the intro, was sourced from royalty-free music libraries and licensed music collections. The intro includes a clip from the film Casablanca.
Excerpts from the following songs were used throughout the episode:
Rumoi Night - Kokura Station
Chai Belltini - Vermouth
Deixa - Orange Cat
Copley Beat - Skittle
Kalsted - Lillehammer
Gra Landsby - Fjell
Holo - Grey River
Levanger - Lillehammer
Cloud Line - K4
Ether Variant - Reflection
Bask VX - Limoncello
Metropolis Calling - Kittyhawk
Cinema Pathetic - Banana Cream
An Unknown Visitor - Cold Case
Dominic Swain, Lolita, 1997
Credits:
This episode was written, narrated, and produced by Karina Longworth.
Our editor this season is Evan Viola.
Research and production assistant: Lindsey D. Schoenholtz.
Social media assistant: Brendan Whalen.
Logo design: Teddy Blanks.
