I have a link to an online version of the book somewhere, but haven't gotten around to reading it. I wanted to because a friend of mine loathes it completely, and calls it vile racist filth, so I was curious to see it for myself.
I highly recommend "J.M. Barrie and the Lost Boys." I didn't realize it had also been dramatized and will definitely be looking it up. It really is a strange and sad story, and I've been leery of seeing "Finding Neverland" because I feared the film wouldn't do it justice. The real story seems to have a lot of ambiguities that I'm not sure can be portrayed well on film, not the least of which is the question of whether Barrie was some sort of pedophile. One of the boys, I believe it was Nico, was asked about this and said that Barrie never behaved untoward to them. His opinion was that Barrie was asexual. But the article you linked was right - it's hard for today's audiences to accept that angle. I'll be interested to see how the film handles it all.
I read the book from the library after seeing the movie. The film certainly took a lot of liberties, but felt faithful in spirit to who the man was.
Basically, I said at the time that if the concept of Johnny Depp playing Barrie appeals to you, you should see the film. If it holds no interest, don't bother.
Depp portrayed Barrie more as a man who never grew up -- still childlike at heart himself -- than a pedophile. They certainly got askance glances from "proper society," but that was partly because the mother character was unmarried here, which led to suspicions of an affair.
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Date: 2004-12-21 07:46 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-21 08:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-12-21 08:36 pm (UTC)I have a link to an online version of the book somewhere, but haven't gotten around to reading it. I wanted to because a friend of mine loathes it completely, and calls it vile racist filth, so I was curious to see it for myself.
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Date: 2004-12-21 09:31 pm (UTC)Thanks for the link!
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Date: 2004-12-21 11:53 pm (UTC)Basically, I said at the time that if the concept of Johnny Depp playing Barrie appeals to you, you should see the film. If it holds no interest, don't bother.
Depp portrayed Barrie more as a man who never grew up -- still childlike at heart himself -- than a pedophile. They certainly got askance glances from "proper society," but that was partly because the mother character was unmarried here, which led to suspicions of an affair.
Does that help at all?