> Date sent: Tue, 26 May 1998 11:50:34 -0500 (CDT)
> Subject: Re: Eco, Name of the Rose
> From: "Dennis D. Martin" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: "Deborah J. Shepherd" <[log in to unmask]>
> Copies to: [log in to unmask]
> Send reply to: [log in to unmask]
> I must object to proposing the movie version of Eco's _Name of the Rose_
> as useful for the eleventh-grader's project. The movie only perpetuates
> the worst caricatures everyone else on the list has been trying to
> overcome. Whether the novel itself is useful, I question--it certainly is
> less useful than many of the secondary sources already suggested, but the
> movie is certainly a caricature of the novel.
>
> Generally I think high school students need to be aware that movies
> (even more so than textbooks) must be taken with a large dose of salt.
> They should not stand on their own but must be read (viewed) critically in
> conjunction with other sources. Yes, movies are gripping, draw one's
> attention into a subject, but an introduction to a subject that attracts
> by virtue of caricature is worse than no introduction at all, in my
> opinion. That's precisely how we ended up with the miserable caricatures
> of the Middle Ages in contemporary textbooks--via the belles lettres work
> of people like Voltaire in the 18thc and then the romantics in the 19thc
> and then the Marxists and the other -isms of the 20thc.
>
> None of us would use films in teaching medieval studies without a lot of
> commentary and critical helps; for that reason, I think it unwise to
> recommend them uncritically for a high school independent research paper.
>
> Dennis Martin
>
Dear All,
This is a bit off the point, but nevertheless I would like say that
despite all the Hollywood nonsense such as happy end which is not in
the book, the Name of the Rose film is not alltogether hopeless. Sean
Connery does a good job etc.
The book itself is an excellent pastisse of early 14th century
religion and politics, but I agree that it demands a truck load of
commentaries before being used in schools.
Cheers,
Jussi Hanska
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|