For
Votaries, I am reviewing books to movies using books from
a prior list. "H," which includes Nathaniel Hawthorne, led me to consider
The Scarlet Letter.
The Scarlet Letter, of course, is about a Puritan woman who is branded with the letter "A" for Adultery (not how Puritans responded to adultery; as the makers of the PBS version point out, the story is a nineteenth-century man's version of seventeenth-century life, and it's really about the nineteenth century).
The Puritan woman, Hester, bears a child. She refuses to give away the name of her lover. Her lover is Reverend Dimmesdale, a weak waffling not terribly likable guy. That's kind of the whole point of the novel. Hester's honorable refusal
to name him is impressive and by itself could be enough. But the book
and the movie imply that she continues to loves Dimmesdale and the world has to
ask, "Whhhhyyyy?"
The larger romance question I pondered was, "Does anyone really want to watch a movie where a woman loves a waffling dip?"
Agatha Christie was able to make the relationship work on paper--she has multiple books with weak-willed men managed by tough, practical women, usually to their benefit.
And I would argue that the
affable and laid-back hero is incredibly likable! Loid's dry, warm reflections in
Spy x Family are far more hilarious and inviting than tough-guy speeches.
Loid is, however, impressively competent.
Dimmesdale just seems kind of meandering. NOT the image on the 1995 film poster (if the man behind Demi Moore is supposed to be Dimmesdale).
I didn't watch the 1995 version. I watched the PBS version with Meg Foster as Hester Prynne, Kevin Conway as Chillingworth, and John Heard as Dimmesdale, and the moment I realized that Dimmsedale was played by a young John Heard, I went, "Ohhh. Okay."
John Heard (1946-2017) often played rather sarcastic, weak-willed not entirely likable but fun-to-watch characters (and take a look at his
filmography--he was one of those hardworking character actors). In
Big, he is Paul Davenport, the
protagonist's rival (he is the guy who gets into a tussling match with Tom Hank's Josh on the tennis court). In
Elementary, he is Joan's father, the one who cheated on her mom (but they got back together) and wrote a book based on Sherlock and Joan.
He had the ability to portray weak-willed individuals who are yet quite captivating and charismatic.
He is a believable Dimmesdale--although why Hester would remain so captivated remains a question mark, other than the possibility that she likes being the tougher member of the couple. (As Tim Allen's Mike says of his daughter who got pregnant in high
school, "I'm pretty sure that even back then she was calling the shots
[with Ryan, her boyfriend and later husband].")
Still, I'm not sure I see the point of an
entire series about dysfunctional people behaving like, well, dysfunctional people; the PBS series could be 2 episodes shorter than its 4-episode length.
But good casting! And believable characterizations!
