[Mistress]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY93VUQSMo4&feature=related

Looks, interesting, but I''m worries that they drowned out the homoerotic elements in favour of more horror and sex...but it does look good, with a somewhat unexpected cast (Colin Firth as Lord Henry!) and stunning visuals.

Thoughts?

[Felix Felicis]

Hmmm... I love the story, but this looks a bit too far from it for my liking. It shouldn't be a horror film!

[wtfchuck]

It looks like it could be okay. Not really a fan of the casting of Ben Barnes or Colin Firth. I also think the plot will be simplified and hevily edited to become more mainstream.

Unfortunatley, the book cannot be perfectly adapted into a film as it is too much about the characters, particularly Dorian, and his innermost feelings rather than just action. The film will cut alot of the drama and emotion/ character stuff for just pointless action.

I predict a heavily bulked out fight between Dorian Gray and James Vane.

[Monsieur D'Arque]

I always considered, in adaptations of Dorian Gray, that the homoerotic aspects are secondary to the main plot and fantasy/horror aspect.

This is simply because, as the issue is never addressed directly in the book, but simply hinted at here and there, it never becomes a main point of the story. In Wilde's day, homosexuality was an abomination, a sin and a capital crime which got him imprisoned for years. Today, the educated world (not counting the homophobes who are still up in arms against its very existence) sees homosexuality as a different, albeit eccentric, way of being.

Since that publication, however, Dorian Gray has become a symbol, not for the closeted homosexual, but for a very different, and more socially relevent to our society, stock figure- the two faced celebrity. Be it the politician with skeletons in their closet, the rock star who never seems to get older despite years of debauchery, or the film star desperate to hang on to youth, today Dorian Gray stands as a patron saint for all the people seeking youth, beauty, decadence and self-satisfaction no matter what the cost.

In a sexually integrated society, Gray's ambiguous sexuality is no longer a threatening, urgent undercurrent, but his lifestyle and its costs ring truer in today's world of sex and drugs than ever.

[Mistress]

It's still an important part of the novel, for me, at least. It's what made it such an enthralling read...if it gets put too much in the background and gets sacrificed for a more "interesting" story, we could end up with this hot mess:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM257hm5-jQ&feature=related

Possibly the greatest sin (besides the horrendous acting) was making Basil a WOMAN...yeah. And if they wanted to set the story in another era, I would've thought that the Roaring Twenties was a no-brainer. I would love to see an adaptation set in the Twenties amongst the unparalelled selfishness, decedance, and excess.

Interesting little side-note though, Sybil is played by none other than the girl who played Wendy (Rachel Hurd-Wood) in the live-action Peter Pan movie, making it her second film with an ageless leading man. She's also quite young, 19, which is about the right age, and about the same age Angela Lansbury was when she played the part...I'm looking forward to seeing how this plays out actually...

[Monsieur D'Arque]

I think a version set in the late Sixties to start would be perfect- tracing one of those "celebrities who never get old." Like a Jim Morrison figure.