The Sound of Music (1965). Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II/Irwin Kostal /wimple-dom/

Cover via Amazon

This AskMetaFilter thread on how to make The Sound of Music "sluttier" leads to The Maria Problem, an essay by film critic Anthony Lane.

He writes about his attendance at an early Sound of Music movie sing-along. Much new to me:

• Subtitles embarrass Anthony Lane.
• Alexander Haig is cited as an example of nonsense that entertains.
• Nun costumes are popular at these events.
• I don't know what a "wimple" is.
• "Fragrant music blow fairy place, place go wild." I had to read the essay twice to get the second usage of this.
• In hindishgt I never really liked Rocky Horror Picture Show, nor Meet Me in St. Louis for that matter.
• The Captain falls for "a certifiable virgin with a boy's haircut."
• The critical reception for the film was even worse than I might have guessed.
• Ernest Lehman wrote both The Sound of Music and North by Northwest (which I hate and love, respectively).
• Walter Matthau and Sean Connery were both considered for the role of the Captain.
• The people who attend these sing-alongs are not being ironic.
• "What we feel about a movie -- or, indeed, about any work of art, high or low -- matters less than the rise and fall of our feelings over time."

Comments

[Dave Luebbert]

A nun's wimple is the white headdress that covers her forehead, cheeks and extends like a bib below her chin.

"The Maria Problem" is hysterical to read. Thanks for pointing to it.