As many people know, I am a diehard (University of) Michigan football fan. Ever since my childhood, I have sported maize and blue and despised everything pertaining to Ohio State. Every November, Michigan and Ohio State meet on the gridiron, playing in arguably the biggest rivalry game in the county. In this year’s Michigan Ohio State game, like the previous six, Michigan lost. But this game left me particularly hopeless and upset. I thought a less talented yet exciting Michigan team would put up a respectable fight against Ohio State and maybe even pull off an unlikely win. But it was not the case, at all. They lost by 30 and utterly embarrassed everyone associated with the university.
As I watched the Michigan football team pathetically crumble before my eyes on TV, I noticed many similarities between the game and “The Namesake” movie. I had very high expectations for the game and the movie. Both started out very well. Michigan’s defense stopped Ohio State early and marched down the field on offense with ease while “The Namesake” seemed like it would turn out into an intelligent, powerful movie based on the opening few scenes. But then things began to go awry, Denard Robinson, Michigan’s quarterback and best player, fumbled on the Ohio State nine-yard line and Gogol saw the wonderfully attractive (…not) Moushumi for the first time. Both moments foreshadowed very bad things to come. Michigan quickly lost their momentum as Ohio State started scoring while “The Namesake” began to get extremely cheesy, especially with Maxine present. A glimmer of hope appeared in both amid the mediocrity. Michigan scored to pull within three points of OSU, filling me with all sorts of optimism and cheer. Similarly, I thought the scenes involving Asoke’s death in “The Namesake” were very well done and made me start to believe that the movie could turn itself around. But these glimmers of hope did not last long. Ohio State returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown while Maxine decided to make the movie unrealistic and cheesy by getting angry at her grieving boyfriend for not going on a trip with her. From there, both went from bad to inconceivably and outrageously worse. Ohio State started piling on the points while Michigan could not muster any kind of consistent attack. Once Gogol, met Moushumi, “The Namesake” lost all hope. The second half of the game opened with Michigan throwing an interception while losing 24-7. I lost all hope at that point, throwing my Michigan hat in disgust at the TV (making a louder sound than I had anticipated). The interception reminded me a lot of Moushumi and Gogol’s weird and kind of creepy dance in their bedroom following their wedding. I think all of us realized then that the movie could not get any worse. I never watched the end of the game and we still have not finished the movie but I do not have a problem with either. Michigan football, the winningest program in NCAA history, now cannot stay within thirty points of their hated archrival. I feel very ashamed to support Michigan. In addition, “The Namesake” had probably equal entertainment value to Michigan’s football team (and that’s zero). In my mind, both the game and the movie are examples of how people call fall miles short of achieving an important goal.
Jimmy, I like how you paralleled two things that I would think have nothing in common. I agree that the movie had some fairly ridiculous scenes, but they did seem to stay fairly close to the plot of the novel. Unfortunately, a lot of the scenes did not transfer well onto the screen. Some of the more memorable quotes from the book ended up sounding cheesy when said out loud.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree that the scene with Gogol and Moushumi dancing in their bedroom ruined the movie. Not only did it deviate from the book, it was also incredibly bizarre and creepy. I liked the parallel you drew between football and the movie - it would be an excellent way to explain how terrible the movie was to someone that had not seen it. In reference to Katie's comment, I would agree to some extent that some of the quotes from the book do not translate well into spoken word, but I think the acting in the movie contributed to this as well - as a whole, it left something to be desired.
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