Daily Dialogue — December 28, 2014

“…high to right field! That ball is still going! It’s way back! He did it! Hobbs did it!”

— The Natural (1984), screenplay by Roger Towne and Phil Dusenberry, novel by Bernard Malamud

Daily Dialogue theme this week: Celebration. Today’s suggestion by James Schramm.

Trivia: While the story is an adaptation of the book by Bernard Malamud the plot has been changed for movie to be more “uplifting”. Several characters and symbols are heavily influenced by the writings of Homer and Greek mythology: — the line, “Have you ever read Homer?”

* Roy Hobbs = Odysseus. He is trying to “find his way” [home]

* Max Mercy = Vulcan, God of Fire and Forging. He can “make or break you” and is always seen in red or brown clothing.

* Pop Fisher = Zeus, King of the Gods. His uniform is #1 and both the oak tree and lightning bolt a la the Wonderboy bat are his symbols.

* The Judge = Hades, God of the Underworld. He is always in the dark a.k.a. death, and the dead are “judged” in the underworld.

* Memo Paris = Kalypso, a sea nymph who had an affair with Odysseus and held/distracted him from returning home; Kalypso means “I will conceal” in Greek.

* Gus Sands = the Cyclops. Gus has the one strange eye.

* Iris Gaines = Penelope, wife of Odysseus. Roy’s true love from whom he was separated for 20 years while she raised their son.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by James: “I think this is a great example of how movie audiences love happy endings and studios cater to that desire. The book ends with Hobbs striking out; good guys lose. It’s a Hollywood production in the movie; tense moments in the final at bat; he breaks his beloved Wonderboy. He hits the winning homerun to a soaring musical score and fireworks as the ball destroys the lighting system. The ultimate celebration in true Hollywood fashion. And let’s be honest, everyone would have hated a downer ending.”