Less Than Zero

D and I got Less Than Zero from Netflix last week.

D put it in the queue because he decided, a few weeks ago, that he thought Bret Easton Ellis was a good writer because American Psycho , the movie, is so very awesome.

He read Less Than Zero, and when he finished, handed it to me and said "Do you want to read it?"

"Should I?"

"Well..."

"I guess I should, since it's in the queue."

"Yeah, I guess you should."

"Was it good?"

"Well..."

I decided that I'd read half of it, given its very short length, and would decide at that point if I would continue.

D and I had a fight on the night that I started reading it, which resulted in my accidentally read more than half of it as I tried to distract myself from my mood and his snoring.

I had to continue on. After all, the book is short and not much of a time or emotional commitment.

I finished it in a day, and decided that I hated it.

I hated the characters, the story, the lack of plot, the coincidences, the style, the blah. It did nothing for me.

D said "Should we watch the movie?"

We decided that we would, if only to determine what character Robert Downey Jr. was playing. We both admitted that we'd been under the impression that he was the main character, but after reading the book were both convinced he'd be playing Julian.

Turned out Robert Downey Jr. played Julian in the adaptation.

OK.

So the movie was infinitely worse than the book. It was an abomination. Worst. Movie. Ever.

Why?

Because it was a terrible adaptation of a book that I thought I'd hated.

As I watched the movie, I realized that I didn't hate the book at all.

I felt so betrayed by the adaptation. I kept yelling "Did anyone involved in this movie even read the book!?!?!" "They are missing the whole fucking point!" "If James Spader and Robert Downey Jr. don't make out right now, I am going to throw something through your TV!" "Where is the bisexuality?" "Andrew McCarthey is fucking RIDICULOUS! He's not even doing drugs! What book did these people read for the love of god this is the worst movie I have ever seen!"

D said "Where is the ennui?" "This isn't jaded at all!" "Can you explain why Jamie Gertz ever had a career?"

I said "They need to remake this movie."

It was then that I realized that, despite not liking the book, the book is good. The book is damn good. It's the vibe and the theme and the culture. Seeing that culture betrayed drove me insane. It made me laugh. It disgusted me. Reading the book is torture, and I think that's the point.

I don't know what the point of this entry is.

Oh - right - I think I mentioned in a previous entry that reading Less Than Zero made me feel dirty and I would like to retract that statement.

Watching Less Than Zero made me feel dirty.

The book, in contrast, is amazing.