Occasionally I write about interesting interpretations and misinterpretations of works: Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" or the Village People's "YMCA." As we head into the wine festival season, here's a brief consideration of an oddly influential film.
I love the
paradoxes and ironies of the wine industry.
For example, I’m delighted that the bubbles of champagne – that romantic
image of luxury – are formed by the microscopic dirt in the glass. And, it's funny that dust in a wine
cellar becomes a mark of quality.
Everywhere else it’s an embarrassment, but in the basement, it shows
that someone has had these bottles for a while.
I confess, however, that I’ve always been bewildered by the so-called Sideways effect.
In this
Alexander Payne film, at one point, the main character Miles, played
brilliantly by Paul Giamatti, insists not only that he won’t drink Merlot, but
that he won’t have dinner with anyone who will.
He rants, “If anyone orders Merlot, I’m leaving. I am NOT drinking any fucking Merlot.” It’s a funny scene, and I know people who
quote it with affection. Sometimes they
even substitute other popular varietals, such as Chardonnay.
Miles loves Pinot Noir, a finicky
grape that, like him, can be difficult to appreciate. Miles speaks of it in beautiful terms,
saying, “it’s a hard grape to grow… it’s thin-skinned, temperamental … Pinot
needs constant care and attention . . . Only somebody who really takes the time
to understand Pinot’s potential can then coax it into its fullest
expression.” Miles’ admiration, and the
popularity of Sideways, created a
surge in Pinot Noir’s popularity, and, for a while, a slight decrease in
Merlot’s.
The irony of the Sideways effect is that Miles is clearly
a wreck. He steals from his mother. He seems to be a functioning alcoholic. He can’t maintain relationships except for
his friend, Jack, who is also a loser. A
compulsive womanizer, Jack turns to sex, the way Miles turns to wine. Miles even blows the one chance to drink a special
wine that he has been saving. He ends up
sipping it out of a paper bag at a fast food restaurant. This is not someone from whom we should be
taking any advice.
Sideways is a beautiful, sad, film, but
like so many works of literature, it seems to have been misinterpreted. If you’re inspired to
hit the road after reading On the Road,
you’ve misread the book. If you think in
the poem “A Road Not Taken,” that the narrator really takes the road less
traveled, you haven’t paid attention to the lines that each path “equally lay”
and were “equally worn.” And, if you
scorn Merlot and drink Pinot Noir because Miles does, you might want to see
the movie again.
When I was in high school, our choir sang for graduation a setting of Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken." I've also heard a setting of "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" for men's chorus and orchestra. Although both pieces are in minor keys, "The Road Not Taken" is light and airy while "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" is dark and forboding. It's intersting how composers interpret these works.
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