This is well off topic, since it’s such a slow news day (and week), but is anyone else ever thrown for a loop by the longish headlines that appear on New York Times stories? They seem to get more drastic in the arts & leisure section.
I’ve had my hand at writing for the Times, and each story had a giant headline tacked on. A profile of Eric Roth and his tendency to get difficult scripts made in the studio system, with a look toward those scripts that have been lost in that system along the way, landed the headline: “His Screenplays Get Made, Except The Ones That Don’t.” (“His” was actually “Eric Roth’s” in the print edition.) Another piece about Walden Media and New Line Cinema’s road to the big screen for the children’s classic “How to Eat Fried Worms” was saddled with “‘How to Eat Fried Worms’ (Ick! Yuck! Ugh!) Lures Boys With a Tasty Tale.” And on and on.
There have been some creative ones that really nail the story, mind you, like a piece about “Hollywoodland” and the George Reeves back story: “The (Tinsel) Town That Ate Superman.” But more often than not, it’s this long-winded stuff.
Today, I ran across Manhola Dargis’ “Slumdog Millionaire” review and there it was, confusing me before I even dug into the copy:
Am I alone here? I love the work the Times does, despite the aimless criticism from this outlet or that. But these headlines gotta go.
Comments
5 responses to “Winded from the start”
They’ve always been that way, haven’t they? Kind of a trademark… I guess their way of proving themselves a more literate paper.
As long as they don’t resort to text-speak, I’m okay with it. But you’re right — that “Slumdog” headline is hella lumpy.
Yes, they’ve always been that way. It’s just…a bit much in this day and age.
Great article/interview with Eric Roth, Kris. Really well done.
I saw it today! Very good film, I think a Best Picture nomination is entirely likely at this point. It’s just one of those great, feel-good crowd-pleasers that’s beautifully made and catches on to people’s emotions in a big way. Very poignant and moving, I walked out of the theater with a smile.
I swear to God, for a millisecond I thought this headline was about some sort of game show tie-in for Slumdog Millionaire.