Cats the Musical the Movie: Mixed Message Mediums and the Challenge of Adaptation Kaycee Genualdo ABSTRACT Elitism in film studies plays a significant role in dictating the parameters of legitimate study and maintaining the status quo and dictating; serious academic research and theoretical analyzation are often reserved for features considered historically significant—masterworks that reflect technological breakthroughs and revolutionary techniques of the craft. As such, the reluctance to stray from the accepted canon leads to the oversaturated and derivative nature of academic discourse. What if one decided to engage with works that are meritless and insignificant as intensely as they are encouraged to mentally engage with the works of Sergei Parajanov or Claire Denis? For this mental exercise, I use psychoanalysis, film semiotics, and communication theory to understand the fundamental failings of the notorious 2019 film adaption of Cats the musical, to argue that the study to failure is not only a worthwhile pursuit, the findings of these studies also illuminate the inherent complexity of the field. In the case of Cats, I argue that the film fails due to its inherent lack of adaptability, rather than the source material itself.

Great film adaptations of other in your mind's eye, the before time— forms of media are seldom found; the a time when you could enjoy a night successful execution of such a venture at the cinema. What wouldn't you is subject to numerous theoretical give to be back in the movie theater? and technical hurdles that impede a If you could turn back time, what films satisfactory transition into a new would you see? The answer is most mode of representation. Think back likely not "a musical," as the movie to nearly any Young Adult novel musical has dramatically waned in movie adaptation to be released in popularity among the general public, the past ten or so years; most likely, as they are notoriously difficult to impressions range from "very bad" to adapt to the screen. If I could turn "pretty good." Adaptations are at a back time, if I could find a way, I disadvantage because they must would unsee Cats (2019), as it is the adjust facets of the story inherent to manifestation of every reason why how they are perceived by audiences Broadway shows should not be and are thus filtered through a layer adapted to film, featuring every of obstruction. Now, try to remember,

26 November 2020 Vol 1.2 Cats the Musical the Movie possible mistake that could be made also makes it increasingly enticing for if that warning was not headed. the audience to partake in its Why am I doing this? There are a shamelessness. You see, the flaws few reasons, the first being that I love that are commonly highlighted by to punish myself by stretching my uniform parties not only play a brain out in a million different minimal role in the failure of the film directions in the pursuit of not-so adaptation, they also play a critical noble truths that mean nothing to role in the theatrical production's nobody, save for myself. The second enduring success. To be sure, the is that, well, frankly, I am tired of failure of the film adaptation is not the writing about good movies. How product of an inane plot or strange much more needs to be said about concept; the chief failure of the film the likes of Kurosawa or Bergman's adaptation is that it exists at all. masterworks? What can I contribute As every film critic and aspiring to the discourse surrounding Italian Twitter comedian rushed to their neorealism or French New Wave? keyboards to produce the most Everyone can, and has, written about scathing, vitriolic diatribes against the these subjects, nobody is writing CGI monstrosity (and it is a CGI about Cats. Nobody is writing about monstrosity), it became increasingly this because I am the only person who apparent that nobody knew what they can—I am the only person who is were talking about. One reviewer, simultaneously intelligent, reckless, Scout Tafoya of The Film Stage, wrote and, most importantly, brave enough of the film's original live production: to pull it off. I saw the 1998 live "Cats, like most of Webber's career, recording of the musical when I was was the best-kept dirty secret of about four years old and went Broadway." A baffling statement, as bonkers for it, most likely because I Cats is one of the most universally was, again, a very small child. I have recognized Broadway musicals of all since seen the live show three times, time, with a record-breaking including the 2016 Broadway revival. theatrical run, multiple Tony wins, and Guess what? It was awesome—the is, most crucially, credited with cats interact with the audience, and it spearheading the mega-musical rules. More importantly, however, not trend as the first blockbuster only does the audience interaction Broadway musical. Further, nearly augment the shamelessness and every critical review goes through absurdity of the production, but it great pains to elevate the mind-

Screen Studies Quarterly 27 Genualdo numbingly simple plot to highlight its the perception of film and its relation apparent insanity. Olivia Truffaut- to reality. In Film Language: A Wong of Bustle ponders whether the Semiotics of the Cinema, film theorist cats of Cats are members of a death- Christian Metz begins by highlighting cult, writing: "Watching Cats, it's one of many problems of film theory: impossible not to wonder: what if a the impression of reality. Metz states "Jellicle" isn't just a weird term for that, "One of the most important of this strange group of cats, but the the many problems in film theory is name of an actual cult? It all fits: the that of the impression of reality blind faith, the mysterious, experienced by the spectator" (4). unquestioned leader, the strange Films give viewers a feeling of new vocabulary (reaching Heaviside witnessing an "almost real Layer might as well be synonymous spectacle." More so than other with "going clear"), and the strange mediums, such as plays and novels, ritualistic singing." Indeed, the films, Metz contends, "release a neurotic compulsion to publish the mechanism of affective and funniest tirade against the movie perceptual participation in the ironically prompted many spectator" (4). Metz draws on Barthes professional film critics to to highlight the contrast between embarrassingly admit that they do not photography and cinema; according understand the gossamer-thin plot of to Barthes, when we see a a family show that is based on poems photograph, "we do not see the for children. It also became presence of 'being there'…but a increasingly apparent that I am the presence that 'has been there'" (5). only person, possibly on earth, who Photographs, Barthes states, are could accurately explicate the "place present" but "time past" in complexities of Cats. nature, which creates an "illogical To understand the mess that is conjunction of here and there" and a Cats, it is necessary to first sense of a "real unreality" (Metz 6). understand the differences between What is the main contrasting film and theater, from differences in feature of photography and film? The narrative structure to the contrasting most obvious answer is movement. psychoanalytic responses each Movement produces a strong medium elicits within the viewer. impression of reality with its There can be no doubt that combination of the reality of motion psychology plays a substantial part in and the appearance of forms, as

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"forms lend their objective structure musical genre of theater pushes this to movement…" (Metz 7). Motion unreality even further, as the offers a higher degree of corporeality audience is yet again prompted to of objects, which indirectly suspend their disbelief to accept that contributes to the impression, as breaking out into song is not as movement is psychologically ridiculous as it would be in real-life perceived as "real." "It is, in fact, a contexts. general law of psychology that Film and theater are movement is always perceived as fundamentally different, and these real—unlike many other visual irreconcilable differences lend to the structures" (Metz 8). Movement, incompatibility of both storytelling however, cannot explain the unreality methods and audience perception. of the theater. Perhaps the illusory Theorist Marshall McCluhan takes this deception Freud describes is concept even further, coining the beneficial for the film, as the lack of now-famous phrase "the medium is space between a play and the the message." McCluhan writes: spectator renders it less realistic. "The In a culture like ours, long stage setting, for example, does not accustomed to splitting and dividing have the effect of creating a diegetic all things as a means of control, it is universe; it is only a convention of the sometimes a bit of a shock to be real world" (Metz 10). When one reminded that, in operational and watches a theatrical production, they practical fact, the medium is the are in the same room as the actors on message. This is merely to say that stage, making the buy-in to the the personal and social consequences production's narrative reality much of any medium—that is, of any more difficult. Theater, Metz explains, extension of ourselves—result from "cannot be a convincing duplication the new scale that is introduced into of life, because it is itself a part of life, our affairs by each extension of and too visibly so…" (Metz 10). As ourselves, or by any new technology. such, the unreality of theater is often (7) emphasized, with actors performing on minimalist sets, making use of In simpler terms, the medium of pantomime to articulate the use of the story or concept being presented props that are not present, and even maintains precedence over the making use of fourth wall breaks, content itself regarding its perception addressing the audience itself. The and consumption; the medium

Screen Studies Quarterly 29 Genualdo deeply informs the production, specifically, why it is so atrocious. The meaning the ties between medium Producers movie adaptation is not and production are largely terrible, just a bit boring. Likewise, inseparable. Additionally, this Hairspray, which follows the same indissoluble bond makes successful comedy movie turned musical turned adaptations increasingly difficult. movie musical pipeline, is fine. The Once the crown jewel of major movie Rocky Horror Picture Show, which was studios, the movie musical has had a transformed from musical to movie tumultuous history full of historic musical to a movie musical and live highs and lows. To illustrate the performance hybrid, is a cult classic. complexity of movie musical What makes Cats so different? adaptations, let us look at The First, allow me to elaborate on Producers. The original incarnation of the apparently confusing plot of Cats: The Producers is the 1967 comedy a bunch of cats live in a junkyard and film by Mel Brooks, which is do a little song and dance in what is considered a classic of the genre. The essentially a "for your consideration" second incarnation is the Broadway campaign to be the one who goes to musical adaptation, which was lauded the Heaviside Layer. Each cat is a and scored record-breaking wins at simple archetype: Bustopher Jones is the Tonys. The last version of the the fat cat; Mugojerry and story is the 2005 musical movie Rumpleteazer are burglar cats (get adaptation. Despite retaining the it?); the Rum Tum Tugger is the cool, theatrical production's director and sexy cat; Skimbleshanks, the railway existing as the most faithful cat, lives on a train; Mister adaptation possible, it received a Mistoffolees is the magician cat. lukewarm response. Why? With the Grizabella, the Glamour Cat, the success of the first two versions, it is eventual winner, is an old and clear that the source material is solid; washed-out cat who may or may not why did the movie musical adaptation be an allegory for a fallen woman. fail to achieve the same veneration? That's it. That is literally it. There The answer is simple: the same seems to be a lot of confusion about sensibilities that result in a great the term "Jellicle" as well, as though theater production do not effectively everyone is doing everything in their translate into a great movie musical power to circumvent the obvious adaptation. This notion brings us back truth that "Jellicle" is just a silly, to the original topic, Cats, and, more nonsensical word because, again, this

30 November 2020 Vol 1.2 Cats the Musical the Movie is a show for children. Every song, deeply detailed plot. It would not with the notable exception of the work). Simply put, something like showstopper "Memory," is directly Cats cannot exist on the silver screen, adapted from T.S. Eliot's Old and any attempt is, at the very start, Possum's Book of Practical Cats, a doomed. Yet, like Icarus flying too collection of silly vignettes about silly close to the sun, or Prometheus, who cats that Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber defied the Gods to gift humanity with loved as a child. In case it has not fire and consequently suffered for all been made abundantly clear at this eternity, an attempt to adapt Cats point: Cats is for children, and it is was born of hubris; only this time, we almost absurd to watch droves of all suffer. adults flock to the imaginary If you want to know what went challenge of analyzing it as if that is wrong, look no further than the very not the case (this is exactly what I'm first musical number unsuspecting doing, but I'm good at it). As stated audiences were forced to above, nearly every aspect of the experience,1 Jennyanydots, the Old show that should be decidedly Gumby Cat. Director Tom Hooper, detrimental to its existence in effect for some reason, decided realism was prolongs it; the lack of plot and heavy the correct route to take for this reliance on dance makes the play adaptation, and the consequences easily adaptable to foreign markets, are dire. The Broadway musical thus expanding its influence and version of this number is delightful: revenue. A heavily costumed-clad the Old Gumby Cat sings her little ensemble cast with no stars makes for song while the cats dance and hype easy cast changes. Lastly, the show is her up. The Old Gumby Cat, who structured identically to the book: a decries the mice because "their string of disjointed vignettes loosely behavior's not good and their connected by the theme that they are manners not nice" and believes that all indeed cats. The lack of plot makes the cockroaches "just need that oh-so essential buy-in easier employment" to prevent them from (imagine a play about cats with a "idle and wanton destroyment."2 The

1 My friend Emma, who knew nothing about one presented the obviously racially charged Cats the musical, cried during this number. overtones in these lyrics? Where is the think- 2 As an aside, if critics are so hell-bent on piece interpreting the Gumby Cat as a overblowing the insanity of cats, why has no bigoted, conservative WASP? Yet again, I am

Screen Studies Quarterly 31 Genualdo representations of mice and cockroaches are achieved by pantomime and the cats using trash from the junkyard set to dress up, as one would expect a cat to do in this situation. What does the movie do? Oh boy. The movie takes everything extremely literally. The mice are actual mice, who just so happen to Figure 5: Creepy CGI cat: Victoria holding a fork and knife. have children's faces? The cockroaches are also "real" with women's faces,3 and the audience looks on as Rebel Wilson's Jennyanydots murders and devours them. This number, like all of the numbers, was filmed on an actual set, which is confusingly and inconsistently scaled for the rest of the movie. Again, this was done as a move to make everything seem more Figure 6: Actual cat: Mugen, realistic, but the result is that it seems professional cat. nobody who worked on this movie has seen an actual cat. I consulted an The perplexing inclination expert to get to the bottom of this, by towards realism continues throughout which I mean I put a fork next to my the movie, notably through Tom cat: Hooper's insistence on adding plot points to the narrative of Cats, a show that does not follow a traditional narrative structure (for a film or a

the only one thinking outside of the box here. mice are children and cats are the adults of 3 This raises questions regarding the universe this world? Are we not seeing the adult mice? Cats takes place in: The first scene shows the The cockroaches appear to be adult women protagonist being thrown out of a car by a so this seems likely. This is why additions do human. All of the mice are depicted with not work here. children’s faces and voices, does this mean

32 November 2020 Vol 1.2 Cats the Musical the Movie theater production) and thrives on its maddening. lack of a plot. A minor antagonist from It is important to branch out and the play has an increased role, try new things; perhaps trying to showing up throughout the film to adapt Cats was not one of those kidnap all of the cats that pose a things worth trying. As I have shown, significant challenge for him in his adaptations of any kind are difficult to quest for a new life. Macavity, who is pull off successfully, which makes a described as a hideous, scary- choice to adapt Cats so confusing. looking, evil cat who has "broken Perhaps also, we should be thankful— every human law" is played by Idris never again in our lifetimes (most Elba. Other side plots are added, likely) will we witness such a such as a love triangle and plot phenomenal misunderstanding of involving some cats being held consumer interests, abundant and hostage on a barge on the Thames. seemingly endless poor decisions, Live productions have the benefit of and psychosis-inducing execution as being able to break the third wall we have with this film. Why is this without ripping the spectator away important? It probably is not, and from their immersion in the show, and "probably" is generous. If you are actors regularly address the audience reading this right now I say this: if I directly. This practice is usually didn’t lose you after the first page, avoided in musical film adaptations you are a trooper. In fact, I could write aiming for realism, so guess what Cats even more about this. Maybe I will does? In the last and now notorious write more. Maybe I'll write about scene, Dame Judy Dench, as Old some other stupid thing like Glee or Deuteronomy locks eyes with the MA (2019) next. Who would stop me? audience for like, five minutes Perhaps more accurately, who straight, delivering a bizarre soliloquy COULD stop me? This article is a clear revealing the true meaning of the indication that I am a person with musical, that "a cat is not a dog." It is nothing to lose.

BIO Kaycee Genualdo is a graduate student in the Screen Studies department. Her areas of interest are legal theory, copyright, and intellectual property law, literary criticism, and humor studies. She currently works as a freelance comedy writer and spends her free time studying for the LSAT and watching bad movies.

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