# Midnight Cowboy: WTF? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 22, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-cowboy-wtf/575544 "2011-03-22T01:06:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-cowboy-wtf/575544/41 "2011-03-22T16:51:00Z")
> [@](#): > > I didn’t really mean to trash 2001. I think in most respects it holds up very well, and in some respects it’s outstanding. All I really meant was that one of Kubrick’s storytelling tools had one effect on me when I first saw the movie and a lesser impact when I saw it decades later. There’s no “right” answer – _de gustibus_ and all. I was just protesting the absolutism of the “it doesn’t work now/on a small screen.” ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-cowboy-wtf/575544/42 "2011-03-22T17:40:52Z")
> [@Cayuga](#): > > Here’s the thing abut _2001_: You have to see it in a theater. I’ll go one step further: You have to see it in a _Cinerama_ theater, where you can be enveloped by the screen. Awesome. The only thing that is better visually nowadays is IMax. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-cowboy-wtf/575544/43 "2011-03-22T18:19:31Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > When 2001: A Space Odyssey came out in 1968, audiences were hypnotized by the Dawn of Man scene that opened the movie. Twenty-five years later I watched it with my daughter and we were both screaming “MAKE IT STOP!” after the first five minutes. My only real problem with the scene is the utterly non-convincing ape man suits. It’s not just _2001_ either-- it seems like a lot of older films with otherwise convincing effects use cheezy ape suits. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-cowboy-wtf/575544/44 "2011-03-22T18:34:07Z")
I loved Midnight Cowboy when I saw it as a teenager. I haven’t seen it since. When my brother and I visited NYC in ‘99, he said "I’m walkin’ here!" every time we crossed a road. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-cowboy-wtf/575544/45 "2011-03-22T18:38:48Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > There’s no “right” answer – _de gustibus_ and all. I was just protesting the absolutism of the “it doesn’t work now/on a small screen.” This is a total hijack, but I think that there are many movies that only work on a big screen in a theater and it’s not only older movies. 2001 is one of them, but I think There Will Be Blood and Children of Men are more recent examples of movies that are mesmerizing in a theater and don’t translate nearly as well to the home theater. I think part of it is the lack of distraction of seeing a slower paced movie in a theater in addition to the larger screen. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-cowboy-wtf/575544/46 "2011-03-22T18:48:15Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > My only real problem with the scene is the utterly non-convincing ape man suits. It’s not just _2001_ either-- it seems like a lot of older films with otherwise convincing effects use cheezy ape suits. Are you aware that the ape babies were real apes, not humans in suits? ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-cowboy-wtf/575544/47 "2011-03-22T19:04:43Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Most Americans and most every-fuckin’-body, that movie was the biggest scandal in Spain since Gilda - and it didn’t even get shown! Why was Gilda a scandal? (Love that movie…) ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-cowboy-wtf/575544/48 "2011-03-22T19:32:36Z")
MC was a movie of its time. Yes, things have changed-but the scene (where Ratzo hooks up the kid with that insane evangelist guy was hilarious!). The final bus trip to Florida was kinda sad-Ratzo never got to live his dream. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-cowboy-wtf/575544.md?page=2)