# "Moulin Rouge" is a big foetid, stinking, steaming pile of crap **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 5, 2004, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moulin-rouge-is-a-big-foetid-stinking-steaming-pile-of-crap/243658 "2004-05-05T16:07:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2004, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moulin-rouge-is-a-big-foetid-stinking-steaming-pile-of-crap/243658/81 "2004-05-06T21:00:03Z")
> [@Ross](#): > > His grammar is appalling (“And there’s no-one there to raise them if you did”). You wouldn’t happen to be [this person](http://www.freakytrigger.co.uk/2000_11_05_hated.html), would you? ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2004, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moulin-rouge-is-a-big-foetid-stinking-steaming-pile-of-crap/243658/82 "2004-05-06T23:13:28Z")
> [@mailman](#): > > …we don’t wee eye to eye on The Abyss. I must have the sense of humor of a thirteen-year old boy, because I can’t stop giggling about this. ---
**Author:** ![mailman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@mailman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mailman)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2004, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moulin-rouge-is-a-big-foetid-stinking-steaming-pile-of-crap/243658/83 "2004-05-06T23:23:11Z")
Guess i better brush up on my typing skills too. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![mailman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@mailman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mailman)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2004, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moulin-rouge-is-a-big-foetid-stinking-steaming-pile-of-crap/243658/84 "2004-05-06T23:25:58Z")
…and okay, after much deliberation, you were right Equipoise. Moulin Rouge IS better than Glitter. ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moulin-rouge-is-a-big-foetid-stinking-steaming-pile-of-crap/243658/85 "2004-05-07T00:36:23Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > **leander** , as noted in one of the other 175 threads on this topic, I hated _Chicago_ for many reasons. Oops, I must have missed it. Personally, I loved _Chicago_ and hated _MR_. Thought the latter was just an over-the-top spectacle with a silly love story, while the former was just great fun all around (with an interesting, albeit unbelievable, “crime” story). Course, that’s just my opinion (which, alone with a buck-fifty, _may_ get you on a bus…) BTW, **Eve** have you seen [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=254787) about “Rene’s Story”? ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moulin-rouge-is-a-big-foetid-stinking-steaming-pile-of-crap/243658/86 "2004-05-07T02:03:37Z")
> [@Alan Smithee](#): > > I especially don’t get the women I know who get all teary-eyed over the romance and tragedy. Besides being cliched, there was absolutely nothing believable about the romance, even given granting it all the conceits of the format. One of the things I think is interesting about _Moulin Rouge!_ is that the format allows for an unbelievable romance – remember, almost the entire movie is the story of Christian’s novel. Is he objective? No. Is he reliable? Maybe not. All we see of the “real” world of the film is Christian at his typewriter. We have only his word for it that he and the star of the Moulin Rouge were ever in love at all, much less that it “really” happened the way he says. > [@](#): > > - > > The characters were Saran Wrap–not even an attempt at the illusion of substance to them. If they’d somehow been able to make it work emotionaly, I thnk it could have been a good, maybe even a great movie. But to me, it had all the emotional depth of a Mentos commercial, with none of the irony. \*Oh come on now, I can understand not liking the movie, but one thing it certainly didn’t lack was irony! ---
**Author:** ![Ross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@Ross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ross)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moulin-rouge-is-a-big-foetid-stinking-steaming-pile-of-crap/243658/87 "2004-05-07T10:54:40Z")
Alright, new Elton problem. Looks like a piggy. Thank you. Re: the Bernie thing. If Mr “John” sang the following: _It’s a little bit funny this feeling inside Bernie, Bernie’s not one of those who can easily hide Bernie don’t have much money but boy, if he did Bernie’d buy a big house where you both could live_ … that’s be fine. But he doesn’t. He sings it all in the first person, which is confusing at best. Furthermore, I am having severe problems believing that either of them “don’t have much money”. Mind you I’ve got a signed copy of an old book of Bernie Taupin lyrics, “THE ONE WHO WRITES THE SONGS FOR ELTON JOHN”. Worth anything, y’think? If so, I’ll probably drop my crusade against Mr “John” for a bit. ps: yes, I got the bad grammar bit from IHATEMUSIC, I figured there’d be far more lists of things wrong with Mr “John”, so clearly I’ll have to start my own list instead. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moulin-rouge-is-a-big-foetid-stinking-steaming-pile-of-crap/243658/88 "2004-05-07T12:41:06Z")
> [@Ross](#): > > Re: the Bernie thing. If Mr “John” sang the following: > > _It’s a little bit funny this feeling inside Bernie, > Bernie’s not one of those who can easily hide > Bernie don’t have much money but boy, if he did > Bernie’d buy a big house where you both could live_ > > … that’s be fine. But he doesn’t. He sings it all in the first person, which is confusing at best. I don’t even really like Elton John, but this is just silly. Many popular singers do not write their own lyrics, and to my knowledge none of them convert the lyrics from first to third person just because they didn’t actually pen them themselves. _That_ would be confusing, not singing the song the way it was written. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moulin-rouge-is-a-big-foetid-stinking-steaming-pile-of-crap/243658/89 "2004-05-07T12:47:18Z")
> [@Ross](#): > > Alright, new Elton problem. > > Looks like a piggy. > > Thank you. > > Re: the Bernie thing. If Mr “John” sang the following: > > _It’s a little bit funny this feeling inside Bernie, > Bernie’s not one of those who can easily hide > Bernie don’t have much money but boy, if he did > Bernie’d buy a big house where you both could live_ > > … that’s be fine. But he doesn’t. He sings it all in the first person, which is confusing at best. Furthermore, I am having severe problems believing that either of them “don’t have much money”. I have to tell you, that complaint makes no sense. He didn’t convert it to third person? Huh? Gotta tell you, the lyrics as amended are far more unintelligable than the original. And the song was copyrighted in 1969. Elton broke out in 1970-71. Why is it hard to believe that the struggling, lower middle class Reginald Kenneth Dwight didn’t have much money? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moulin-rouge-is-a-big-foetid-stinking-steaming-pile-of-crap/243658/90 "2004-05-07T15:48:00Z")
To be fair, I like a lot of Elton John’s stuff, particularly the early stuff. As he went on, he became less and less original. “English Rose” definitively sealed his status as a hack. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moulin-rouge-is-a-big-foetid-stinking-steaming-pile-of-crap/243658/91 "2004-05-07T15:51:09Z")
I meant to add … However, the use of Elton John’s song in the movie, as well as any of the other pop songs … none of it was creative, interesting, or appealling at all. It just seemed supremely lazy. Especially when there were long stretches of dialogue that were nothing more than quotes from dozens of pop songs. ---
**Author:** ![Ross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@Ross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ross)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moulin-rouge-is-a-big-foetid-stinking-steaming-pile-of-crap/243658/92 "2004-05-07T16:31:28Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > And the song was copyrighted in 1969. Elton broke out in 1970-71. Why is it hard to believe that the struggling, lower middle class Reginald Kenneth Dwight didn’t have much money? Aha! But he still sings it that way! He should now sing \*It’s a little bit funny, this feeling inside my lyricist on whose behalf I’m singing, He, or me, one of us, anyway, is not one of those who can easily hide I am unbelievably rich and live like a pampered maniac caesar, And thus I shall buy you the biggest house you’ve ever seen (except then I’ll probably get in a strop and sack you) I sat in my palatial roofgarden, and I had a vodka flown in from Moscow Well some of these verses, they’re getting a little more honest, But the public’s failure to realise I’m a twat has been quite kind, while I wrote this song It’s for people like you, who keep buying the stuff every time it gets released on a new format. I don’t care whether you mind or not, I really don’t, because I could buy or sell you you silly little man, That I, except it wasn’t me it was Bernie, put down in words How wonderful life is When you have a mountain of cash and dress like a lunatic.\* ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moulin-rouge-is-a-big-foetid-stinking-steaming-pile-of-crap/243658/93 "2004-05-07T17:42:27Z")
I’m being woooshed here, right? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moulin-rouge-is-a-big-foetid-stinking-steaming-pile-of-crap/243658/94 "2004-05-07T17:51:11Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > _Chicago_ was mediocrity run rampant and an insult to anyone who had seen the show live. Not to mention anyone who had seen the original 1928 movie version. Oh. Right. That would be just me, wouldn’t it . . . ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moulin-rouge-is-a-big-foetid-stinking-steaming-pile-of-crap/243658/95 "2004-05-07T18:16:04Z")
**Ross** , have a little too much time on our hands, do we? Still, even I have to admit that was pretty damn funny. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moulin-rouge-is-a-big-foetid-stinking-steaming-pile-of-crap/243658/96 "2004-05-07T18:23:14Z")
**Ross** - dude, you’re not making any kind of sense at all. Shouldn’t Paul McCartney sing “When I’m 64”, Roger Daltrey “My Generation”, Rod Stewart “Maggie May” ASF? You don’t like Elton - fine. Don’t try to apply your weird logic to that feeling. It doesn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moulin-rouge-is-a-big-foetid-stinking-steaming-pile-of-crap/243658/97 "2004-05-07T18:35:04Z")
When did the rule become that all songs are to be autobiographical? ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moulin-rouge-is-a-big-foetid-stinking-steaming-pile-of-crap/243658/98 "2004-05-07T20:22:44Z")
Back to the original topic… I and most people I know think MR was fantastic. Two of my friends (both very intelligent, tasteful and sensitive people) love it so much that they included the phrase “come what may” in their wedding vows, and used it as their first dance at their wedding. So is it the most love-it-or-hate-it movie of all time? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moulin-rouge-is-a-big-foetid-stinking-steaming-pile-of-crap/243658/99 "2004-05-07T20:30:26Z")
Now, back to the hijack. I think Elton… Nah! Just kidding. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![leander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@leander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leander)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moulin-rouge-is-a-big-foetid-stinking-steaming-pile-of-crap/243658/100 "2004-05-07T20:37:52Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > Back to the original topic… I and most people I know think MR was fantastic. Two of my friends (both very intelligent, tasteful and sensitive people) love it so much that they included the phrase “come what may” in their wedding vows, and used it as their first dance at their wedding. > So is it the most love-it-or-hate-it movie of all time? Yes. But only stupid, tasteless, insensitive people hate it. :rolleyes: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moulin-rouge-is-a-big-foetid-stinking-steaming-pile-of-crap/243658.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moulin-rouge-is-a-big-foetid-stinking-steaming-pile-of-crap/243658.md?page=6)