Short Blog #5

While reading Pudd’nhead Wilson, I unlocked a memory of a movie I had watched years ago but had repressed deep into my mind. Monte Carlo is a 2011 Selena Gomez movie that involves a poor tourist switching places with an ultra rich princess during a vacation in Monte Carlo (thus the title). Considering the targeted age demographic was probably 7-12 year old kids, this movie certainly lacks the nuance Twain provides. However, I find it interesting that the whole switcheroo dynamic seems to be quite common in movies over the last few decades. Each provides something that differentiates itself just enough to be considered unique (for example Freaky Friday involves switching bodies while The Parent Trap involves two identical twins switching places). Again, none of them provide any sort of larger commentary on a time period like Twain was providing in regards to race and its influence (or lack thereof) on one’s character. Yet, I find it interesting that more than a century after Pudd’nhead Wilson was published, eerily similar plots are still being churned out frequently. To me it goes to show that Twain’s switcheroo based formula was engaging enough to appeal to a variety of readers, providing him with a larger audience to deliver his message. If, 120 years later, swapping places can still be a selling point for ( admittedly low quality) movies, it must have worked in 1894.