IN THE BOY Next Door, Jennifer Lopez plays a newly divorced woman who has a one-night stand with a younger man who subsequently becomes obsessed with her.
The film opened in the United States a fortnight ago to lukewarm reviews and box office returns, but one scene in particular has got people talking – though not for the right reasons.
In one scene, the young man in question is seen giving a copy of The Iliad to J-Lo. (Reminder: The Iliad is a 3,000-year-old ancient Greek poem.)
“Oh my God,” J-Lo exclaims. “This is a first edition.”
And what does a first edition copy of The Iliad look like?
So, a first edition of a 3,000-year-old text? How did her young lover come across such an artifact? Time travel?
It was a buck at a garage sale.
Ah yes, of course.
As is to be expected, the scene has been widely derided and mocked on social media.
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So, who’s to blame for such an egregious error?
The screenwriter has denied all responsibility and even distanced herself from the project. In an interview with Fusion, Barbara Curry said that large portions of her script were rewritten by producers.
Much of my original script was rewritten by the producers and the director. I was not given the opportunity to participate in the production of this movie. As for the first edition ‘Iliad’ reference in the movie, that was not something I wrote in my original script.
Damn you, Hollywood producers.
