"Changeling" correction

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I tapped out a brief thing yesterday about the '09 award-level films, one of them possibly being Clint Eastwood's Changeling (Universal, 11.08)...except I called it The Changeling, which was and still is incorrect, according to Universal publicity.

Angelina Jolie, Clint Eastwood during shooting of Changeling.

I used the "The" was because Red Carpet District's Kris Tapley called it The Changeling and because the IMDB is calling it The Changeling, which, I'm sure, is at least partly due to Peter Medak's The Changeling, a 1980 film with George C. Scott, using the "The" in its title.

In any case we were all wrong. Eastwood's film, which costars Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich and Amy Ryan, is called Changeling...one word, not two. Issue settled.

I hate that word, by the way..."changeling." It means "a child unintentionally or surreptitiously substituted for another" but that's a fairly bizarre thing to have happen, no? Why is there a word for something like this? Why isn't there a word for a dog that has had a bucket of red paint spilled over its body? Why isn't there a term for a man who has had his suit tailored and discovered that the tailor has sewn up rear slit in the jacket? I understand calling a young tree a sapling or a very young horse a yearling or brothers who puts on circuses with rings in the center of the tent being called Ringling. But "changeling" bugs me for some reason.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on January 2, 2008 at 10:51 AM

comment #1

jeffmcm says ...

It happened a lot more often a thousand years ago than it does now.

Posted by jeffmcm at January 2, 2008 12:44 PM

comment #2

Gaydos says ...

John Huston: THE Unforgiven

Clint Eastwood: Unforgiven

Peter Medak: THE Changeling

Clint Eastwood: Changeling

What the?

Posted by Gaydos at January 2, 2008 12:49 PM

comment #3

Kristopher Tapley says ...

Haha, I got the same email, changed accordingly. Probably worth it to distance the film from the other one, since, you know, know one wants to think Angelina Jolie is starring in a weird horror film remake with Clint at the helm.

Posted by Kristopher Tapley at January 2, 2008 12:51 PM

comment #4

Kristopher Tapley says ...

And by know one, I mean no one, because I'm a good speller.

Posted by Kristopher Tapley at January 2, 2008 12:52 PM

comment #5

Rich S. says ...

There was also an episode of the original Star Trek called The Changeling. Probably don't want to confuse Jolie with a deep space probe that returns as a murderous sociopath, either.

Posted by Rich S. at January 2, 2008 1:20 PM

comment #6

Jeff says ...

I thought for sure it was The Changeling when I read the script last year, but i just checked and it was always Changeling.

Posted by Jeff at January 2, 2008 1:23 PM

comment #7

Dave says ...

Rich S., the only thing we CAN'T be sure of at this point is whether Jolie has murdered anyone.

Other than that, your description may be 100% accurate.

Posted by Dave at January 2, 2008 1:25 PM

comment #8

T. Holly says ...

I tried to use the word sorrowtude only to discover it wasn't a word, so sorrowtudling isn't either. Too bad.

She's her father's daughter all right.

Posted by T. Holly at January 2, 2008 1:31 PM

comment #9

Alfredo says ...

More specifically, a "Changeling" is the offspring of an elf, fairy or troll that has been substituted for a human child. The word has its roots in Scottish and Scandinavian folklore.

Posted by Alfredo at January 2, 2008 1:50 PM

comment #10

Joe Leydon says ...

Well, maybe they also wanted us to know Eastwood wasn't directing Jolie in a movie based on a 17th-century Jacobian drama.

Posted by Joe Leydon at January 2, 2008 1:58 PM

comment #11

DavidF says ...

Amusingly, in early drafts "The Alien" and "The Blade Runner" were used before cooler heads prevailed.

This just in: The correct name is "The Empire Strikes Back" but it's okay to just call it "Empire" in coversation. Phew.

Posted by DavidF at January 2, 2008 1:59 PM

comment #12

p.Vice says ...

They should just call it "Senile".

Posted by p.Vice at January 2, 2008 2:02 PM

comment #13

MASON says ...

I loved the script. Really looking forward to this one.

Posted by MASON at January 2, 2008 2:04 PM

comment #14

le corbeau says ...

Am I the only one who knows that movies don't use "the" in their titles anymore because of Moviefone? ("Type the first three letters of the movie's title now.")

Posted by le corbeau at January 2, 2008 2:08 PM

comment #15

bmcintire says ...

This, coming from the man who continues to use the word "ayem," a cringe-inducing affectation that makes me feel like I am reading Ted Casablancas.

Posted by bmcintire at January 2, 2008 2:09 PM

comment #16

MickTravis says ...

"The Changeling" is also the name of a great song by Doors.

Posted by MickTravis at January 2, 2008 2:26 PM

comment #17

nemo says ...

Maurice Sendak's childrens' book Outside Over There is a changeling story. Even an adult will get a kick out of it. It's like reading a graphic novel in rhyme about a young girl who goes into the underworld pursuing the demons who substituted her baby sister for a changeling.

"They stole my sister away!" she cried,
"To be a nasty goblin's bride!"

Posted by nemo at January 2, 2008 2:28 PM

comment #18

nemo says ...

Re-reading Wells, I can see that what bugs him is he doesn't realize the word applies to a supernatural event.

The Sendak book is a visual trip. The goblins and the underworld are beautifully rendered in a style drawing from 18th and early 19th century German Romantic paintings.

Posted by nemo at January 2, 2008 2:38 PM

comment #19

Craig Kennedy says ...

As Alfredo pointed out, I think you're missing out on the folkloric aspects of the word. It speaks to a primal fear more than something that ever really happens any more.

How do you feel about quisling?

Posted by Craig Kennedy at January 2, 2008 2:48 PM

comment #20

Arizona Joe says ...

I remember seeing "The Changeling," way back when with a girlfriend, and enjoyed it in a hokey, B-movie sort of way. They don't make them like George C. anymore.

But upon returning home I went to the dictionary and found an entry for 'changeling.' I guess 'changeling' activity happened centuries ago, and therefore there was a semantic need for such a name.

As for quisling, as most of you know , it comes from the proper name Vidkun Quisling, a Norwegian who collaborated with the Nazis, and it means traitor.

I learned 'quisling' around the time "The Changeling" came out from the dean of the sports talk show hosts, Peter J. Franklin, who would intone things like, "The Cavaliers owner is a quisling."

When you examine the etymology of these words, you see that they had a purpose, or some metaphorical reference. Some just appear nonsensical because they don't come up much in everyday parlance.

Posted by Arizona Joe at January 2, 2008 3:16 PM

comment #21