When I first started The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, I was surprised to learn there was no audiobook version of the novel. In fact, there are no other media forms of The Catcher in the Rye, as Salinger was opposed to any adaptations being made. This includes The Catcher in the Rye being made into a movie. Seeing as this would have made Salinger a lot of money and popularized the story even further, one can assume it's incredibly significant to the nature of the story that there is no movie adaptation.
I found it interesting how this preference of Salinger's is actually shown in the story, especially through the lens of Holden viewing his older brother. Within the first pages of The Catcher in the Rye, Holden mentions his older brother D.B., who was a writer but sold himself to Hollywood, basically meaning he is writing movies now. For some reason Holden seems to have a certain distaste for films, often referring to the producers and actors as phonies and calling movies lousy.
Holden only ever goes to movies when he is bored and has nothing to do. I noticed that he seems to hold a sort of superiority complex over people who enjoy watching movies. When Holden sits in a bar with the middle aged women from Seattle (Bernice, Marty, and Laverne), he repeatedly makes fun of them for looking for movie stars as if it makes them silly and stupid. The only time he mentions movies in a positive light is when he is talking about Phoebe and her love for the movie The 39 Steps and how she can always tell a good movie from a bad movie. I would guess his problem with other people is that they like any type of movie and don’t have specific taste.
From this, I would guess his problem with movies is that he is unable to identify deep themes of feelings as easily as in a book. He thinks of people who enjoy movies as unable to have more complicated thoughts. He sees most movies as superficial and silly and unable to translate ideas as effectively as literature would. I think this may also be J.D. Salinger’s reason for opposing a movie. Holden’s inner thoughts are very different from his outward actions as he is much more cynical and depressed-seeming in his head, but his actions show him desperate to connect with other people. I think in a movie it would be really difficult to properly show Holden’s inner voice in The Catcher in the Rye, and since it’s so integral to the story, a movie could never fully do the book justice.
