Gaffes

[vardathemessage]

The school boys say

"I want to be a Tailor, I want to be a Farmer. I want to be a Barrister. I want to be a Truck Driver"

(Although why children going to an upper class school like Oscar would aspire to be farmers and truck drivers...)

In England he would declare he wanted to be a lorry driver.

Then again, in 1862, automobiles hadn't been invented yet...

Comments

Truck drivers and barristers....

[tura.livejournal.com]

I agree that it is anachronistic, however I also think it is meant to be anachronistic rather than being a gaffe. I'm not saying that there aren't errors in the film, I'm just not entirely certain that this is one of them.)

By combining elements of Wilde's era with modern elements...and by having young Oscar quoting young David Jones (later to become David Bowie, or course) Todd is giving the audience a sort of knowing wink. To me that scene sets the stage for the dreamy mythopoetical juxtapositions that make Velvet Goldmine what it is.

I love this journal by the way! Thank you for doing it.

[sor-bet.livejournal.com]

Okay, I have solved this mystery! I don't know what's in the script, and the captions probably said "truck", but if you look closely at the little boy who is speaking, you can see that he says "trap driver", not "truck driver". I *thought* a trap was a kind of horse-drawn carriage, and the dictionary confirms: "a light two-wheeled carriage with springs" (The American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition). And that makes sense for 1854. Yay, I finally got one!