Cats only inspires one question: Why?

Proof that some culture doesn't need to be preserved on film

Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats played on London's West End for 21 years, and played on New York's Broadway for 18; it's one of the longest-running shows in history. But younger viewers could be excused for gazing upon the new film version of Cats and politely asking just what the holy hell is going on. As popular as it was, the original engagements of Cats have been closed for nearly 20 years, and though there have been some revivals since (not to mention its enduring audition staple "Memory"), it's not really a part of the musical-theater conversation anymore.

It's odd that so many blockbuster musicals of the '80s and the '90s (which the success of Cats helped usher to the stage) are just now getting the movie treatment, but filming them does make sense. While plenty of theatrical productions are best experienced exactly that way, there's value in creating a record of these shows, however imperfect. Tom Hooper, director of the similarly latecoming Les Miserables adaptation in 2012, has taken up the task of making the Cats of record, the version that will be most accessible to future audiences, preserving the essence of this worldwide phenomenon. Unfortunately, the question he accidentally poses is: Should any of this nonsense be preserved at all? Or should it possibly be doused with gasoline and set aflame in an alley?

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Jesse Hassenger

Jesse Hassenger's film and culture criticism has appeared in The Onion's A.V. Club, Brooklyn Magazine, and Men's Journal online, among others. He lives in Brooklyn, where he also writes fiction, edits textbooks, and helps run SportsAlcohol.com, a pop culture blog and podcast.