John Cusack may have been skeptical, but Hulu's new High Fidelity reboot is actually pretty good! Now, novelist Nick Hornby — who wrote the 1995 novel High Fidelity — has spoken out to praise the new gender-flipped remake starring Zoë Kravitz.
In an essay written for Rolling Stone, Hornby admitted that he didn't know anything about the show until the plans were "relatively advanced," since he sold the TV rights back in the '90s (at the same time he sold the film rights). But he learned about it when Kravitz reached out to him in late 2018, and he writes, "I was pretty sure that she'd do a good job. She has."
Even though High Fidelity was written in the context of a record store in the 1990s — an extremely different time for music retail — Hornby said the sentiment is still relevant.
He wrote, "High Fidelity the TV show deals with the world we're in now. The playlists are made digitally, yet the hearts that are broken by feckless men and women are still inconveniently and painfully analog."
The context is different, but lead character Rob's melancholy, and music fans' need to identify with the music they love, is the same, regardless of whether Rob is being played by Kravitz or Cusack.
And if you have any issues with the fact that High Fidelity now stars a woman instead of a man, Hornby has a message for you:
I don't think anyone who has read and loved the book, and/or seen and loved the movie could be disappointed with the series. I couldn't be more proud of the show. And if I catch anyone saying it's self-consciously "woke," what with its gender reversals and its inclusion of more than one race/sexuality, I will come 'round to your house and put you back to sleep. Because, guess what: High Fidelity isn't just about you. It's about people who aren't like you, too.
Read the full essay here, and read our review of the stellar new High Fidelity TV show. It comes out Friday (February 14), although it's unfortunately only coming to Hulu and won't be available in Canada (yet).
In an essay written for Rolling Stone, Hornby admitted that he didn't know anything about the show until the plans were "relatively advanced," since he sold the TV rights back in the '90s (at the same time he sold the film rights). But he learned about it when Kravitz reached out to him in late 2018, and he writes, "I was pretty sure that she'd do a good job. She has."
Even though High Fidelity was written in the context of a record store in the 1990s — an extremely different time for music retail — Hornby said the sentiment is still relevant.
He wrote, "High Fidelity the TV show deals with the world we're in now. The playlists are made digitally, yet the hearts that are broken by feckless men and women are still inconveniently and painfully analog."
The context is different, but lead character Rob's melancholy, and music fans' need to identify with the music they love, is the same, regardless of whether Rob is being played by Kravitz or Cusack.
And if you have any issues with the fact that High Fidelity now stars a woman instead of a man, Hornby has a message for you:
I don't think anyone who has read and loved the book, and/or seen and loved the movie could be disappointed with the series. I couldn't be more proud of the show. And if I catch anyone saying it's self-consciously "woke," what with its gender reversals and its inclusion of more than one race/sexuality, I will come 'round to your house and put you back to sleep. Because, guess what: High Fidelity isn't just about you. It's about people who aren't like you, too.
Read the full essay here, and read our review of the stellar new High Fidelity TV show. It comes out Friday (February 14), although it's unfortunately only coming to Hulu and won't be available in Canada (yet).
