Lana del Rey is a very well known American singer, songwriter, and model. Her image is a combination of innocence and sex appeal, like many of the themes of her songs. Particularly her album "Born To Die" focuses on the subject of young girls' exiting childhood, and being introduced to adult themes such as drinking and having a sexual interest in older men. Another source of context that focuses on young girls and sexual relations with older men is Vladimir Nabokov's infamous novel Lolita. Lana uses this book as a point of reference in many of her songs in "Born To Die." Here's a list of five songs off the album that uses the same themes that I've listen to and I've summed up what each song is about (Songs is linked for your own listening pleasure).
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(Young girls who are partying too hard)
"Cola"
(Young girl who has a relationship with an older, married man)
(Young girl losing her innocence)
“Lolita”
(Young girl exiting childhood too early)
(Entire song references the novel of Lolita)
Lana's own youth, around the age of 16, was filled with drinking and older men, which she has discussed in interviews. It seems that Lana is comparing herself to the character of Lolita. Which, to anyone who has ever read the novel, is completely twisted and wrong. These songs are incredible and are just a fantastic example of Lana's talent, but is misinterpreting the themes behind "Lolita" completely. Lana is not the only one to be blamed for the misuse of the story though. Stanley Kubrick's 1962 version, and Adrian Lyne's 1997 version, depict the character of Lolita in a similar way.
(1962, 1997)
Both these movies show Lolita as someone that Lana herself can relate to, a seductive and misunderstood 16 year old girl. Both girls that portray Lolita look older and have this tempting nature to them that the protagonist in the stories, Humbert Humbert, cannot resist. In both movies they tease and seduce him, and we as an audience see this and view Humbert as the victim, because the set up is that this young woman is making him think these perverse thoughts about her. Just as a critique to the movies and the viewers as well, she's 16 in both the movies, which still on legal terms statutory rape. However the directors have her displayed in such a manner, that the audience forgets her age, but only see her as a sexual object. That in itself is wrong, but the themes within the novel are worse.
In pop culture, we hear the name "Lolita," and think we are referencing a young seductress who is interested in older men. For someone who hasn't read the book, that is an easy assumption to make, but you'd think Kubrick, Lyne, or Lana would have read the book. You'd think these three people who have arguably been the main contributors to bringing a novel written in 1955, into mainstream culture, would know the story. In all of their interpretations they have decided that Lolita the character is around the age of 16, when they are in fact wrong. Throughout the novel is is between the ages of 12 to 14. She is a child in the story, a mere preteen, who enters a toxic relationship with her stepfather after the death of her mother. In the story, Lolita, like any child going through puberty, is highly interested in sex, and Humbert, the 40 something year old adult, takes advantage of that with his perverse mind and actions toward her. The novel is not about a 16 year old that seduces her mother's husband, it's about a confused child that is corrupted (Humbert acts as a father and a lover to her throughout the novel) and lied to (After the death of her mother, Humbert takes Lolita on an exciting road trip without telling her what had happened until later on). Only when she begins to realize the situations she has been placed into, at 14, she tries to escape Humbert with literally no where else to turn to. So most of her sexual relationship with Humbert occurs when she is 12 to 13. One of the reason's I find this novel so interesting is it is told from the perspective of Humbert, so the reader is forced to see things through his perspective with the knowledge of how sick his mindset is. Apparently not everyone got that message.
So despite the image of Lolita herself being twisted, Lana depicts her as a rebellious teenager, and the directors use her as a seductress; the main issue here is the representation of her age. If the directors had casted someone who looked to be the proper age of Lolita in the novel, there would be a very different perception of the character. As much as someone wants to describe Lolita as all the things that these famous figures have, it's most important to remember that the character is 12. Not even a teenager within the novel when she experiences all these events, but still a child. As a reader you should hold on to this fact when you hear the name "Lolita," and begin to think anything sexual.
