Joyce Carol Oates? short storyWhere Are You Going, Where Have You Been?? shocked, horrified, and struck audiences across the nation. So much that it is one of the most discussed pieces of literature ever.Smooth Talk,? a movie based on this story, did not get so much attention, and rightly so. Oates portrays an image of a young girl trying to become a woman, and then being seduced and confused into going down the wrong path, which eventually leads to her suggested demise.Smooth Talk? portrays the image of a young girl throwing away her innocence, becoming borderline slut, and then eventually giving in to the persistent attacks of the evil one. Oates writes about a loss of innocence, while the movie tells of a further loss of innocence.
Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?? is a story about a girl named Connie who loves attention. She especially loves the attention of boys. Her problem is that she finds it in older boys. She does dress provocatively, but not trying to be a slut. She goes to the localBig Boys? restaurant which is a symbol for the older boys she is chasing with her friends who are also trying to be just like her. She sees a man there who claims he'sgonna get [her].? And the main struggle unfolds from there. .
Smooth Talk? is based onWhere?? but with a very different sexual twist. The movie makes Connie out to be a young girl that wants to be a slut. The paradox is that she doesn't want the sexual intercourse that goes along with it. Her manner, her dress, and her actions all reflect that of a floozy. She craves the attention of boys, and men. She is trying to be a slut, but just for her own satisfaction. Her restaurant is not aBig Boy's,? but a cheap diner by the highway, filled with fast cars, and even faster men. Like the story, this is where she meet's Arnold Friend, although still a stranger to her, and again he makes the same claim.
Although the main difference is in how Connie is portrayed,Smooth Talk,? adds the missing element of her family to the picture.
