Why ‘May December’s’ Use of ‘The Go-Between’ Score During Viral Hot Dog Scene Is Problematic
Jon Burlingame Taking an old film score and dropping it into a new film is “like wearing somebody else’s underwear,” veteran composer Earle Hagenused to say. Hagen, the Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winning composer of such classic themes as “The Andy Griffith Show,” “The Dick VanDyke Show” and “The Mod Squad,” would have been appalled by the musical choices in Netflix’s “May December.” A scene from that film, with Julianne Moore opening her refrigerator door to a melodramatic piano cue, has gone viral. It’s a funny moment if you don’t recognize that music.