Blow-Up, Then And Now

In Michelangelo Antonioni’s seminal 1966 Hitchcock-meets-Swinging London suspense fiilm, David Hemmings stars as a professional photographer who can’t believe what he’s seeing in his own photographs.

These days, it’s the New York Times’ readers who can’t believe what they’re seeing in a professional newspaper’s own photographs.

Blow-Up ends with Hemmings playing pantomime tennis alone in a London park. If the Times keeps this up, they’lll end up printing newspapers only to be discarded unread in Central Park.

Blow-Up was endlessly satirized by the Austin Powers franchise, with Elizabeth Hurley co-starring as his lady. These days, it’s the Blogosphere which endlessly satirizes the Gray Lady herself.