Legend (1985) - a question

[akiratubo]

I got the 2-disc set of Legend today.  I watched the director's cut hoping the 20 or so extra minutes would make the movie make sense.

Not so much.

One thing I did notice, though, was that everyone kept referring to Jack as a "boy" or "little boy".  Lili was "the girl".  Given that, and the way Jack and Lili generally act, I think they must have been written with much younger actors in mind, I'm thinking 15-16 years old at most.

Anybody else ever get that idea?

(Or ... were we supposed to understand that 20-something Tom Cruise and Mia Sara were supposed to be 16 or so in the context of the film?)

[Psycho Circus]

Yeah, I think we are meant to believe that Cruise is alot younger.

[akiratubo]

They should have gone ahead and cast younger actors.  I think that would have helped the movie a lot, particularly with the fairy-tale feeling they were going for.

[Allhallowsday]

It's difficult to look at LEGEND and not see TOM CRUISE in it, but, I mean, my point is that he wasn't nearly so annoying or powerful or crazed 20+ years ago...
I also think there is a precedence for referring to, say, "under 25" male and female characters as "boy" and "girl" (particularly when they're as short as CRUISE... )

[GoHawks]

I think everyone else is spot on that the characters were supposed to be young, but I think there may be more to it than just that.

It's been a long time since I've seen this film, but weren't Jack and Lily the only humans in the story?

Wouldn't it then make sense for all of the non-human characters to refer to them as 'boy' and 'girl' just as you or I might use 'bull' or 'cow'?  I.e. whenever someone said 'boy' they were in effect saying 'male human'.

[Psycho Circus]

It's difficult to look at LEGEND and not see TOM CRUISE in it, but, I mean, my point is that he wasn't nearly so annoying or powerful or crazed 20+ years ago...

Because he was still green in the business...

Wouldn't it then make sense for all of the non-human characters to refer to them as 'boy' and 'girl' just as you or I might use 'bull' or 'cow'?  I.e. whenever someone said 'boy' they were in effect saying 'male human'.

I'd go along with that as an explanation too.

[akiratubo]

It's been a long time since I've seen this film, but weren't Jack and Lily the only humans in the story?

There were the "poor" people living in the cottage, and Lily was a princess of something or another.  I assume a human kingdom but who knows?