Carrie vs. Carrie

So here's something a little different, I'm going to compare two movies to the novel off of which they were based.  Stephen King published his first novel, Carrie, in April of 1974.  For some reason the book took place in 1979.  The original film was release in 1976, and the remake (so obviously a made for TV movie) aired in 2002.  In the book, both Carrie and her mother Margaret, are supposed to be large women.  Heaven forbid Hollywood put anyone bigger than a 0 in their films so in both adaptions, they were pretty skinny women.  As most people know Sissy Spacek played Carrie in the original, and as I mentioned in my blog about The Help, Sissy will always be Carrie to me.  Her unique facial features helped her portray her the best.  In the 2002 version, Carrie is played by Angela Bettis (Girl, Interrupted) who was 29 when she played the role, but even though she was only 2 years older than Sissy was she was not a very convincing Carrie.  Her face looked too old to be playing a high school kid (Sissy still had a young face) and she wasn't unique looking enough for me to believe her as Carrie.  The 2002 adaption shows the shower of rocks on the White household that is mentioned in the beginning of the book, and it also goes back to it as well.  The scene where young Carrie is talking to the sunbather remains in the newer version, something the original left out along with the rock shower which I found an ideal part of the story.  Another difference in the beginning of both films is the time when Carrie gets her period.  First of all, for all you men out there that are naive and believe everything the movies show you, women don't typically caress themselves in the shower, as these movies portrayed, or at least I don't so maybe I'm the oddball.  In the second film, the girls immaturely yelled "Period" at Carrie, which I can't imagine anyone their age doing.  The book and first film has them throwing tampons at her and yelling "plug it up" which I find a little more creative.  Instead, in the newer edition, they write Plug it Up on her locker and fill it with tampons.  In the principal's office, the director also decided to make her telekinetic powers less subtle by having her move the whole desk instead of just the ashtray like in the original. Shock value I guess. 

I like that both films showed how Carrie's mother's religious beliefs played a role on Carrie.  It was easy for King to describe the background in the novel since we were reading it.  In the first film, Margaret visited a fellow classmate's (Sue Snell) home to preach and ask for money for her church while in the second the teacher stated Carrie was excused from the evolution lesson in science class per her mother's orders.  I'm sure that's still likely to happen today.  

Before I get too off topic, I just want to point out something that bothered me.  The character Norma, in the first film, always wore a red baseball cap, even to the prom.  Maybe it's suppose to be symbolic or whatever, but I just found it annoying.  I would like to know what was up with that stupid hat.  If anyone can tell me, I'd appreciate it.

Another difference I noticed was the boy on the bike taunting Carrie as she leaves.  In the remake she has him thrown against the tree when in the original and novel she just tipped the bike over.  I liked the more subtlety because she is first learning of her telekinetic powers and to throw a boy into a tree is a little intense for a first time learner just like lifting the desk.

One thing that kind of bothered me is King describes an eerie picture hanging in the closet which is part of the reason Carrie doesn't like going in it.  Neither film versions had the picture which didn't give the closet such a haunting affect for me.

It seemed both films pretty much had the same script, except the remake kept the names that the original didn't.  In the Sissy Spacek version, they changed the name of the gym teacher Miss Desjardin and the highschool name, Ewen, was changed as well.  I also like how the remake included the scene with Chris's dad and him threatening to sue the school.  It showed how much the faculty cared for their students, and didn't tolerate bullying.  That whole dialogue between the father and the principal was probably my favorite in the novel because I liked how he sticks up for Carrie and was quick with the comebacks.

Finally, or course, I was glad that the sex scenes between Sue and Tommy and Chris and Billy were taken out.  In the novel, both girls use the sex to get their boyfriends to do what they want (Chris with the prank, Sue with getting Tommy to ask Carrie to prom), but both directors did a great job getting the point across without using sex.  So kudos for that.

Well, this has been my longest blog because I compared three pieces of work which I will most likely not do again thankfully.  As for the point of my blogs and rating the films, well they're both so entirely different but the same, but of course for me, nothing beats an original.  (Same is true in Vampire Diaries!)

The Help

My love for books and my love for movies always interfere with each other.  I understand its hard for a film to be exactly like the book for which it is based, even when the author is part of the screenplay writing process, because the director and author almost never have the same views as to how a box should be portrayed or a character or scene.  Anyway, because of this love for literature and arts, I can never answer the question "Which did you like better, the book or the movie?"  There are good parts of a book that are left out, but there are also added stuff that can sometimes be good.  My point is, when it comes to The Help, I can't tell you which version I preferred, but I can compare them.  And here it goes....

The Help, which was written by Kathryn Stockett, takes place in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 60s, during the civil rights movement.  It is narrated by both rich, white 23 year old Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, and much older, black maids named Minny and Aibileen.  A white girl is trying to write a book using the maids perspective on what its like working for white families.  Unlike the actual author, Skeeter receives help from "the colored people" as they are often referred to in the book.  Stockett did live in Jackson, Mississippi, however, I don't know if she was around during the 60s nor remembers it, so good for her for taking a stab at what it would have been like, because up north the 60s were completely different.  The film was directed by Tate Taylor (usually acts, but Pretty Ugly People was his first feature he directed), also not a white woman in the 60s nor a black maid.  The film definitely had a different feel to it than the book, and I believe if the film had been directed by a woman as well then the feel wouldn't have been so different.  To me the novel and film weren't just about race, but about feminism as well.  From the beginning, Skeeter was feeling pressure to find a man and get married at such a young age.  All of her friends dropped out of college to get married, and she was expected to do the same.  Same goes for Minny having the courage to leave her abusive husband.  This is why I think the film would have been better directed by a woman, because a woman would be able to focus on those issues more.

So anyway, back to the summary.  Skeeter played by Emma Stone (Crazy, Stupid Love; Easy A) has just moved back home after graduating college.  In her best efforts to become a journalist, she gets a job at the local paper writing the cleaning advice column.  Her lack of knowledge on this subject, causes her to seek advice from her good friend Elizabeth's (Ahna O'Reilly, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) maid Aibileen (Viola Davis, It's Kind of a Funny Story; Eat Pray Love).  During one of their discussions, in the book, Aibileen mentions her son Treelore, who has passed away three years before, and how he wanted to write a book talking about what it was like to work for a white man.  This was left out of the movie, but I thought it was a pretty important part because that's what inspired Skeeter.  During an incident at bridge club, where the evil friend Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard, The Village; Lady in the Water) insists that Elizabeth build a separate bathroom outdoors for the help, Skeeter feels embarrassed for Aibileen and this is the point where she decides to write her book.  I want to start off by saying, I absolutely hated the character of Hilly, in the book and the film.  She is such an evil bitch and ignorant person, and I have never hated a character so much in my life.  It might also have to do with the fact that she reminds me of my dad's second wife.  Everything she said and did made me cringe, and I will never look at Bryce the same again.  Of course I never looked at her normal anyway, I mean who names their daughter Bryce??  Ok back on subject.  Skeeter has already given the idea for her novel to the editor at Harper and Row, Elain Stein (Mary Steenburgen, Step Brothers; Elf), but Stein wants her to talk to at least a dozen maids.  

Aibileen eventually agrees to help out Skeeter, but they have a hard time finding other maids as they fear for not only losing their jobs, but they fear for their lives as well.  In the book, during all this Skeeter is also wondering what has happened to her maid Constantine who raised her.  The film doesn't portray her search as much but focuses a lot on the memories.  

In the book, Hilly puts her mother, Mrs. Walters (Sissy Spacek, I don't care how many movies she's been in now, she will always only be Carrie to me) in a nursing home and tries to have her mother's maid, who also happens to be Aibileen's best friend, Minny (Octavia Spencer, Dinner for Schmucks; Jesus People) work for her.  When Minny refuses, Hilly starts a rumor that Minny stole from her mother so no one will hire her.  In the film, she starts the rumor after firing her for using the indoor bathroom.  Luckily, with the help of Aibileen, she finds work with Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life), who the town ladies don't like because she married Johnny Foote (Mr. "Hotter with Age" Mike Vogel, She's Out of my League; Grind) who was at one point engaged to Hilly.  So much happens in the book/movie so I'm just going to skip around.  Eventually Minny joins, and after Hilly throws her maid Yule May in prison, a bunch of other maids start telling their stories for the book too.

So the one thing I'm deciding whether or not I agree with is the choice to cast Emma Stone as the role of Eugenia.  Granted she did a good job, but lets face it, she's whats hot right now, and that's probably why she was picked for the role.  In the book, it is discussed how Skeeter is an awkwardly, tall girl with long curly hair.  Emma Stone is known to be a very attractive woman.  But upon discussing this with my book club, they mentioned that it might be her idea of herself only due to her mother's perspective.  The one and only thing I did like that Hilly said was when she was trying to set Skeeter up on a date, Skeeter mentioned that she might not be his type.  Hilly told Skeeter that she doesn't like her looking down upon herself just because her mother put ideas in her head.  

Speaking of the date, that is one last thing I wanted to mention about the film vs. movie.  In the film, the relationship between Skeeter and Stuart (Chris Lowell, Up in the Air; Private Practice) isn't as dominant as it was in the book which is good.  It made it seem like Skeeter was sticking to getting her book done than finding a man.  In the book, she was focused mostly on work, but still fell in love.  Now I was angry with her because she took the guy back twice, TWICE!!  And he was a real dbag on their first date.  I felt that was very out of character for her, and she might be settling.  The film, however, without giving any details away, made her out to be more independent, and I like that.  The End.

Read the book.  Watch the film.  Do both, I don't care.  It's a good read, and a good film.  Actually, the film was sadder than the book because its different seeing it up on screen coming to life.  It took everything I had not to cry in front of my book club.  I held it in, don't worry.  Either way, all your questions will be answered, and if you only see the movie without reading the book, and still have questions, let me know.  I'll answer them for you!  By the way, being a nanny and a waitress really made me appreciate this book, so treat "your help" with respect.  I don't care what color you are, or what job you have, no one is better than anyone, and I hope that's the lesson you walk away with from watching this film.

Crazy Stupid Love

I have to admit, when I first saw previews for Crazy Stupid Love, I thought it looked a lot like Hitch so I wasn't too interested in seeing it.  But all they hype, and posters (at least around Chicago) made me change my mind.  Plus Ryan Gosling was in it, and he's pretty hot.  Another reason I wasn't too sure about this film is because of the age difference between Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone who were playing love interests.  I don't know why this bothered me seeing as in real life, that much of an age difference doesn't really bother me.  Upon research I found that Gosling is only 30 and Stone is 22, but in the film she played a 27 year old.  I eventually got over it.  

I liked the quirkyness of this film.  It showed how much love can kick you in the ass with all the funny love triangles.  However, I don't understand why it seemed from the trailers and hype that Marisa Tomei had a bigger part than she really did.  Crazy, Stupid, Love was directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (both of I Love You Phillip Morris fame).  They did a pretty good job considering this was only their second time directing.  It has an all star cast with Steve Carell (The Office), Ryan Gosling (The Notebook; Lars and the Real Girl), Julianne Moore (The Kids Are All Right; A Single Man), and Emma Stone (The Help; Easy A).  It opens up with Emily (Moore) wanting a divorce from her husband of 25 years, Cal (Carell).  After drinking two days in a row and talking about his wife's affair with David Lindhagen (Kevin Bacon, Footloose; Wild Things) to no one, womanizer Jacob (Gosling) takes him under his wing and helps him gain the confidence he needs to get over his wife.  While this is going on, Cal's son Robbie (Jonah Bobo, Choke; 30 Rock) is in love with his babysitter, Jessica (Analeigh Tipton, The Green Hornet) who is in love with Cal.  Also Jacob changes his womanizer ways once he meets Hannah (Stone) who has just ended a relationship with her boring boyfriend, Richard(Josh Groban, singer) after he wouldn't propose. Along with the crazy love triangles or squares, there is a twist towards the end.

This film teaches a good story about love and soulmates and not giving up.  Now I don't believe in all that crap, but I do like how this film showed it in a non sappy way.  The writers made love sucking into a funny thing, but they still kept it kind of romantic in a weird way.  I highly recommend it.  The ladies will love the romantic story and Ryan Gosling half naked, and the guys will love the bromantic story and the crazy antics of Michael Scott, but yet a different person.  It's worth the $6 I spent to see it, but I'd probably pay full price too.  Like the title says love is crazy and stupid, and this film follows through with its title.