The YAL students enjoyed viewing the movie and had much to say about the comparison of the movie and the book. For the most part, they believed the story was overall close to that of the book. As is often the case, the devil was in the details, and they had much to say about details that disturbed them. They are aware that the book was written over a decade before the current wave of popular books about dystopian societies was published. Therefore, they could accept that the movie makers had resources and ideas that did not exist in the early 1990s. However, the ever-present drones instead of airplanes monitoring everyone were bothersome to them. Their biggest complaint about the movie was the age of Jonas. In the book, he is 12 years old. In the movie, he is 18. They felt that his age was an essential element in the story and that having him so much older did change the story. Other details that bothered the students were the lack of attention to the importance of the river, which was significant in the book, the seemingly small size of the community, and Taylor Swift showing up briefly as the daughter of the Giver.
The students rationalized the ages of characters were made older
to allow for the element of romance added to the story. Some of the exaggerated action was deemed necessary for modern movie appeal and expected because of recent movies such as The Hunger Games. They assumed that the importance of the Chief Elder was inflated because the part was played by Meryl Streep.
Students did respond favorably to the use of color in the film and felt that it helped involve the viewer in the story. While they missed the slow build up to the transition ceremony of the book, they agreed that it was probably necessary to move the plot along quickly to build and maintain viewer interest. However, since the movie is only 94 minutes, they surmised that the producers might have been able to use more time to effectively build up to the action.
All in all the students were appreciative of the opportunity to
view the movie right after reading the book for class. The story was fresh in their minds and they were able to make sound judgments in their comparison of the two. The general consensus was that they like the book better, but the movie was ok.
The students rationalized the ages of characters were made older
to allow for the element of romance added to the story. Some of the exaggerated action was deemed necessary for modern movie appeal and expected because of recent movies such as The Hunger Games. They assumed that the importance of the Chief Elder was inflated because the part was played by Meryl Streep.
Students did respond favorably to the use of color in the film and felt that it helped involve the viewer in the story. While they missed the slow build up to the transition ceremony of the book, they agreed that it was probably necessary to move the plot along quickly to build and maintain viewer interest. However, since the movie is only 94 minutes, they surmised that the producers might have been able to use more time to effectively build up to the action.
All in all the students were appreciative of the opportunity to
view the movie right after reading the book for class. The story was fresh in their minds and they were able to make sound judgments in their comparison of the two. The general consensus was that they like the book better, but the movie was ok.
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