Movie versus the Novel Essay Example

Movie versus the Novel Essay Example Movie versus the Novel Essay Movie versus the Novel Essay When a book is made into a movie, in particular, or a film in general, a comparison will undoubtedly be done. And the general consensus is that the book is better than the film adaptation –regardless of who pegs, stars or writes the screenplay. In this particular essay, let us look into the difference between the Stephen King’s novel entitled â€Å"It† and the mini-series adapted from it. To begin with, â€Å"It† the film begins in the small town of Derry, and centers around a group of young local outcasts. The film adaptation is divided into two parts –the first part is set in 1960- and not 1958, as in the novel-, and introduces the group of social outcasts, the Losers, as they meet and form a tight-knit group in the face of a cruel and intolerant world. They each individually come into contact with the child-killing monster haunting their hometown which simply refer to as â€Å"it†. It usually appears as Pennywise the Dancing Clown before taking the form of whatever its child victim most greatly fears. Spurred on by Bill Denbroughs desire for revenge on It for killing his younger brother Georgie, the Losers resolved to locate â€Å"It’s† home in the sewers and destroy the threat to Derry once and for all. Despite managing to inflict serious injuries upon the monster, they fail to finish the job, allowing â€Å"It† to escape and recover over the years. The second half of the film, set in 1990- and not 1985 like the novel, focuses on the now-adult Losers who reluctantly agree to return home (all of them except Mike Hanlon have left Derry) to locate and destroy â€Å"It† once and for all. The Losers must again face not only the terrible creature and the diminishing of their circle after the suicide of Stan Uris, but also Henry Bowers. The bully who made their childhoods miserable and is now an incarcerated madman under Its influence, Bowers is determined to kill them all. While the book and the film adaptation carry basically the same story line, there are still noticeable differences between the two. Needless to say, many parts of the book are twisted, either changed completely, or have different characters. Let us take a look at some of the following elements that were important to the books plot which were either removed or represented very differently in the film. First off is the concept of violence.   I have to agree with some critics when they point out that many of â€Å"Its† extremely graphic and gory attacks are merely implied in the film, and are not shown onscreen. For instance, the Losers findings of many mutilated corpses are also omitted, as are several instances of cruelty to animals, such as when Patrick Hocksetter suffocates many animals inside an abandoned refrigerator, and Henry Bowers poisons Mike Hanlons dog, Mr. Chips. Second element that was not very clear in the movie is homophobia. In the book, â€Å"Its† first attack during its modern cycle is not on a little girl on her front lawn, but on a homosexual man named Adrian Mellon who had just been gay bashed. The movie drops this scene entirely, and never refers to it at any point. Other scenes involving homosexuality are left out, including a bar named the Falcon, rumored to be a gay bar, and when Patrick proposes to have oral sex with Henry. Profanity was also downplayed in the movie as opposed to the novel. Vulgar dialogue is omnipresent throughout the entire novel. It also features an aspect of characters developing their own abilities to curse. For instance, Eddie yells This is battery acid, you slime! while spraying his aspirator in â€Å"Its† face, as opposed to BATTERY ACID, FUCKNUTS! in the novel. Another element that was visibly altered in the movie is that of racism. Racism, particularly towards the Hanlons for being black, is a significant issue almost entirely ignored in the film. Despite establishing Henry Bowers and other characters as racists, the film does not feature some of the novels racist attacks, such as when Henry drenches Mike in mud in order to make a tar baby, or a thorough analysis of the word nigger. In addition, Stan being a Jew results in some stereotypical views of Judaism in the novel, though this issue is also never analyzed in the film. The most obvious omission in the novel is the element of sexuality. In the novel, before the young Losers successfully escape from the sewer after encountering â€Å"It†, Beverly Marsh has sex with the boys. She also has sex with Bill earlier as an adult. It also makes some appearances in which â€Å"It† threatens the children with sexual assault. These scenes are dropped entirely from the film, as well as characters viewings on sexuality as children, and details of their sex lives as adults. While many of â€Å"Its† attacks are represented accurately in the film, some never appear in Stephen Kings novel at all, and are completely unique to the film. Examples would include Pennywise coming out of a pipe while Eddie is taking a shower and Ben seeing his father, who died while serving in the Korean War, near the Barrens. Pennywise appears in his father’s place, and almost succeeds in dragging Ben into the swamp. In closing, I would like to say that I enjoyed the novel much better than the movie –as is generally the case. For starters, the novel allows the reader to explore his imagination and see each depiction of â€Å"IT† as he or she sees fit. Some of the scenes I have noted above fell short of my expectations and for this reason, I would recommend the novel more than its film version.