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Those were rather "humblebragging" type faults. Specifically, Meg's faults were: Her stubbornness, her rudeness, her tendency to be unmanageable and headstrong. In the book, she used those in her combat with IT.
As I pointed out earlier, one of the difference between this movie and the book is that this movie reduced the protagonist males to fecklessness.
For instance, Charles Wallace--who was telepathic in the book--was key to locating their father. They could not have located their father in Camazotz without Charles Wallace.
In this movie, Charles Wallace is merely a smarmy brat just along for the ride. He has no real purpose and turns out to cause problems instead of being a help.
In the book, Calvin O'Keefe is Meg's solid and effective back-up. He doesn't just compliment her looks, he also effectively handles more physical issues and is her solid psychological backup when they have to leave Camazotz without Charles Wallace. In the book they all leave him behind and retreat to a safe planet where their physical wounds are cared for by loving aliens. Calvin is instrumental in bringing Meg down to earth and realizing that not only is her father not at fault, but that she will be the only person able to rescue Charles Wallace.
In this movie, Calvin is merely a damsel in distress, whose only purpose is to give doe eyes to Meg. The movie gives a lot of Calvin's purpose--and lines--to Mrs Which (Oprah).
And as I've said before, this movie makes Dr Murry culpable, which the book did not. In the book, the kids would have been called by the witches to do battle with the Darkness because of who they were destined to be in the history of the war--the loss of their father was merely incidental.
In the movie, it's only the loss of their father--through his own foolishness--that gets the children involved. In the movie, it's all his fault.
Location: IN>Germany>ND>OH>TX>CA>Currently NoVa and a Vacation Lake House in PA
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To revisit this topic, I never even bothered to watch the movie. I didn't want it to ruin the image I had of the wonderful book, and from reading reviews (4.2 on IMDB) I could tell the movie was a hot mess and Disney tried too hard to please the masses rather than fans of the book.
I may have to read the book again sometime soon (if I remember correctly it's a pretty quick read) to relive the amazing story and characters developed by Madeleine L'Engle.
Last edited by LakeLifePA; 10-16-2018 at 08:37 AM..
To revisit this topic, I never even bothered to watch the movie. I didn't want it to ruin the image I had of the wonderful book, and from reading reviews (4.2 on IMDB) I could tell the movie was a hot mess and Disney tried too hard to please the masses rather than fans of the book.
Considering that the book has been a huge success for half a century, if they wanted to please the masses, they've have shown the original story as faithfully as possible, like Chronicles of Narnia.
No, in this case they wanted to push an explicitly fourth/fifth-wave feminist agenda, and it flopped.
I consider L’Engle to be one of my life’s great teachers.
However, every movie made from one of her works has been reductionist and awful. There are just too many levels going on to translate well to the movie medium, most likely.
Location: West Los Angeles and Rancho Palos Verdes
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Debsi
There are just too many levels going on to translate well to the movie medium, most likely.
Probably the same reason Isaac Asimov novels cannot be made into films, with the exception of I, Robot, though I've never read it so I have no idea how close the novel is to the film. But those Galactic Foundation books would be way to much for a feature film.
Probably the same reason Isaac Asimov novels cannot be made into films, with the exception of I, Robot, though I've never read it so I have no idea how close the novel is to the film. But those Galactic Foundation books would be way to much for a feature film.
The movie "I, Robot" had virtually nothing to do with the book. It's an okay Will Smith movie, but it has almost nothing to do with the book.
Interestingly, there is a short-lived Canadian television series called Recall 2070 that is a blend of some plotlines from Philip K Dick's "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale," the production values of the move Bladerunner, and darned if the protagonists aren't dead ringers for Elijah Bailey and R. Daneel Olivaw.
In fact, I came across it while channel surfing, paused to watch it a few minutes, and wondered, "When the heck did somebody do 'Caves of Steel' without me hearing about it?"
Recall 2070 is about the closest thing I've seen to an Isaac Asimov work on the screen...and it's not one.
Location: West Los Angeles and Rancho Palos Verdes
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ralph_Kirk
The movie "I, Robot" had virtually nothing to do with the book. It's an okay Will Smith movie, but it has almost nothing to do with the book.
Interestingly, there is a short-lived Canadian television series called Recall 2070 that is a blend of some plotlines from Philip K Dick's "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale," the production values of the move Bladerunner, and darned if the protagonists aren't dead ringers for Elijah Bailey and R. Daneel Olivaw.
In fact, I came across it while channel surfing, paused to watch it a few minutes, and wondered, "When the heck did somebody do 'Caves of Steel' without me hearing about it?"
Recall 2070 is about the closest thing I've seen to an Isaac Asimov work on the screen...and it's not one.
Wow, Elijah Bailey and R. Daneel Olivaw are two names I have not heard in a long time! Now I need to watch this if I can find it!
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