"Taming of the Shrew" and "Ten Things I Hate About You"

One of my favorite film adaptations would definitely have to be "Taming of The Shrew" by Shakespeare and "Ten Things I Hate About You". In the "Taming of The Shrew", a father of two daughters desires for them to get married to husbands. Bianca, the youngest daughter wants to marry before her older sister, Katherine. Although, Baptista (the father), won't allow Bianca to be married without Katherine getting married first. The man that wants to marry Bianca finds Katherine a suitor so that he can marry Bianca.

In "Ten Things I Hate About You", there is a similar but modernized plot. It is the same in that there is a father and two sisters. The younger sister Bianca wants to date a young man but her father won't let her before her older sister Katerina starts to date. Once again, Bianca's man finds Katerina another guy who ends up falling in love with Katerina.

The film adaptation changed the setting of the story, making it set around a modern day high school and using modern day language. I believe that they made it this way so that they would get attraction from a large teenage audience who feel as if they could relate to the romance and drama of high school in the film. Although, they did keep pretty much the same plot as "Taming of the Shrew". I believe they did this because the plot is interesting and they knew that with a few tweaks they could attract a target audience of teens and it would end up to be a popular movie. This tells me that reading a text with a context in mind is important because the reader can then expect how to picture the story as they are reading it and are able to relate to it more easily. Without knowing that "Taming of the Shrew" was set in Shakespeare's era, the reader would probably be confused and wonder why the characters are speaking the way they are and wonder why the young girls were getting married at such a young age. Keeping a context in mind helps to make sure that the reader isn't confused and knows exactly what to expect from the story.

My favorite film adaptation was probably from a book called Eragon, the first of a series of 3 books written by Christopher Paolini. I read the book a long time ago and loved it, but forgot all the details. I think this is the reason i was able to enjoy the movie so much. I heard from other friends it skipped some details, but from my memory it followed the plot well. The director followed the book as closely as possible so the general plot was kept the same. Though it is hard to navigate a 400+ page book down into a 90 minute film, so some details did get left out. This book is about an egg, a dragon egg that will only open for its destine human. Sometimes it will even wait thousands of years. The egg falls in the hands of a farm boy who opens it. His destiny is to be a dragon rider and save his world from the tyrannical rule of Galbatorix. This book is another one of those stories depicting a normal boy becoming a hero, but I think the reason I enjoyed this story so much was because of how unique all the details were in making this boy great. I had never heard of a "dragon rider" before and in all other books dragons are always something feared by humans, not ridden. Then when the movie came out, it followed my memory of the book quite well (because of the fact that I forgot some of the details from the book) and depicted the story line as I had in my head. Now i am hoping they make a movie out of the other two of Paolini's books.

Blog 3 - Enos

My favorite book that was turned into a film production was actually a graphic novel called watchmen. I was never really into comics and felt that superhero motived works of literature were rather childish however this novel was more or less about normal individuals attempting to act as vigilantes and act where the black and white of the law doesn't reach. In this grey area the characters act for the good of humanity even though as people they are as imperfect as the criminals they try to imprison. The reason why this graphic novel is my favorite it that truly reflects the human condition and the purpose of the text and visual references further allusion to deeper meanings of the human race. I found that it's in the science fiction novels that authors outcast the trends and characteristics of our race and often the books allusion to the consequences of our actions as a curious yet inconsiderate species.

Blog #3

One of my favorite books that was adopted into a movie was kite runner. The book really captured my attendtion about life in the middle east. Unfortunately, I do not feel the same way about the movie. The movie lacked emotion that the book could share. Also the language barrier made it hard for me to keep interest in the movie. Although it was rough to follow, the movie really puts perspective into what life is like outside of America. It embraces the idea that Americans take for granted everything we are given.

Journal 3

One of my favorite movies that was adapted was Romeo and Juliet. The book was definitely more complicated to understand considering it was Shakespeare. However, the 90's remake gave the book a modern setting, one that people could relate to. The music and clothing was adapted but the classic Shakespeare lines were not. This contrast was something that really grabbed my attention. It allowed for a broader audience to appreciate and understand a classic. I think that it taught me that when trying to comprehend old classic works that are from a different era, to try to relate it to present day.

journal 3

Describe one your favorite film adaptations (like we did with The Scarlet Letter and Easy A). What did the adaptation change? What did it keep? Why? What issues are raised, are how do they relate to the specific time, audience, or culture? What does this tell you about the importance of reading a text with its context in mind?

One of my favorite film adaptations is the movie "O" which is based off of Shakespeare's play Othello. I think that the adaption kept the same themes through out the movie but just changes the context. "O" is set in a modern day high school where the main focus is on the character Odin (Othello) who is the star player on the basketball team who gets all the fame and is also in love with the character Desi (Desdemona). Odin gets along the film, the coach's son Hugo (Iago) is jealous of Odin because he gets all the attention and popularity, so in an effort to get revenge, he plots and schemes a way to get rid of Odin. Michael Cassio (Cassius) plays basketball also and is Odin's best friend on the team, which also upsets Hugo. Hugo plots to get revenge on Michael Cassio too because he feels that he should be Odin's best friend. This plot is very similar to "Othello", except the storyline is centered around a teens on a high school, instead of in Venice between generals in an army.

The adaptation of "Othello" leads me to think that reading a text with the context in mind matters because if Othello was the actual character in the modern "O" movie it would be strange for him to be in a high school and on a basketball team, where as in "Othello", Othello is a Moor general in Venice.

Pocahontas vs Avatar

Avatar by James Cameron is one of the best adaptations ever (the 9 Academy nominations speak for itself). Avatar is a much more modern and expensive portrayal of the Disney movie Pocahontas. Avatar changes the Indians from Pocahontas to a much more modern alien species. This leaves the audience able to relate to community that’s not already completely informed about. This helps the audience appeal to a simpler life that isn’t lost in time but could actually exist in the universe today.

Pocahontas proved outdated when Avatar replaced John Smith and his English army with Jake Sully and his mechanically advanced army from Earth. This story also heavily looked the issues of pollution and overexpansion which are two keys issues facing the world today. This gave the movie another dimension beyond the love story it shares with Pocahontas. These issues are highlighted through the examination of the corporation that is disrupting sacred land for the natives (the native blue population is supposed to correlate with the Indians and in fact much of the inspiration for their chants, dress, and faith stem from old Native American practice). With these new attributes added to a time-tested classic story, it’s no wonder that Avatar broke the record for highest grossing movie of all times.

Journal 3

One of my favorite film adaptations is the movie Clueless which is based on the novel Emma, by Jane Austen. The novel was written in the 1800s and the movie wasn't filmed until the 1990s so there are definitely major differences.Clueless is set in a modern high school with teenage characters just dating whereas the novel is set in older times where women were looking to be courted then married. The movie is also more modern in ways of sex between characters and how the characters speak to one another and interact. However these two stories also have many similarities. The most obvious similarity is with the two main characters. Both are rich, spoiled, and selfish when the story begins but transform into intelligent, helping, understanding women. Themes of matchmaking gone wrong and love triangles also appear in both. The differences in these two versions helped me understand the importance of reading a text with its context in mind. Many people would not have been able to relate to a film constructed exactly like Emma especially in the time period it was meant to be in.

Their Eyes Were Watching God

My film adaptation analysis will be reviewing the book Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. The main character is a woman by the name of Janie Crawford who is middle aged African American woman is is very youthful in appearance. Her hometown is Eatonville, Florida which she built with her second husband Joe Starks. Starks was the mayor of Eatonville which was the first African American town. Janie ends up falling in love with a man twenty years her Junior by the name of Tea Cake after the death of her husband. This causes great controversy among the peers in Eatonville because this is an immoral relationship because of the age difference between the two. The movie about this book kept most events except of a few. I believe these facts were left out to make Janie's appearance to the audience look more credible and it was good call if I should say so. The issues raised through the book and movie is mostly social issues such as racism, sexism, and people's social status based upon their money and power. The issues raised relate to problems seen in the early 20th Century such as racism against African Americans and the preference of men over women in society. Janie experienced abuse at the hands of her husband Joe and she had to live her life to satisfy and take care of her husband.
This tells you that as a reader you should read text in a context mind because you have to be aware of the issues socially, politically and economically and how the author uses these issues to set up the time period and place the story is set in. Knowledge of these issues will help you further understand the authors point of view.

Describe one your favorite film adaptations (like we did with The Scarlet Letter and Easy A). What did the adaptation change? What did it keep? Why? What issues are raised, are how do they relate to the specific time, audience, or culture? What does this tell you about the importance of reading a text with its context in mind?

One of my favorite film adaptations is Willy Wonka to Charlie and the Chocolate factory. They were both based off a book and ultimately have the same story line but both have noticeable differences. First, the titles are completely different. Willy Wonka is more of a broad title whereas Charlie and the Chocolate factory hints more of the story behind the movie that revolves around candy. It keeps the characters Charlie and Willy Wonka, but Charlie's family seems more poor in the newer movie than the old one. Its keeps the general story line and plot but Johnny Depp is Willy Wonka whereas the man in the older movie is much more elder. I believe the audience is intrigued by Johnny Depp playing Willy Wonka because he is such a notable actor and has played so many strange and quirky characters. The newer movie not only comes in better picture quality, but has heightened effects and drama to reflect with the rapidly growing technology of those in the movie business. I believe the story line of the book is classic, but the movies were remade to reflect the current cultures interests and modernism.

It is important to relate the text in which you are reading to which it was read. The whole story plot of Wuthering Heights would be different if Mr. Heathcliff could text over to Thrushcross Grange- and the thought of that makes my stomach turn. A book can be written in any past or present time, or even in the future- but i feel, as a reader, we need to put our mind set in the text in order for it to be the most effective and make sense. (There are a few exceptions, i.e. Shakespeare alluding to clocks before they were invented, but thats besides the point). Doing research on the culture and time frame of a book can really change/heighten the story line. (Can you imagine reading the Diary of Ann Frank and not knowing the horrors of the Holocaust...) But a good story line can always be altered to effected the changes of a culture, this isnt necessarily good or bad, just reality.

Journal 3

One of my favorite film adaptations is the movie “She’s the Man”, which is based off Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.  The adaptation is set at a boarding school in modern times instead of the 16^th century, and keeps many of the same characters and basic plotline ideas.  I admittedly haven’t read the play, but based on a synopsis, the movie characters keep the same names, purposes, and attractions to the same characters as in the play.  Both the movie and play seem to raise issues about the complications of love, as well as the consequences and confusion that can arise from dishonesty in such situations, while portraying it all with hilarious scenes.  The movies’ similar message can lead us to believe (at least concerning these particular texts) that some aspects of human nature and comedy don’t change all that much, despite the changing surroundings, scenarios, and dialogue used to set the scene. 

Journal 3

My favorite movie remake is King Kong. this movie has been remade twice for a total of three movies. The first in 1933 was in black and white and was immediately popular. However, in 1976 this movie was remade to keep up with the cultural changes that had taken place in the 33 years since it was originally made. This movie was made in color with actors and actresses that were popular at that time. The only one of the movies that i have seen is the 2005 remake which was a box office hit. In this movie, there were incredible special effects which are a trade mark of 21st century films. This was an attempt to make the classic movie popular in today's society. The story line in all three movies is essentially the same. The 2005 movie was set in the early 1900s just like the original but the graphics were infinitely better. This upgrade of the original movie and the trueness to the original are why i think this is my favorite remake.

A Coming of Age Pocahontas

One of my favorite film adaptations would be Avatar which, to me, was an adaptation of the Disney movie Pocahontas. The bases of Pocahontas was settlers invading a land, and one settler in specific learning to understand and protect the natives of that land through a love interest he has with a female native. The settler learns the importance and establishes an appreciation for the land through Pocahontas as well.

Avatar changed one major thing in their adaptation of Pocahontas, which was the fact that it took place in the future on another planet with aliens being the native species. They kept the main concept of one man learning to appreciate the native land through a love interest. Planning to or not, the makers of avatar presented a sense of very little change with human interaction to something new. Either in the past, present, or future. The first time I saw Avatar I knew there was a resemblance to Pocahontas in the storyline and this showed me the importance of watching a text with its context in mind.

Journal 3

My favorite adaptation were the “Cinderella” movies. When you look back at Disney’s Cinderella it has a very different concept than “Another Cinderella Story”. In the original “Cinderella” she works in the house and mouse make her dress. She also looses her glass slipper at the ball. Cinderella rides in a carriage drawn by horses and shows up to a castle. While in “Another Cinderella Story” Mary, cast as the modern day cinderella, works for a woman who is not related to her. Her friend is the fairy godmother in this movie when she brings her a outfit to wear and gives her a ride to the dance-off to dance with her prince charming. Mary looses her ipod instead of her shoe. There are many more adaptations to the the original fairytale that all have very different ways of portraying the same concept of “Cinderella”.

I am looking at the two movies avatar and Dances with wolves and the adaptations tome are very outstanding to me. both movies are about two tribes of people being forced from their homes and one person from capturing side convert over to the other side. in Dances with Wolves a army officer joins a group of souix indians and learns from them and comes to understand their way of life, just like in avatar a solider learns from the avatar people and comes to learn their way of life. both actors fall in love with a girl from the tribe and both fight with the tribe.in avatar the movie is based in the future and space travel is common in dances with wolves the travel is still by horses. in dances with wolves the time period is when the west was being opened and many government issues were with indians and settling the west so the movie was based around that; also at the time idians were considered to be savages and heartless. in avatar the setting is more modern and right now space travel is getting to be more and more close; also alien life is always being discussed and many people believe there is life on other planets. in both movies there is a love story and love never dies its one of the main aspects of human life so it is present in both movies even though they are from two completely different time periods.

Describe one your favorite film adaptations (like we did with The Scarlet Letter and Easy A). What did the adaptation change? What did it keep? Why? What issues are raised, are how do they relate to the specific time, audience, or culture? What does this tell you about the importance of reading a text with its context in mind?

The movie vs. the book "The Notebook," was very different from each other. There are many things that happened differently in each piece. However, both pieces are being told by a couple who live in a nursing home when they are slowly dying. From the beginning to the end, the book was a lot better than the movie. The book was written in 2000 and the movie was published 4 years later in 2004. I believe the movie was trying to be more modernized than the book had originally been. Looking back, there were not any major historical events that made this movie stand out because of the time in which the book or movie was published. I do the believe the movie adapted to be more for the younger generation rather than the book which seemed to be more for the older generation. The book seemed more realistic because it seemed as if they just happened to finally be together until they died where as the movie seemed like they were destined to be together. Overall, I think Nicolas Sparks writes about love stories rather than what is happening in the world at the time he is writing!

The adaptation of the movie "Cinderella"

I would definitely choose the movie Cinderella, and this is because during the time is was first told, till now a days, the story has gone through a lot of changes and retold by many other people their way of their version. Not just being retold differently was changing, but also the movies were being shown a little different. The story had similar purposes to it, but the actions and items that they used now aways werent the same as the items that they told in a story decades ago. The first version of Cinderella, was about a servant girl who had lost her family and was now in the hands of her step mother who didnt love her. Therefore, made her work as a servant in order to keep her in the house of their family. She long to find true love and be taking away from the house and from her mean step mother and step sisters. She got soon found help from a fairy god mother who helped her with magic and took her to the ball where she met the prince. She was to leave at midnight and while she ran back, she lost her glass slipper. This slipper was the key for the prince to find her again by making every charming gir in the land where the slipper. And whoever fit the slipper, was Cinderella. The movie version now is played by Hilary Duff. Where the whole setting changes and characters. Made especially for teen. She lost her dad in an earthquake and was left to be her step mother and her two step sisters. She went to high school where she liked the most popular boy in school and there was a dance that she couldnt attend because her stepmother had her working at her restaurant with the help of her fellow co workers, she was able to get a dress and sneaked to dance. Where she met the boy of her dreams. She was to leave as soon as she can because of her step mother checking up on her at the restaurant. She lost her cellphone. Now, in this movie, the cell phone is the key to finding cinderella again, in this case the girl was name Sam. Of ocurse the boy didnt tell anyone what the girl lost, because it would be obvious that every girl would say they lost the cell phone. And of course the directer changed the item, because if it was a shoe of a certain size, there is going to be more than one girl with a certain size shoe than just one girl he met. So it seems like, over the years the story has been adapted the best way it can by the way the audience is now and the way movies are now a days made, up to date. Monarchy arent around as much now aways but connected them to a real life situation for teens is more up to date. This text or story is being made and remade over time as the culture change. That way we can connect to it better.

The adaptation of the movie "Cinderella

Cinderella

An adaption of "Cinderella" are the movies "A Cinderella Story" and "Another Cinderella Story". The first movie is different than the original story because it's a modern day version set in a high school. Some major differences would be that in this movie, Sam works for her step mom in a diner instead of a house. Also, she doesn't loose a glass slipper, but instead losses her cell phone. In the second movie, Mary is forced to work for an awful woman because her mom left her. Mary's friend hires a cleaning service in order for Mary to go to the ball. She dances with her version of prince charming, but has to be home by midnight and runs out, loosing her iPod. These movies both are adaptations of the original story that is a favorite childhood tale of mine.

Journal 3

Describe one your favorite film adaptations (like we did with The Scarlet Letter and Easy A). What did the adaptation change? What did it keep? Why? What issues are raised, are how do they relate to the specific time, audience, or culture? What does this tell you about the importance of reading a text with its context in mind?
For my film i chose the movie, Oceans Eleven.  This movie was first made in the 60's by Lewis Miletsone, later to be re-done by Steven Soderbergh.  This adaptation made the movie in my perception better.  It was much easier to follow what was happening in the movie, much clearer plot, and actors that i have actually heard of.  The new movie kept pretty much the same story line of the movie, with the exception of some details that just could not have been incorporated in a movie that early in time.  The new version of this movie related to the new "culture" very well.  It incorporated tons of actions packed scenes, but incorporated the "new" cultures views perfectly.  We have changed to much more industrialized culture, and with the use of electronics, and state of the art technology allowed this film to captivate your attention.  This opens my eyes up to how texts are viewed.  Looking back at older texts or movies, we must keep in mind that much industrialization had not yet happened, and the times of the world were much different.  Same movie years later has the same identity behind it.  Still the same movie, just inherited differently due to what is happening in the world in this time period.  

Journal 3

The film adaptation I chose to look at was, "The Last Song." This movie was originally a book, and turned into a movie. Like many novels turned into films, parts were rearranged and appeared differently then the book itself. In the book, it was of course more detailed then the movie and in the movie, different scenes were added in that did not occur in the book. The book was of course better than the movie. This film adaptation for the most part copied the book leaving out some minor details, but was a good view of what the book was like.

ENG 112 (DE): Cinderella has many versions starting from 1630's....

One film adaptation that comes to mind is one that a lot of people fail to realize actually is a film adaptation of literature. This movie is Disney's The Lion King. A lot of people fail to realize that this movie was actually based on the Shakespearean tragedy Hamlet. This movie holds near and dear to me because it made the Shakespearean language of Hamlet more understandable when I read it for the first time. When I had this epiphany pertaining to The Lion King's direct coorelation to Hamlet, it filled in a lot of the blanks that the Shakespearean dialect created when reading Hamlet as an eighth grader.

Cinderella has many versions starting from 1630's. Each movie is adapted to the typical life of the time. The characters appearances change, as well as what they wear and how they talk. However, the things that stay the same are the plots and story lines of the movie. The magical glass slipper, the prince searching for a princess and the evil step mother and sisters are still present. The earlier movies have the prince wanting to court Cinderella, and in the newer Cinderella they have the prince just sweeping her away and living happily ever after. The way that Cinderella is chased changes according to how guys chase girls at the time. It is important to see that the story is there, but the movie is remade to fit in with the social norms of the current time period.

Journal 3

When I think of film adaptations from literature, the movie Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? comes to mind. This movie is based on Homer's book The Odyssey, written during the times of Ancient Greece. Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? parallels The Odyssey's plot, but specific aspects of the events have been changed to fit the film's 1937 Great Depression setting and twenty-first century audience (the movie was produced in 2000). The main character in Homer's book is a hero named Odysseus, while the film's "hero" is Ulysses.

The parallels of these two movies demonstrate how the plot of the movie has been changed to please a modern audience. An important parallel is the "sirens" that both Odysseus and Ulysses face. Odysseus faces real sirens (bird-like creatures that live in the water and seduce sailors) while Ulysses faces "sirens" that are actually beautiful women singing and seducing him. This is important because in Ancient Greece, people actually believed in creatures like the sirens, so it was not odd to have them in the story. However, Oh Brother Where Art Thou? came out in 2000, when people no longer believe sirens exist.

Another example of how the movie's content has been modified is the cyclops that Odysseys and Ulysses run into. The cyclops is a hardship that both Odysseus and his companions and Ulysses and his companions must overcome. On the contrary, Ulysses and his friends encounter a "cyclops" that is really a one-eyed man. Odysseus ends up torching the cyclops's eye and a burning cross falls on the one eyed man in Ulysses's story. However, the situation of the cyclops is once again important in showing how the details of the story-line have changed for the audience.

The most important modification of content, however, might be the persona of the main character. Odysseus is viewed as a "hero" and his heroism is known throughout the book. However, Ulysses' heroism is not obvious and he is never referred to as a hero. In fact, he makes many mistakes and creates many enemies on his journey, often seeming like the opposite of a hero. In Ancient Greece, it was normal to have the hero figure, while in more modern times, the hero character is very unrealistic.

All of these changes tell me that is is extremely important to remember a text's context. Often, something that does not make sense becomes clear when the beliefs of the people the time period are understood. For example, the sirens, the cyclops, and the hero identity.

Journal 3

Describe one your favorite film adaptations (like we did with The Scarlet Letter and Easy A). What did the adaptation change? What did it keep? Why? What issues are raised, are how do they relate to the specific time, audience, or culture? What does this tell you about the importance of reading a text with its context in mind?

Due: Tuesday, Feb 8