Yes, This Will Be On the Test

Writing, Reading, Laughing

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

A is for ADAPTATIONS


Welcome to Yes, This Will Be On the Test.
Waving to visitors, new followers, and fellow A to Z participants. I’m sending virtual hugs to you all for taking a moment to stop by.

I’ll be sharing my “take-aways.” All those snigglets, golden nuggets, and lessons learned from other creative sources.

Since I’m from southern stock on my mother’s side, and Irish on my father’s just like Scarlett O’Hara, it was a requirement to for me to read 


the summer after fifth grade.


I time traveled with Scarlett while my kin (yes, the southern ones) took me to Civil War battlefields and even treated me to a ride down the river on an authentic paddle wheeler.

The story seeped into every cell of my body.

And then I saw the movie.


 Oh, my God. They vaporized two of Scarlett’s children among other horrifying discrepancies affronting my eleven-year-old mind.

But I LOVED the movie every bit as much as the book.

Was I a Yankee traitor?

Thankfully no.

After getting over my pre-adolescent righteous indignation, I gave myself permission to love them both.

Hey, Red Riding Hood wears a different cloak each time her story is retold in print, song, tv, theatre, or the movies, but her adventure is still a great ride.

TAKE AWAY:
I have learned to appreciate and celebrate adaptations of stories I love. I’m a student of the choices made by each new storyteller when a tale jumps mediums. "Why" questions fill my brain and I analyze like crazy. Do I always agree? Heck no, but I wonder and learn from the new spin.

Is there an adaptation you’ve loved?
Is there one that has made your blood boil?


FUN FACT: I’m named after Leslie Howard 
who played Ashley Wilkes in
GONE WITH THE WIND.

11 comments:

  1. Welcome Leslie to A to Z! Cool that you are named after a character. Me, I'm just plain Steve.

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  2. Excellent. Also, should I stop expecting there to actually be a test at some point?

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  3. I fidgeted in Gone with the Wind. "How long can a movie be," I kept thinking. And how great that you were named after Leslie Howard.

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  4. It's weird, but as I get older, I tend to enjoy watching a movie after reading the book less and less. When I was young, it seemed the movie brought the movie to life. Now, I just feel like, "I already know what's going to happen" when I watch the movie. Although they say they've changed the last half of Gone Girl dramatically, so maybe I'll give that one a try!

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  5. I can't stand movie adaptations. The Harry Potter movies pissed me off. The first Hunger Games movie upset me because it wasn't close enough to the book. I used to love them as a child. More and more though I find that they don't fit into what I think is the spirit of the book.

    (Came for the A to Z challenge.)

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  6. Hi Leslie, I loved gone with the wind (the movie), never read the book, and I have a feeling that I should rectify that at some stage. When characters change, in movies or adaptations, I like to think that it's another universe, otherwise, I end up yelling at the screen and causing quite a scene lol. Loved your post, well done on your first A to Z of 2014

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  7. I loved the adaptation for The Help. So much was left on the cutting room floor, but still, I thought they did a great job bringing that story to life. I've never read Gone With the Wind, so I didn't know they evaporated two children! Thanks for the visuals :)

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  8. Hello, fellow A to Z-er! I felt I should tell you that I once met Butterfly McQueen. I was a student at the City College of New York, and one day everyone was buzzing about someone walking across campus, and yes, it was Butterfly herself! I never found out what she was doing there that day, but she was lovely, and she gave me her autograph. She still had That Voice, but she didn't say a word about birthing babies. Good luck with the Challenge!

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  9. Hey, Just Plain Steve - you're awesome Steve to me for stopping by! Thanks

    Hi there, Tony. Nice to connect with you again. I'm all about the pop quiz - so beware.

    Hi Lee, Thank goodness GWTW has an intermission!

    Hey, Stephanie - OMG there's a GONE GIRL movie in the works? I'm so in. I finished it not long ago. What a ride!

    Hi A.M. - I have to say the Beautiful Creatures movie threw me the first time I saw it. I went back to give it a second change and really got into it. Yep, bought the blu-ray.

    Howdy Wicked Writer - love your name. I've had a few near popcorn throwing moments myself, but since I used to work in a movie theatre, I know how that butter leaves a stain.

    Agree-agree-agree, Jules on The Help.

    Hello back, Susan. OMG - I have Butterfly McQueen envy. What a cool story. Good challenge juju back atcha.

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  10. When I heard that The Book Thief was coming out on the screen, I was disappointed!
    I don't know how on earth it's possible to translate the written voice/style to the screen...?
    Well, I'm not a movie person so there's no chance of me having to find out... (a friend saw the movie and was upset... that says it all...)
    Writer In Transit

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