Well let me start by saying I was right. If you have read any of my previous papers you know that I am a firm believer in watching the movie before I read the book. While I am not too fond of reading, this is not why I believe that you should watch the movie first. The reason why, is this: the book is usually better than the movie ever could be. Not for lack of effort but because a movie just can’t convey the same detail and feeling in two hours that a book can in several hundred pages. So if you read the amazing book chances are the movie will suck. Even if everyone thinks it is the best movie of the year. I don’t want to have movies ruined for me; I would rather have a movie improved upon by the book.
`This would have been the case with The Handmaid’s Tale. The movie while not great was not horrible either; that is how I would have viewed it if I had not read the book first. While the overall idea was the same, the way that it was perceived through the movie is drastically different than the book. I assume that they felt the need to liven it up a bit and that is why they made the characters interact with each other considerably more than in the book. The Handmaid’s especially. I couldn’t believe that they didn’t have their wings as in the book and was highly disappointed as a result. Although I guess what is the point when you can almost freely talk to one another. Of course like any movie some things are added and some things are changed. Take Nick for example, he is much older than mid-twenties like the book portrays. He is also much more forward than the quiet polite man in the novel. Offred and Moira as well, they do not know each other from before, Offred helps Moira escape, and Offred also has a name: Kate. The first time that Offred (Kate) goes downstairs to meet the Commander Nick escorts her downstairs; in the book she goes alone.
One thing that truly surprised me was that the doctor had his gloves on. This seemed to be such a defining factor in the book that I didn’t think they would leave it out of the movie. I was also shocked that in the movie they added the scene where Offred goes to the Red Center to check in, record the dates of their ceremony and compare them to the dates of her cycle. I assume they did this to help establish a timeline for the movie. Obviously they had to move things along a little quicker than in the book. This is also why I was not surprised that they shot Luke in the very beginning to get him out of the way. She spent a lot of time in the book wondering and talking about him and their failed escape. So much time that if they would have kept the wonder of him alive they would have had to make a sequel or a prequel depending on which way they told the story just to fit him in. I assume this is also why they rearranged the story into more of a constant timeline than jumping around from memory to memory as if she were telling a story to a friend like in the book.
I could go on and on about all the little details that were changed erased or added to the movie but I figured putting some thought and feeling into the paper was better than making a never ending list of differences. However, a few things that I still cannot get over are as follows: the explosion scene, which I thought wasn’t very necessary except to mention the possibility of murdering the Commander. Also, the way that they hung the handmaid at the Salvaging with the rope that was supposed to be sticky with tar and encircling them. This made no sense to me, and it didn’t add anything to the story. It was just as dramatic in the book. Finally, the last thing that completely drove me nuts about the movie was the fact that she killed the Commander in the end, with a dull knife and in a horrible display of acting no less. I don’t understand why they had to completely ruin the movie at the end. It would have ended with the same feeling and reaction that the book did if they just left it alone.
Like I said, I would rather watch the movie first that way the book doesn’t ruin a decent movie for me. However, I must thank the professor for the change in how things were viewed. Even though I hope to not do it again, I thank her for the experience in frustration and disappointment.
For more on The Handmaid's tale: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Handmaid%27s_Tale
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