Why I Will Never View “The Fault in Our Stars” Movie
A couple of weeks ago, my daughter came into my bedroom and dropped a book on my bed. It was a book she’d just finished reading, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. She told me, “You have to read this. You will love it.” I took the book and added it to the large pile of “to be read” books beside my bed.
I finished reading Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho on my first day of fall break, which lasted all last week. (Yay!) As I sifted through my TBR pile for a book to read next, I remembered my daughter telling me that I would love The Fault in Our Stars. So, that’s the book I chose.
And she was right. I love the book. It’s a tear jerker, but more than that, the book provides some very honest insight into the mind of a person who is battling a terminal illness.
From the very beginning, I have created a very real picture of how the main characters, Gus and Hazel are. I know them like my daughter knew me enough to suggest I read the book. That’s why I don’t want to see the movie.
The book is always much better than the movie because movie directors shatter the image we create in our minds as we read. And, we always prefer the images we create in our minds. That’s why people remain in situations long after they should, but that’s another topic for another time. I’m comfortable with the images I’ve created of Hazel and Gus. There is not an actor alive who would be able to pull off Gus’ quirkiness or Hazel’s vulnerability. They are characters I truly love and value. As they are. In my mind.
There’s a famous quote that says you have to let go of the life you’ve created in your mind to enjoy the one that’s actually unfolding for you. Or something like that. Anyway, I think you get the gist of what I mean. Sometimes the image we carry in our mind of the way things should be can cause us to ruin what we have. In the case of books though, that’s never the case.
I know that if I see the movie, the story will be ruined for me. Hazel won’t appear quite fragile enough on the movie screen because the movie directors are aiming for a different audience than John Green was when he wrote the story. And Gus’ quirks, I’m sure, won’t seem so quirky on the big screen. (Who else will be able to hold an unlit cigarette between their lips and express the metaphorical significance of not allowing the cancer stick to have the power over him?) I’m afriad to lose the image I have in my mind of two people who have become very important to me.
I know the danger of watching a movie after reading the book because I watched the movie “The Color Purple.” I can recite lines from that movie on demand.
“You sholl is ugly.”
“You told Harpo to beat me!”
“Girl child it ain’t safe in a family of men.”
“See daddy, sinners have soul too.”
“Until you do right by me, everything you even think about gonna fail.”
I could go on and on. Because I love that movie. The problem is I saw the movie before I had a chance to read the book. So, every time I have sat down to read the book, I have had difficulty getting started. I already have a cast of characters in my mind. And I’ll never be able to shake those cinematic images from my mind, images I carry with me even now. I mean, come on, who can forget, Oprah Winfrey storming through the corn field and confronting Whoopi Goldberg. “You told Harpo to beat me!” The anger and confusion coloring her features, so palpable, the viewers couldn’t help but feel what she was feeling.
Maybe one day I’ll be able to let go of the images I have in my head of the way the characters should be (because of what I saw in the movie), but right now, I still love the movie too much to ruin it by reading the book. Because I’m more than certain there will be a difference. And I don’t know that I’m ready to live with that difference yet.
So, no, I will not be viewing the movie, “The Fault in Our Stars.” Instead, it’ll become one of those books I pull out again and again to re-read in its entirety or just those parts that are significant to me.
Happy reading and writing peeps!
Peace & Love,
Rosalind
