movie vs. book scenes

[Nittanylizard]

Are there any scenes in the movie that make you have to read that section of the book again to get a feel for the original tone when writing a fic?

For me, a couple of the scenes, while they were done really well in the movie and I completely appreciate them for what they were, diverge from what was actually described in the book; so if I'm writing a fic that involves something from these scenes (even if its just the mood of the scene, or a description of a character), I need to go back and try reading the book without picturing the movie at all.

1. The beginning scene in the Complete Novel edition of the movie.
I think FFC did a great job of keeping things moving for this scene, since it is a movie, but after picturing it from the book for so many years, it kind of zoomed by. It seemed like things happened so fast, Ponyboy wasn't really too shaken up by getting jumped, and Darry didn't sound as angry as I expected. Even the actual mugging was much faster than in the book (not too much small talk or tension, they just got him down, cut him, and got chased away). The other thing was that Ponyboy had this sarcastic edge to him (re: pushing Two-Bit's car), which was funny and I think had a little bit of CT bubbling through ;D, but again, changed the mood from what was in the book.

2. Johnny's reaction after killing Bob.
I think Ralph Macchio did a fantastic job of looking like he was trying to keep himself under control because he just killed somebody. I mean, the scene is one of my favorites, with him shaking and saying the same things over and over and glancing around while burying the knife. When you read the scene in the book, though, Ponyboy describes Johnny as completely calm and in control, whereas he himself verges on hysteria. I have a feeling this scene in the movie is one of the ones that makes people write Johnny as much more fragile than he comes across in the book.

It's a movie, so naturally they have to change some things around to give you the feel of the scene without the benefit of the narrator. But I was just wondering what scenes anyone else finds that they need to re-read when they are trying to keep the characters in character without relying on the actors' and director's interpretations of the characters.

[Keira]

I don't know if I ever had that same thing happen, where I feel I have to reread it, but I have noticed a few inconsistencies, or what feel like inconsistencies.

For example, in the movie, Johnny was more often and a little more sarcastic than in the book. In the book he's so quite we often times forget he even exists, but his presence is definitely there in the movie.

Another thing, which isn't really a scene, but an over all observation that EVERYONE has made, is Two-Bit's so-called obsession with Mickey Mouse in the movie. It's cute and fun, but I always want to yell at the TV, "No! Two-Bit isn't obsessed with Mickey Mouse! Soda "HAD" a horse named Mickey Mouse!" That's one of the things I have a hard time over coming when reading fanfictions... the movie-isms get to me. Badly.

[theinsider]

Oh, I loved the Mickey Mouse thing! Two-Bit wasn't a huge character in the movie, so he just really needed that edge to show how... well... weird he was. I just loved that scene after Windrixville where Ponyboy's making breakfast and someone goes, "Hey, Two-Bit, Mickey's on TV!" and Two-Bit takes his beer and chocolate cake and starts watching TV... I'm rambling again, aren't I?
Anyway, there were a couple scenes that I went back and re-read, mostly because I sorta went, "Huh? That's not right." and went to go check up on it in the book.

[Stone Orchid]

I've never seen the movie ... *waits for screams of outrage* I'm afraid seeing it and the actors would color my perception of the canon characters since they don't resemble each other according to what I've heard.

I write according to the book and only the book, so I've managed to keep myself detached from the movie altogether.

[fosterchild]

Not having seen the movie can be refreshing, I suppose. I can separate the movie events from the book ... characters, sometimes not so much. It didn't help, either that my first copy of the book was the movie cover. I remember while reading the guys' descriptions, looking at the cover! lol

I think (and it could be since I like writing him) I have a good picture in my head of Tim and it's not exactly any of the movie Tims.

[Keira]

Agreed. I'm lucky, in that I don't see the actors as the characters, but it can get confusing sometimes if you haven't read the book in a while, or vise versa, and you start to not be able to pick apart what is canon and what's manon (movie-canon).

[murderofcrows]

i haven't read the book in sooo long...years in fact...*does the math*...9 years...*cringes* i read it initially in school and kept checking the book out of the school library but after we moved, i didn't have access to it...i kept looking for it on and off, unsuccessfully, and tonight i finally ordered it off of amazon. i can't wait till it gets here! *squeals*

i originally saw the original version of the film before the complete novel version, and i LOVE the complete novel version...much, much better in general, to me the original version seemed...i dunno...a little rushed? maybe because it started in the middle of it lol some of the characters were vastly different from what i had pictured [like dally and a little bit of ponyboy] but a few [like johnny] were dead on . to me, the movie wasn't better or worse...just different. i viewed it the same way i viewed lord of the rings: it's basically the work of a fan, and it's not going to be exact, it's going to be their own vision of it. [one of my friends, who is a movie-maker - not big time, still in college, but still very knowledgeable - once made a huge rant on how people shouldn't expect movies to be exactly like books and should just appreciate them for what they are]

whoah i rambled a bit, there!

btw, i noticed the other day that the outsiders was coming on tv [can't remember what channel] and nothing else was on so i flipped it over...and it wasn't the complete novel version! i'm like how many years has the complete novel version been out?? get a move on, people! lol oh well

[murderofcrows]

ok, now that i've reread the book again, i have this to say [for now] about the beginning sequence in the complete novel version...

yeah, it goes by kinda fast, and the book seems like it's slower, but it's not really, not if you look at the actual time that goes by in the book. susie sets a lot of things up, and explains things, and describes things that, in a movie, you just see visually. timewise, i think it was pretty faithful to the book, because when you start actually breaking it down, you realize that it did happen pretty fast [after all, socs wouldn't waste time while jumping someone out of their own turf, that would mean more time for other greasers to see what's going on and intervene]

[btw, theinsider, sodapop is the one in the movie that says "hey, two-bit, mickey's on tv!" ]

i'm kinda weird i guess in the fact that i can picture the characters as both the book characters and as the movie actors...it's like a page in a book, i can flip between the two of them. sometimes i prefer one to the other, and sometimes they can bleed through to each other, but ultimately they're separated and easily accessible in my mind.

[Tensleep]

There is always one part of the movie that I thought complimented the book very well by filling in the gaps, and that was when they were hiding out at the church.

Ponyboy did give us an overview, but the card playing, the night noises, the rabbit hunting...It just brought it to life so much more for me, gave it so much more description and put the picture right in your head. I loved the rabbit scene so much I have added it to Finn.

Aside from that, I have never really had the urge to go and reread the book after it. In my mind, they are completely separate things. I mean, I still cannot see any of the actors as the characters in my head, except Cherry, oddly enough. Diane Lane was pretty close to what I had in my head.

Anyways, babbling...

[murderofcrows]

yeah, diane lane was very close to cherry for me, too...and ralph macchio and emilio estevez were pretty close, too [ralph was actually dead-on, pretty much, for me].

[murderofcrows]

ok, after watching the movie again, today, i have to say there's really only one major thing that bothers me...

darry doesn't hit ponyboy.

'nuff said.

[Maggie Writersblock]

I always thought of Two-Bit as pudgy when I was reading the book. I looked back and I think it said he was tall. Like 6'1"?

What scene kind of bugged me was the actual almost-drowning of Pony. David is supposed to be drowning Pony, but instead it is Randy. There are three guys just standing there watching Ponyboy get killed when they should be kicking the crap out of Johnny. (not like I want them too...)

[Nittanylizard]

Another thing about the fountain scene is that in the book, Johnny and Ponyboy are already next to the fountain when the Socs show up, and they don't get chased. They exchange insults, Bob tells David to give the kid a bath, and Ponyboy wakes up to find Johnny sitting there with the knife.

What I noticed recently, since I was reading over all the scenes involving Bob and wanted to see how a couple were handled in the movie, was that when Bob and Randy show up after the movie to take Cherry and Marcia home, each one is wearing exactly the clothes that the other one was supposed to be wearing. Also, they switched around Bob and Randy's lines some.

[Keira]

I don't know if it ever said for sure what Johnny was doing while Ponyboy was drowning, other than that he killed Bob. He said, "They were going to drown you... they had a blade... they were going to beat me up." That tells me that Johnny wasn't actually being attacked, but that he took a proactive (odd to use that positive term when referencing manslaughter...) approach and did something about it before they could turn on him, like they did 4 months previously.

Not to be nit-picky or anything

[DarryHasAFutureAndI'mInIt]

My two favourite scenes in the book--- were completely botched in the movie.

Favourite part #1: When Ponyboy is in the ambulance. And just going, "Oh, yeah, Johnny's wanted for murder. And Dallas has a record with the fuzz a mile long," all nonchalantly, I just found it very light and kinda funny. None of that in the film adaption whatsoever.

Favourite part #2: When Ponyboy realizes that, Darry really does love him when they're in the hospital and Darry is standing in the doorway silently crying. You lose all the realiztion, and Darry's just standing there smiling at Ponyboy, then Pony flies at him. And then Darry goes, "Oh, boohoo, I thought we lost you....like you we did Mom and Dad....haha, you look funny!"

Sorry if that was classified as rambling, but I have an opinion on everything. And unfortunately, I often choose to share said opinions.