I went to see the \"Fifty Shades of Grey\" movie and left feeling disappointed and decidedly unmoved. \u00a0It was well-filmed, well-written and well-acted, but it didn't do justice to the book or its readers. Why? \u00a0Come on - if you saw the movie then you know the answer. There was no sizzle, no spark - no chemistry - between Christian and Ana. And the sizzle sells the story. Without that spark, the film fell flat.<\/p>\n
I think some of that and perhaps a lot of it is due to the control the book's author insisted upon exercising over casting. \u00a0Rumors are rampant that the author is demanding even more control over the sequels. \u00a0If she gets it, then there is no point in making the films. And that's true even if Erika Mitchell (E.L. James) has a background as a film assistant and a television executive. \u00a0Even if the author has a background directing or producing movies, she must step aside from her book's movie.<\/p>\n
A story belongs to the writer when it lives only on the hard drive of the writer's computer. \u00a0As soon as it leaves that safe, secluded nest, a story belongs to the readers - or its movie producer, director, screen-writer and actors. If the author doesn't let it go then it won't grow into something that lives, breathes and inspires. The book will be like the child who never leaves home.<\/p>\n
In casting the movie, particularly, the author should not - absolutely should not - be involved. \u00a0A writer developed a vision of her characters that helped her tell their story. \u00a0Because her vision was so strong, she believes her readers saw the characters in the same way. \u00a0The author believes that if the characters appear in any way other than the way she wrote them then the story will not work. \u00a0The author convinces herself that she owes it to her readers to be sure that any film adaptation will feature only actors who look the part. The author is lying to herself, of course. \u00a0Every reader sees the story differently, and a film producer, director and script-writer will have their own vision. That's the story they must tell -- not the one written in black and white by an author. The author's story inspires the movie, but it can not confine the movie.<\/p>\n
It never mattered that the actors playing Christian and Ana looked the part because Hollywood is like a fairy godmother. \u00a0It can turn a black actor white, a white actor black, and a human into an alien. \u00a0It can surely turn blond, red-headed, or black-haired actors into people who look like Christian and Ana. But Cinderella's fairy godmother could do more than dress her for the part, \u00a0and Hollywood can do no more than turn out players ready for the play. \u00a0Chemistry can't be created. \u00a0All the amazing special effects in the film-maker's arsenal can't create the special human magic that either occurs or it doesn't.<\/p>\n
In \"Fifty Shades of Grey\" - the movie - the magic spell was never cast because it never existed between the actors. People who watched the movie without having read the books were left wondering one thing: \u00a0What kind of idiot female would dance to a tune played by a stalker with a God complex? Without the chemistry, the love between the characters never sold the story.<\/p>\n
When an author's book is made into a movie, \u00a0there is only one place the author belongs -- in the audience. \u00a0The creative team making the movie must be allowed the freedom of spirit and independence of action that must occur to allow them to create a visual depiction that carries a viewer the way a good book carries a reader. \u00a0The creators aren't telling the writer's story. \u00a0They are showing the story that played in their heads, in their hearts, and in their spirits - while they read the writer's tale. \u00a0They are readers with cameras and make-up brushes, with scripts and director's chairs.<\/p>\n
A story told well will create a different picture for every reader, shaded and contoured by the reader's own beliefs and experiences. Most readers can not take that picture and translate it into a film that moves the viewer. Making a movie is a creative act and every member of the team is an artist in his or her field. An author must respect the creative process enough to get out of its way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I went to see the \"Fifty Shades of Grey\" movie and left feeling disappointed and decidedly unmoved. \u00a0It was well-filmed, well-written and well-acted, but it didn't do justice to the book or its readers. Why? \u00a0Come on - if you saw the movie then you know the answer. There was no sizzle, no spark - ...continue reading \"Should The Author Call The Shots For the Movie? Fifty Shades of NO\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quackingalone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4075"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quackingalone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quackingalone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quackingalone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quackingalone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4075"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/quackingalone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4075\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4086,"href":"https:\/\/quackingalone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4075\/revisions\/4086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quackingalone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quackingalone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quackingalone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}