Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Changing an Ending

Recently, I came across this article about My Sister's Keeper, my all time favorite novel by Jodi Picoult and now a movie being released in theatres on June 26th. The article in USA Today reports that the ending of the movie will not be the same as the book.

But here's another shock: The movie version, due June 26, has a
different ending. And that's making some Picoult fans unhappy.
The movie, starring Cameron Diaz and Abigail Breslin, tells the story of what happens when a healthy child (Breslin) turns 13 and begins to question the medical procedures she has endured in an effort to stem her older sister's (Sofia Vassilieva) leukemia. Picoult hasn't seen the movie but has read the script: "Having the ending changed would certainly not have been my choice. I wrote the ending very intentionally because I wanted to leave the reader with a certain message. And changing that ending changes that message. However, I am excited to see the movie and to judge it on its strengths."


I think it was a terrible idea to change the ending, but it isn't deterring me from seeing the movie. What do you think? Should they be allowed to change the ending? Are you planning on seeing the movie now that it isn't completely faithful to the book?

Here is the link for the original article: http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2009-03-02-picoult-my-sisters-keeper_n.htm?loc=interstitialskip

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for leaving a comment on my review over at Paperback Frenzy.

My Sister's Keeper is also my favorite Jodi Picoult novel and I can't imagine a different ending. So dissapointing!

Stephanie www.thewrittenword.wordpress.com

Wrighty said...

This was also my first and favorite Picoult novel. I love the twists on her stories. I can imagine another "Hollywood" ending although it wouldn't be a Picoult story that way. It always bothered me when a movie was so different from the story until I read someone's comments about that situation (I can't remember where I read it!) They really made a lot of sense when they said that a book and a movie are two different art forms and tell different stories, especially if the person writing the screenplay isn't the same person who wrote the book. A movie is shorter and has to convey things differently than a book can. There was more of that kind of information that was a good reminder to me that they can't be exactly the same even if they try, although that doesn't happen very often anyway. It still bugs me but not as much anymore.

Alexia said...

I hate that stupid artistic license that Hollywood has. Most of the time that's what makes the book's movie so horrid. I think it's a very dangerous thing to change an ending to one of Jodi Picoult's novels, she writes very purposely with a very exact message and changing the ending could basically ruin the entire story.

I'll still watch it, but I will just assume that I'll hate it :) LOL (And I probably won't pay to see it in the theaters).

NoBS said...

To para-phrase John Grisham: If you don't want them to change your work, don't sell it.