A Wrinkle in Time and the writer's imagination

[mariness]

So I finally got around to watching all of the Disney adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time, one of my favorite childhood books. The film had its good moments, and its horrific moments (most of the last twenty minutes fitting squarely into the "horrific" moments category and moving towards the "agonizing" moments category) and bits that I could imagine L

Comments

[_val_]

Once again the Disney movies company destroys my childhood whilst remaking it into their image by having such awesome theme parks...

DAMN YOU DISNEY! YOU TWO-FOLD DEMON!

[mariness]

Yeah, this is not precisely the vision I had from the book either :(

[norda]

I've got a writer living in my attic who doesn't think of adaptation into other media, even though she's the child of the media age.

My best friend is definitely trapped by the pervasiveness of the visual arts into literary fiction, to the point where he does actually storyboard projects before writing them.

As far as that particular Disney production goes, I turned it off after ten minutes because Meg didn't wear glasses, nor did her father. If glasses showed up later in the prodiction, then I've sold it short, but such a missing-of-the-point on the part of the filmmakers galled me beyond bearing.

A Meg Murry who does not wear glasses is like an Underdog who doesn't rhyme, or a Will Stanton who's a California surfer boi.

[mariness]

True though your observation about Meg is, I think a much greater problem with the characterization occurs later in the film, when Meg hears the three "witches" squabbling about her and her abilities -- and Mrs. Who and Mrs. Whatsit have to try to convince Mrs. Which that humans are worthwhile. It's....it's awful, not helped when Mrs. Which later tells Meg that she has learned much from Meg, a statement which pretty much wipes Mrs. Which of her Mrs. Which like qualities.

[mariness]

Oh, and I don't think you sold the production short.

I didn't realize myself just how much of the story focused on mental things which just could not be done on film -- and were replaced with things that should not be done on film.

[anaisis]

Wow. I'm glad I didn't watch it. Meg without glasses? That was a part of her. Mrs. Which not thinking humans are worth it? They were Gaurdian angels! I always thought that that would imply you like humans. I guess I never thought about how it would translate into film. I don't think you could put Wind in the Door at all in film.

[mariness]

Mrs. Witch kept saying that humans were too primitive, and then at the end she said that Meg had taught her wisdom and taught her more about humans. It made me cringe, honestly.

I always from the book got the impression that Mrs. Witch was beyond worrying about what humans thought or didn't think about her, and that she was unquestionably benevolent.