Hollywoodization of Literature
Nolan Loughlin and Matt Viel
Hollywoodization of Literature
• There is several ways in which literature is
Hollywoodized.
• The Evolution of Language
• The book is actually made into a movie.
• A movie portrays the book in a creative way with the
same theme(s).
• TV episodes being based off a theme from a book or a
book itself.
• And several other ways.
Changes of Language in Literature
• The language used in literature has dramatically
changed over the years.
• From Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales to The Writings
of Shakespeare to the writing styles we see in
today’s literature.
• Nowadays we have the simplistic writings of J.K.
Rowling with the Harry Potter books. These
books are very easy to read and comprehend
compared to Shakespeare’s books.
Book to Movie
• When a book is made into a movie the
director usually sticks storyline in the book.
• We often find a lot of things are different.
– Relationships
– Scenes left out from the book
– A scene is different from the book
Relationships
• Relationships in movies are sometimes
different from books. In some books it gives
hints that two characters like each other and
they never get together but in the movies they
put them together.
• The main reason this is done is so the
audience can experience the emotions
between the two as well as feel for the
characters.
Missing or Different Scenes
• Scenes are left out and some are different
from the books because of a few reasons.
There is two main reasons and the first would
be the director wants to go in a different
direction but still end up at the same out
come. The second is the director finds the
scene unnecessary to the ending and the
storyline and it would make the movie to long.
Feelings towards characters
• Movies also help us feel more in tune with the
characters providing us with visuals rather
than creating our own using our own
imagination. By doing this we are able to feel
for and understand the character’s emotions
more.
Movie Portraying a Book
• Some movies have the same storyline, plot
and theme(s) as certain books but are
portrayed in their own creative way.
• They change up the characters, the scenery,
and a few scenes here and there.
• This is done to express the theme(s) and and
meanings to a different audience whether it
be youngsters or adults.
Portrayal Example
• An example of this would be Walt Disney’s The Lion King 2
being a Hollywoodized form of Shakespeare’s Romeo and
Juliet.
• Disney is known for it’s classic animated movies that people
of all ages can enjoy especially the younger kids.
• If a child read or even saw Romeo and Juliet they probably
wouldn’t understand what’s going on in it especially with
the language. The kid would probably understand the
message that The Lion King 2 is trying to portray because
the Disney are aimed at a general audience of children.
• The child wouldn’t realize the two are similar until they
actually read the book.
TV Episodes
• Most TV series only last as long as they do
because they base some of their episodes on
the theme(s) of certain books.
• This is pretty much the same thing as doing it
for movies. It still makes us feel for the
characters but at the same time the characters
learn a new life lesson that will help them
develop as the series goes on.
Example
• An example of this would be Boy Meets World.
• A lot of their episodes are based off the theme of
a book to help develop the story and characters.
• The book the episode is based on, if it is at all, is
usually the book they are assigned to read for
class. Making it blatantly obvious to the audience,
if they’ve read the book, and also develop the
characters because by the end of the episode
they realize that they’ve learned a new life
lesson.
Comic Books and Graphic Novels
• Modernizing it/making the films more
realistic.
• Selling the actors.
• Selling the special effects of the film.
• Changing plot details of the original story in an
attempt to make it more appealing to the
modern audience.
Modernizing/Making It Realistic
Selling The Actors
Selling The Special Effects
Changing Plot Details/Characters
Philosophy
• Not only have novels and comic books been
Hollywoodized but so have people’s written
philosophies.
• Every movie has some kind of philosophy behind
it. Whether it tie into the theme or one of the
characters just views something a different.
• This helps develop the story and keeps the
audience thinking on whether who is right.
• It also intrigues the audience to see what
direction it is going in.
Philosophy Example
• For example Arthur Schopenhauer, a German
Philosopher, believes that there is nothing
stronger in the world than “the will”. By “the
will” he is referring to the will to live.
• In the new movie 127 Hours it is about the will
to live. A mountain climber get’s stuck
between two cliffs and has to do what ever he
can to survive.