IRP-Film Blog

"Stand by Me" v. "The Body"

1.Plot: The plot of the movie was almost the exact as the plot of the book. The movie did a very good job as making the story come to life. For example, it very effectively brought out the sense of fear and anticipation when Gordie is faced with the train on the bridge. Actually, I felt more adrenaline and suspense when actually seeing it in the movie. A major difference that arose was the relationship between Denny and Gordie. In the book, Denny was "hardly more than an aquaintance"(page 298). In contrast, the movie showed the flashback of Gordie with Denny at the table and the giving of his hat. This showed that the two had a close bond and gave a sense of saddness for Gordie. This is because he is shown missing and reminiscing these times with his brother. As a result of this difference, the audience seemed to feel more sympathy towards Gordie because he was a lot more somber and sad about his brother's death. The book has scenes that the movie does not, such as Gordie's story called Stud City. Also, the movie has some scenes that the book does not, such as the mailbox baseball and Vern bringing the comb. These scenes make the movie have some comic relief almost. Lastly, the ending is not the same as the ending in the book. In the book, all of the friends die, but in the movie only Chris does. Also, it omits the part about Ace and his gang beating up all of the friends. These do not really impact the meaning of the story, but they do shift the feelings at the end of the movie. Personally, I felt that I was more sad at the end of the book than the end of the movie because of these facts and events in the end.
2. Point of View: I think that the movie was right on track with the story in this aspect. The movie was in first person according to Gordie. A difference I saw was Gordie as a narrator, though. In the movie, he really talked about himself the most. In the book, there is more about everyone else. Gordie is the main focus because he tells the story, but at the same time he is not because the spotlight is shared with Chris. For example, in the book Chris is the one who pulls the gun on Ace and his friends(page 414), and Chris is the one who is then beat up a lot worse than the other boys by Ace's gang(page 431). I think that this shows that in the book Gordie is more of an observer and giving all of the facts. In the book, he is in with everything, and he is giving the account from which he experienced. The director wanted the focus to be on Gordie, so he made Gordie have the gun at the end. The fight was more involving Gordie than Chris. I looked up why the director, Rob Reiner, did this, and it said he identified more with Gordie; therfore, he focused in on Gordie. In an interview with CBS, he said that "a lot of the feelings that Gordie was having were things that I had when I was young, growing up...It was also very reflective of my sensibility". Lastly, the adult Gordie seen in the beginning and end of the movie are not in the book.
3. Characterization: The charecterization between the movie and book were almost the exact same. I think that the movie did an amazing job at bringing the characters to life. For example, Teddy is effectively portrayed as "crazy" (page 296), especially during the scene of wanting to 'train dodge'. Also, Chris is continually shown "making peace" (page 435) in the movie just as he had been described in the book. In addition, characters such as Ace, Milo, and Gordie's parents were portrayed exactly how the book described them as. However, there were some differences that were seen though. In the movie, Chris pulls Teddy from the train tracks, but the book shows Gordie as the one who does this (page 333). I think that this shows that the movie showed Chris as more of the leader, but the book shows both Gordie and Chris as leaders. It is not just Chris who looks out after his friends. Also, the character of Mr. Dusset (page 343-344) is completely different in the movie. In the movie, he is more sympathetic towards Gordie, but in the book he tries to rip Gordie off. By doing this in the book, Mr. Dusset causes Gordie to react and go off on Mr. Dusset. The omission of this scene as a result of the change in character of Mr. Dusset causes the character of Gordie to be sympathized more. He does not seem like a rebel child. Instead, I think it emphasizes his saddness for the loss of his brother. Lastly, the character of Denny is seen as different through the flashbacks in the movie. In the book, Gordie sees Denny in "cynical awe"(page 312)and was not as sad about his death. Rather, he was haunted by Denny' death, shown through the dream of Denny saying "it should have been you, Gordon"(page 313). In the movie, Gordie sees Denny as a role model and had a very close bond with him. He is very sad by the death of him, which is shown through a few scenes of crying over his death.
4. Setting: The setting of the movie and book is not exactly the same. The movie was set in 1959, but the book was set in 1960. This did not seem very important, so I looked it up and a website said that it was probably to emphasize the "nostagia value". This would be because of the adult Gordie being present in the movie. Although this is true, I think that the life of the kids during this time period was seen in the same way in both the movie and the book. The one year did not seem to make that much of a difference. Lastly, the movie was set in Oregon while the book was set in "Maine" (page 300). I read on one website that "most of Stephen King's books" were set in Maine, so I am not sure why this was changed for the movie. Even though the state was changed, the city, Castle Rock, remains the same.
5. Theme: The theme of "The Body" is definitely seen in the "Stand by Me". Friendship is the major part of both works. The book shows the importance of Gordie's friendships when he says "I've never had any friends like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, did you?" (page 341). The movie adds to this theme by showing how close the friends really were. In the movie, Gordie and Chris each share a time when they cry with each other. I was almost shocked because people never really think about boys crying like this to each other. The support and love that each of them share for each other really proved that their friendship was more than just playing and hanging out. There was emotional trust and the ability to open up and share thier true feelings with each other. Other events in the movie that support the overall value of friendship are the boys singing the theme song for "Have Gun-Will Travel", pinky swearing, and doing 'two for flinching'. Lastly, the added scene in the end of the movie involving adult Gordie, his son, and his son's friend shows the timelessness of friendship. Gordie had great friends, and he seems to connect with his son and reminisce when he sees his son with his friend. I think that this connection strengthens the theme of growing up as well because it shows how Gordie sees friendship now that he is older. I think the ending of the movie shows that the older Gordie values and finds happiness in both his past friendship and in the friendship his son has.