The Giver Lois Lowry

Even if you haven't seen the movie, you've probably read the book. It's a required reading in most schools, and the book itself isn’t a very difficult read. You've also probably heard the complaints when it was adapted into a movie. The characters were aged up, romance was involved, Taylor Swift made an appearance, and the entire movie was a complete waste and you should never watch it. Don’t get me wrong, there were things that bugged me in the movie. When Jonas gained the ability to see color, it would have had a stronger effect if we were able to see the colors one by one as well. The way the giving- and loss- of memories was treated was also not very well done, in my opinion. I did not, however, take issue with the aged up romance. In the book, Jonas is twelve when he begins to develope a romantic interest in his friend, and it is immediately suppressed by a pill. The movie only expanded this point to add drama, having an older Jonas try to share what he learns with the girl he cares about. Since the romance in the movie isn’t overwhelming or long lasting, I don't really take issue. I do, however, take issue with the way the giving of memories were explained. In the book, the process was left mysterious and unexplained because, well, it was impossible. The movie adaptationers (or whatever they are called) should have left it at that. Instead, they created some complicated, still not fully explained, reason as to why Jonas lost the memories of the past the farther he got from the Giver and still didn’t explain how the memories worked. In the book, the farther Jonas got from the community the more memories began to fade, and that was it. There was no complicated barrier or wave of returning memory, they left him one by one. I did love the last scene of the movie, where Meryl Streep and the Giver are arguing about whether people should be free to choose. The sudden wave of memory worked well, even if the logic was faulty.

The main worry I had for the film was that the message of the book would be covered up by romance altered plotlines, but I was pleasantly surprised to find the movie was relatively accurate to the book, and definitely made sure the message shone through;  that without pain we can’t feel happiness, and that people should be able to choose for themselves (and the whole reason for the book, that communism is bad). I would recommend this film to at least try, because I personally found it to be surprisingly good.