Note after finishing the post: This post turned out a whole lot longer than anticipated, but I guess it's not too much of a surprise; there's a ton to talk about. Hopefully someone will find at least parts of it interesting. If not, that's okay, I enjoy having this for my future self.
I read most of the most in one day and then watched the movie later that day, so there were so many thoughts. For the first 20 minutes of the film or so, I stood up literally every few minutes to talk to my mom about thoughts I had on various things I noticed/minor differences etc. (I'm sure this would have continued if I didn't have to wait to finish the movie until later when my mom was asleep)
I wanted to discuss those thoughts here.
The things I talk about are in no particular order.
Oh, also, spoilers, btw. Book is fantastic, so I recommend reading it before you read any further if you haven't already.
Change #1: How memories are transferred.
Book: Person receiving memories takes off their shirt and lies face down with the person giving the memories putting their hands on the receiver's back.
Movie: Grasp forearms to give/receive memories.
I really liked this change in the movie; I think it makes a lot of sense. Especially for the scene where The Giver is in pain and Jonas tries to help (and ends up receiving the memory of war); I feel like it's a lot easier/less awkward and cumbersome for that to happen if Jonas doesn't have to go over to the table and lie down with his shirt off.
I feel like it's just cleaner overall to do the arm grasp thing. I feel like this is the case for both the book and the movie; that the book would have been slightly cleaner overall if the transfer happened through grasping forearms.
Change #2: Fiona
So the two side characters both get a much bigger role in the movie compared to the book; I enjoy these changes for the most part. I think both make a lot of sense for a movie adaptation. Since the book is so short, developing these characters to more fully flesh out the movie makes a lot of sense.
Fiona is a clear romantic interest in the movie; in the book, Jonas has The Stirrings and clearly cares about Fiona, but that's about it.
I'm a sucker for a cute romantic subplot, and I think it's nice for Jonas to be able to share these experiences with someone, but I also think the simplicity in the book does a lot; allows it to focus on the core meanings/feelings of the book. I enjoy both, so it's fun that I can experience one through one medium and the other through a different medium.
Change #3: Asher
As stated, Asher also gets a bigger role in the movie. In the book his job becomes Assistant Activity Director and simply plays a minor supporting role throughout the book, similar to Fiona. In the movie, his job becomes a pilot, and plays a major role.
As Fiona and Jonas grow closer, Asher becomes a little more distant. When Jonas goes to leave the community, Asher tries to stop him. They get in a scramble and Jonas ends up punching his best friend to be able to leave. Later, Asher is told to find Jonas out in Elsewhere and to "lose" him. When Asher finds Jonas, he chooses to trust his friend and let him go.
I enjoy these changes quite a bit because it feels in theme with the rest of the topics the movie/book tackle. I enjoy the addition of the topics of trust and betrayal. Although, once again, it could be stated that the simplicity of the book allows it to focus on it's main core, which is totally fair, I think.
Change #4: High Council Lady
In the book, this character simply doesn't exist. In the movie, she kind of plays the antagonist -- quite an interesting one, I may say. I particularly enjoy the scene near the end where Fiona is about to be released; The Giver and the High Council Lady have a powerful conversation.
Overall, the thing the High Council Lady really does for me is solve an issue I have at the end of the book.
That is, the reason for leaving suddenly: In the book, they just decided that the best time to leave was at the ceremony that is coming up in a couple-few weeks, so I guess they went, "I guess we better rush preparing right this second instead of planning and preparing. There's surely no other time we could leave, so let's just rush prepping for this super important mission." Idk, I just feel there was no real reason for Jonas to leave right that minute. In the end, it was good they were prepping as they learned Gabriel was going to be released, so Jonas took Gabriel along with him. But as far as I recall, Gabriel didn't rush their plans, but just fit in with their already established timeline.
In the movie, the High Council Lady is onto their plans. This gives them a reason to start preparing. They weren't, however, going to activate the plan quite yet until Jonas learned that Gabriel was going to be released; that changed things, and he left immediately. In the book, learning about baby Gabriel being released didn't change things very much. In the movie, it was a big deal, which I like more.
Thoughts on other more minor changes:
- Age Change: In the book you graduate when you're 12. In the movie, you graduate when you're 18. So in the book, Jonas is 11/12ish, and in the movie he's 17/18ish. I think the older age makes a lot of sense -- for various things Jonas does and experiences (both in real life and through the memories), I think having an older/more mature individual makes a lot of sense.
- In the book, when a memory is transferred, the memory leaves whoever is giving it. I think this is interesting, but 100% makes sense to cut in a movie setting.
- In the book, there was no "boundary of memories", but it sounded like the memories just slowly got released as Jonas got further and further away. Making a boundary makes sense for a movie since it sets up for a more suspenseful moment at the end. I don't mind either way since in the book we don't get to see the effects of Jonas leaving anyway, so it being a boundary or not would make little difference in the book, imo.
- Not really a change, but noteworthy regardless: Both the movie and the book's "solution" feel a little contrived, so I don't care for them either way. In the movie, they found a map with the "boundary of memories" and were just like, "oh, if one of us crosses it, all the memories would disperse for sure for sure". In the book, they learned that when Rosemary (the receiver before Jonas) died, the memories she had got dispersed. So I guess they were just like, "Yeah, so if you just get really far away, the memories will disperse for sure for sure."
- Memory super powers are a thing in the book, which I think is a lot of fun, but 100% makes sense to cut in the movie. When I say memory super powers, I'm referencing how when memories of warm places were recalled, the person would physically warm up; this helped Jonas and Gabriel survive in the cold. When memories of cold places were recalled, the person would physically cool down; this helped Jonas and Gabriel not get noticed by the heat-sensing planes.
- Felt like the book did a better job at emphasizing how important it was to fit in. The scene when Jonas is skipped over during the ceremony where everybody gets their jobs is a HUGE deal in the book; he is super duper freaking out -- in the movie he is sorta freaking out, but I feel it glides over it pretty quickly.
- In the book, Jonas ends up receiving the memory of war because he sees The Giver in pain and wants to help him. So Jonas takes the memory of the war away. In the movie, Jonas sees The Giver completely out of it in pain, and receives the memory accidentally. I think both are fine. In the book, they build up the fact that The Giver is in a lot of pain sometimes, so the way it works out in the book makes sense. In the movie, they don't have time to build it up, so the way it works out in the movie makes sense too.
- The book emphasizes much more the loneliness of being the only one with all the memories/feelings/everything. I find the exploration of having someone who knows what you're feeling and related topics quite powerful in the book.
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