Of Mice and Men: The Movie

Prompt:  In the film, the director shows us “the incident in Weed” differently from how we find out in the book. What’s different? Why do you think he chose to do it that way? How does it change the story? The book begins with the “stage” set by the pond. In the film, we see George on a train first. Why would the director do this? What is the director telling us about George’s life? What do you think of the director’s choice of Sharilynn Fenn to play Curley’s wife? Does she look the way you imagined her in the book? Whom would you have chosen? What are your general thoughts, feelings, reactions of Of Mice and Men? What had the most profound impact on you or your understanding of the novella? Who would you recommend this book to and why?

     The difference in the book and the movie is the book they tell about the incident through small keyholes. Until, we get to Slim and George's conversation on page 41, where George confides into Slim about the 'Weed incident'. As George accidentally slips up saying, "like what happened in Weed-" In the movie however, you see the girl in Weed in the beginning of the movie running from Lennie. But, Gary Sinse keeps the same of George confiding into Slim. I think he chose to do it this way because, if he was not to have the girl running in the beginning, the audience who may or may not have read the book could easily get confused. It changes the story because, you can see first hand what they experienced running from. In the book, you can only visualize the guys in a pond. 

     I think Gary Sinse had the book start on a train, because maybe that’s all George has for his life. In the beginning of the movie and at the end of the movie, George is on the train. I think, like I said before, that's all Steinbeck and Sinse had planned for George's life. A continuous circle of working, farms, and trains. In the book, they are by the slough. I think Steinbeck did this instead of having George and Lennie on a train because, it shows George's other side of him. Yes, there is the side of George that constantly works. But, there is the other side of him that cares about Lennie. The side that he would run from his job and jump on a train, just to make sure Lennie wouldn't go to jail. A side that he would kill Lennie out of mercy, just so Curley wouldn't shoot him. The book shows the side of George that cares about Lennie and his friendship more than a cathouse or hanging with the guys. The movie shows a side of George that constantly has to run away because of Lennie's wrongs. 

     I think the producer of the movie picked Sharilynn Fenn as Curley's wife because; she is a lot like how they described her in the book. She had "...full, rouged lips..." and "her hair hung in little rolled clusters...” Sharilynn Fenn was fit to play Curley's Wife. She was pretty like Lennie, and Candy described her as, and she had nasally, brittle, and soft voice. All adjectives Steinbeck uses to describe her voice. She looks almost exactly like I described her. I imagined her with longer hair, and light brown colored hair. I would have chose Tiffani Amber Thiessen to play Curley's Wife. It's funny because, they resemble each other a lot. Although she doesn't have corkscrew curls. She just has wavy hair. 

     I honestly didn't like the movie as much as I expected. I guess the saying is right, the book(s) is better than the movie(s). I didn't like how they ended the movie, especially with how George shot Lennie mid-sentence. I liked how in the book, George waited for him to finish his sentence and dreams, and let him die while daydreaming. I really liked the book though, and I would read it again, even if it were not for school. I would recommend this book to anyone, well anyone above 7th grade that has the mind ability to understand each character's situation. Because, if you gave a 2nd grader the book, they would probably laugh or say, "ooh bad words!" at each time they said the N-word or B-word. Also, two; they probably don't know the difference of the Holocaust and the Dust Bowl. 

     The most profound impact throughout the book would probably be, Lennie dying. It had the hardest impact because; I didn't really predict or foreshadow that happening. I honestly thought they would get the farm/ranch and will end happily ever after. Then again, Lennie just can't stay out of trouble. However, Lennie doesn’t really get in trouble on purpose. So, it's a lose-lose situation at the end. If George had shot Lennie, Curley would have killed him in a slow and painful way. 

~<- Is Tiffani Amber Thiessen (Saved By The Bell), and -> is Curley's Wife~