Book vs. Movie: The Fault in Our Stars

NOTE: I bet you guys have been waiting for this one, huh?

The Fault in Our Star's movie adaptation came out a couple of weeks ago, and I think you guys have had plenty of time to read the book and see the movie. So *SPOILERS AHEAD*

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I really liked TFIOS. I think it's a heartbreaking, hilarious romance with valid points on love, life and relationships. 

Looking at the movie as a separate entity from the book, I think it's a pretty good movie. The actors were great with their characters (much better than I'd thought they'd be to be completely honest) and it was also a great mix of tears and laughter.

Differences:

- Hazel's friend Kaitlyn is not in the movie

- Hazel and Augustus have different ages than in the book

- Hazel's mom isn't obsessed about the minute holidays (which angered me because I found that really endearing)

- The last line of the book isn't the last line of the movie in one of the most ridiculous and infuriating moves I've ever seen. The whole "okay? okay." thing isn't THAT special and it's borderline cliche now. 

- A lot of scenes and aspects are cut from the book

• Isaac and Hazel playing that voice-controlled game and ordering the character to "Hump the moist cave wall" which is the best scene in the book
• Hazel letting a little girl try her oxygen tank at the airport
• Caroline Mathers (Augustus's ex-girlfriend) is not really mentioned in the movie
• Augustus's parents aren't really in the movie, and they don't have the dinner scene between the Waters and the Lancasters.

Personal things that irked me:

- I thought Van Houten was going to be more slobbish. Not just irritating and bitter.

- Isaac is relegated to the role of comic relief which pisses me off because his character is more than that. 

- Back to Caroline Mathers' role in the story: I think that adding in something more to add more depth to Gus's character would've been nice. I think his (admittedly terrible) relationship with her gave him more of a character back story than just "pretentious love interest that slowly reveals himself to be a sweetheart with cancer" because their story was interest. That being said, I'm glad that they didn't linger with Hazel's obsessive feelings over it, like Facebook-stalking Caroline after her death. 

Gus's Cancer: A Rant

Another thing that angers me is the fact that they cut out a lot of things with Gus's cancer, like the bed wetting and more moments of weakness like the vomiting and the general terribleness. And if they did mention it, it was verbally, not visually. It seemed like Josh Boone (the director) wanted to make this movie as friendly as possible in order for it to do better in the box office because Hazel's dramatic-but-not-gross cancer was heavily featured but Gus's "gross" cancer was hardly touched on. It just irritates me because John Green and the press and the people involved in the movie kept saying how true they kept it true to the book was just not that true. 

Which was better?

The book. Obviously. But, even though I have my complaints, it was probably one of the truer movie adaptations of a book I've seen. They just cut out things for time: not change things around like people have done before in other adaptations I've seen (1995 Scarlet Letter and My Sister's Keeper come to mind.) Overall, the movie is pretty true to the book. Plus, they added some great dialogue to the car-egging scene, which has my seal of approval because it was the perfect place for comedy. 

What are your thoughts? Leave them in the comments down below!

Owyn the Intern

P.S. I got to see a special screening of TFIOS and I tell the awesome story here!