Hey Bookworms! I know it’s been a minute since I’ve done one of these. I have happen to read two books that became adaptations in March and ended up watching the movie the same day. I am not normally too harsh on adaptations, but there was so many things this movie missed out on. Before I ramble too far and tell you everything in the intro let’s get started!
Movie Title: Stargirl
Release Date: 13 March 2020
Film Company: Disney
Rated: PG
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Director: Julia Hart
Starring: Grace VanderWaal, Graham Verchere, Giancarlo Esposito
Format Watched in: Streaming on Disney+
Runtime: 1h 47min
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Quick Recommendation
Normally I am not one to care in which is read or watched first. I can easily go back and forth between watching the movie first then reading the book or vice versa. In this case though as I do believe the themes are extremely important please read the book Stargirl by by Jerry Spinelli, John Ritter especially if watching this with children.
What I Loved
What I adored is the casting no question, the diversity was spot on and each character fit their role while bringing themselves into it. I also loved that Stargirl kept her ukulele and Cinnamon, I loved that they kept at least one pivotal scene, and that Stargirl kept her be kind attitude especially with everything going on.
What Disney Missed Out On
Now like every bookworm I know a book cannot be made into a movie with EVERYTHING the same. I do however believe you should keep at least 2-3 of the pivotal scenes to drive the themes home. Yes, Stargirl still sang Happy Birthday (at least once and they moved Leo’s birthday forward for this scene), yes they incorporated Leo’s Porcupine Tie, they also still made Stargirl a cheerleader.
However, they didn’t include her most important be kind scene, didn’t show the true bullying, her happiness trailer with her stones, and I think they hurt her character by not including her dad. Yes, I get that they wanted her and Leo to relate, but it took away the ability of 2 parents fully supporting their daughter’s uniqueness. They also didn’t show her taking Leo on her adventure in the mall or finding billboards to help spread her kindness.
They changed her speech and how she found the inspiration for it. The little time that she tried hard to fit in so much it hurt before she realized by not being herself she hurt herself.
These are things that could bolster kids in middle school and high school, it could do so much more to help them survive especially in the context of what is going on with bullying on the rise especially in cyber form to move this book from 2002 to 2020.
Wrapping it Up
Now I am not saying this is a bad movie what so ever because it did have its cute parts, but it fell short on what the true themes teach. As always take the movie adaptation with a grain of salt. Hopefully they can take this into consideration with the next contemporary movie they make. Stargirl’s power and magic was to shine in her kindness as that was her magic.
Well that’s all for now bookworms. As always I will put the trailer below in case it piques your interest. Have you watched this movie or read the book? If you have done both what were your thoughts on the adaptation. I hope you all have an amazing and safe week. Happy Reading and Watching!
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