Remember the Story, Not the Book

Before the Apprentice and the Jersey Shore, and Big Brother and the Real World, reality television existed.  It existed in the form of game shows and Miss America pageants and the likes.  However, the birth of reality television as our generation knows it would surprise you.

The first mainstream use of many tactics we relate to reality television, such as 24-7 filming, one person confessionals, and obsessive invasion of privacy (for lack of a better phrasing) really originated in “Hoop Dreams”.  For those not familiar with the film, it followed the lives of two high school freshmen looking to make basketball teams and work their way to the NBA.  These two kids, Arthur Agee and William Gates (who are among a class that included Michigan’s Fab Five), are seen sitting in their living rooms at age 14 and continued to be filmed throughout their high school careers and returned to during their college careers.  Although neither of them reached the professional level, their story is powerful and worth remembering.

This blog is supposed to be about the books that set up the movie, and of course, this in depth look into their personal life is an unscripted tale.  Interestingly enough though, after the movie’s release Ben Jorvasky was approached to write a book based on their story.  This could spark a debate on why?  The whole book is better than the movie thing works when the book has more breadth and goes more in depth into the characters than does the movie.  However, this movie is two hours and forty-five minutes of interviews with real people.  We are brought into the bedrooms of these two kids, and we see them at the ages of 14 all the way until they are 20 or 21.  The book is no substitute for that experience, for hearing them talk about what they want and reflect about that later.  Even the most imaginative writer would be hard-pressed to one up them.

Also, we know the stories.  I assume the reader of this book would most likely be someone who watched the movie.  The switching of scenes between Arthur and William are choppy at best in the book, and each chapter is marked with an epigraph, which is really just a weak quotation from a family member or coached, really only pertaining to one of the kids and not the other.

The book becomes a transcription of the movie, more than it offers new perspective on any aspect.  Scenes that seem so revealing of character in the movie are lost in writing.  The most memorable moment of the entire film is the final words, while William Gates is describing how he does not think about playing in the NBA as much anymore, and that he would be happy if he stopped playing basketball, over a video of him talking on the phone with his wife and daughter.  “That’s why when somebody says ‘When you get to the NBA, don’t forget about me’ and all that stuff, I should say ‘Well if I don’t make it don’t you forget about me.”  This line, followed by a soft smirk and a fade to black tells you everything you need to know about this young man and his journey. 

This line is paraphrased, well slightly misquoted near the end of the text.  It is not misquoted in an unfair way, but in a way that takes the emotion out of it.  I remember an interview with Steve James, one of the filmmakers, where the interviewer remarked that Gates had uttered the perfect line to end the film.  Steve James responded that he knew that would be the last line of the movie as he was hearing it.  Everyone else knew it, why not the author?

Those who have seen the film will certainly never forget the stories of Arthur Agee and William Gates.  They represent the thousands of young men and women who fall short of their high goals and never become household names, yet still are able to live admirably despite what others perceive as failures.  They will not be forgotten.  The book however, hopefully that will be forgotten.

The Natural's Arthurian Charm

Because this is the blog’s inaugural post, I will try to enlighten all you readers with a brief explanation of what to expect.

We are a generation that seeks to be constantly entertained (forgive me for that gross generality), and more than that, we desire instant gratification (also a gross generalization).  Our grandparents tell us of the days where they used to sit on the roof and look at the clouds, or paint the house, or watch the grass grow or whatever.  Good for them.  Today, we do not have time for that.  We do not want to hear a story.  We want everything in a little vacuum package in our 2-3 hour time block.  That is why we love movies and sports.  And every once in a while, those two things are morphed into one.  Well, often they are morphed into one, but once in a while it is actually worth watching.

What we do not realize is that these movies truly are, at their base, stories.  Many of these stories are adaptations from some of the better books we may never have heard of if not for the movies.  Actually, I would bet most of the people who enjoy these movies have no idea that they are the derivatives of books.  A lot of space on the blogosphere is dedicated to sports and movies, and in some cases for sports movies, but everyone should remember, that whether they are better or worse, these movies came from books.

Now that I have bored everyone, every week here one great sports movie will be discussed in terms of the book that inspired it, starting now, with “The Natural”.

Often referred to as the greatest sports movie of all-time, a title that is limited to this, Hoosiers, and Raging Bull, and not much else, “The Natural” is one of the most popular baseball stories ever told.  Starring Robert Redford and directed by Barry Levinson, it chronicles the life of fictitious baseball player Roy Hobbs.

Of course, this fictitious character is the brainchild of Bernard Malamud.  Malamud wrote the novel in the most traditional King Arthurian sense.  For those confused by that, our tragic hero (Hobbs) chases the holy grail (the National League pennant), and in the process, his flaws lead to the destruction of his Excalibur (the Wonderboy, his bat).  For those still confused, maybe books aren’t for you to begin with.

Ultimately, the movie sticks pretty close to the major themes of the novel, and does it justice, of course, aside from the ending.  Spoiler alert (by the way, you won’t here those words again from me on this blog) but in the movie we all know Hobbs hits the home run to win the game to be a hero and gets the girl.  Hip hip hooray for him. 

That is not how Malamud meant the Hobbs saga to end.  The novel ends with Hobbs striking out, losing everything, from the girl to his dignity.  It breaks him as a man, and is the tragic end to a flawed protagonist.  I do not know why they changed it for the movie, maybe because nobody believe Robert Redford could possibly lose out on a girl, which is quite plausible actually.

Is the book better than the movie?  I’d like to say yes for sure.  What I can say without a doubt, if you loved the movie, it might be worthwhile to take a look at the book, and see the story as it was originally meant to be told.