Blog Response Post: Adaptation

1. Analysis of the Book

Susan Orlean’s 1998 nonfiction book The Orchid Thief is based on her 1995 article “Orchid Fever” in The New Yorker. The book can be thought of as two interweaving parts: an in-depth journalistic inquiry on John Laroche and also a more broader, reflective piece on the passions of life. Not only are Laroche’s passions discussed, Orlean herself is entrapped in the random obsession with orchids. In an interview she says:

I heard about an obsessive orchid collector in South Florida and I thought, “What a strange and wonderful thing. I’ve got to look into this.” The more I looked into it, the more I wanted to know more. It drew me in. It just sort of pulled me in. It was a hypnotic kind of story. (Murray)

The book jumps from an in depth botany lesson about orchids or Laroche’s history, but every other chapter is set in the context of Orlean’s interviews with Laroche (Weiss).

2. Analysis of the Film

Spike Jonze’s 2002 film Adaptation is a self-proclaimed adaptation of Orlean’s novel. Instead of a straightforward adaptation, however, the movie is more about creating the adaptation – the character of Charlie Kaufmann is having a difficult time creating a screenplay based on The Orchid Thief, a novel that has been called “unfilmable.” This film can be considered “metafilm” because it, like Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, is a film about creating a film that uses the names and occupations of real people, including Susan Orlean herself. The film is a commentary on screen writing for art films and Hollywood films.

3. Analysis of the Adaptation

The adaptation of Orlean’s book can be considered both faithful to the themes of the book but unfaithful to the actual book. Adaptation uses The Orchid Thief as a prop to tell Kaufman’s self-reflexive story. However, the film’s contribution to depicting Laroche like he is characterized in the book and it’s obsession with understanding passion is definitely a celebration of the book. It may also be a strange parallel to another of Orlean’s articles-turned- films, Blue Crush based on her article “Life’s Swell.” Blue Crush is more of a Hollywood “Donald”- esque movie than the artsy, genre bending Adaptation, written by Charlie.

4. Online Research on the Film

• In an interview with IGN, Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman add to the fake existence of Kaufman’s twin brother, Donald. Donald is credited in the production noted for Being John Malkovich, and is said to be the reason why the film was made in the first place. This hints to the fact that Jonze and Kaufman had already had the idea of Donald before fleshing out the screenplay for Adaptation. Link to article here. 
  
• In an interview with GQ, Spike Jonze’s and his unique directing choices, including Adaptation, are analyzed. Link to article here.
• A blog post by Matthew Cai describes Adaptation as an exercise in auteur theory. Link to blog post here. 

Cai refutes the notion that “good” adaptations are assessed on how much they strictly adhere to what’s written down in the book. According to him, film adaptations are done well if they are, in essence, “creative close-readings” of the text, such as Adaptation. So, films should not be considered subordinate to the text. He goes onto to discuss Adaptation’s various high brow motifs, including irony, satire and being incredibly self-reflexive.

5. Critical Argument Paragraph

Although Adaptation initially treats Hollywood and art-films as a dichotomy, the ending of the film (as well as Charlie Kaufman’s screenplay) brings the two together in order to negate the real Charlie Kaufman’s “image”.  Kaufman is incredibly private, but when he gives interviews he does not reveal much because he does not want to be written as a “nebbish … socially awkward … caricature” (Gordon). The movie is about Charlie trying to make a good screenplay, and the real Kaufman was lauded for his work in Being John Malkovich that “upended many of the conventions of Hollywood films” (Stein). It can be argued that Donald represents a “Hollywood” version of Kaufman while the film’s Charlie is that journalistic caricature. When Donald dies at the end of the film, Charlie is able to use his ideas to make a great screenplay. The end result is a post modern, unconventional film that uses popular Hollywood tropes such as drugs, sex, shoot outs, voice overs and deux ex machina. Also, Charlie becomes more like Donald, writes a successful screenplay and gets the courage to face his love interest. The film is partially about giving credibility to Hollywood-isms: they can work, if used properly, to create a satisfyingly happy ending.

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Works Cited

Primary Sources

Susan Orlean. The Orchid Thief. New York: Random House, 1998. Print.

Secondary Sources

Cai, Matthew. “Spike Jonze’s Adaptation of Auteur Theory.” Film Eats the Soul. 21 July 2011. Blogspot. 18 June 2013. <http://filmeatsthesoul.blogspot.com/2011/07/spike-jonzes-adaptation-of-auteur.html>.

D., Spence. “Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufmann discuss Adaptation.” IGN. 5 December 2002. Web. 18 June 2013. <http://www.ign.com/articles/2002/12/05/spike-jonze-and-charlie-kaufman-discuss-adaptation>.

Gordon, Devin. “Confessions of an Outrageous Mind.” Newsweek. 9 December 2002, pg. 82. Web. 19 June 2013. <http://www.lexisnexis.com.proxy-um.researchport.umd.edu/hottopics/lnacademic/?verb=sr&csi=5774&sr=BYLINE(Devin)%2Bw%2F3%2BGordon)%2BAND%2BHLEAD(Confessions+of+an+Outrageous+Mind)%2BAND%2BDATE%2BIS%2B2002>.

Heath, Chris. “Spike Jonze Will Eat You Up.” GQ. October 2009. Web. 18 June 2013. http://www.gq.com/entertainment/movies-and-tv/200909/spike-jonze-dave-eggers-where-the-wild-things-are>.

Murray, Rebecca. “Susan Orlean and John Laroche at the World Premiere of “Adaptation”.”  About.com. n.d. Web. 18 June 2013. <http://movies.about.com/library/weekly/aa120402a.htm>.

Stein, Joel. “Charlie Kaufman.” Time International (South Pacific Edition). 26 April 2004. Issue 16. Page 81. Web. 19 June 2013. <http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy-um.researchport.umd.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=23568128&site=ehost-live&gt;

Weiss, Aaron. “The Adaptation of the Orchid Thief into the Film Adaptation.” CinemaFunk.com. 31 January 2010. Web. 18 June 2013.