E.B. White was years ahead of his time. Not only did he foresee the future with his book Here is New York, but I discovered his knack for predicting the ways of Hollywood. This occurred to me while talking to Rebecca a few minutes ago about sequels.
She was reading a review of The Descent in Entertainment Weekly and mentioned that the American version has a different ending than the British version, in which no one emerges alive. Rebecca pointed out that American audiences can’t deal with the death of a movie hero(ine), and the studios will not let that happen anyway because they need profitable sequels, which brings me to E.B. White and Charlotte’s Web.
I read Charlotte’s Web one summer, maybe before 3rd or 4th grade. I was utterly inconsolable when Charlotte died. We were supposed to go to my grandparents’ house to celebrate my grandpa’s birthday, but I refused to leave my bed because I could not stop crying. (Incidentally, this is also the reaction I have every time I read that damn tearjerker Where the Red Fern Grows. I actually ruined a page in the book because I cried so hard it became soaked.) My mom eventually got me in a semi-presentable condition by reminding me that Charlotte’s daughters were there to carry on her legacies.
Before I get too choked up (and the lump is definitely forming in my throat), my point is that E.B. White gave the studios lots of spin-off movies by making sure that the book ended with Charlotte’s daughters. Mark my words: if the latest Charlotte movie makes money, we’ll be seeing more of those eight-legged critters.
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Those books make me sob uncontrollably too! When I read Where the Red Fern Grows, the first time, I was in class just weeping away. I'm glad you've read that because nobody else has read it.
ReplyDeleteAs for Charlotte, love her. And I think it's just books mentioning "fern" that makes us cry.
ps - did you stop your conversation with Rebecca to blog this?
Charlotte's Web is my favorite book from my childhood, too. I cried and cried when Charlotte died and then that cartoon came out and I watched it so much I broke the VHS.
ReplyDelete:)
Actually, Des, I stopped the conversation after realizing the unusal "winter" weather had caused me to perspire and I needed a quick shower. So much for chapped lips and bloody knuckles...
ReplyDelete"SPINoff"- good pun!
ReplyDeleteYou know, I never even thought of it like that. Hmmm...it would be interesting to see more movies where the hero(ine) does die. I wonder if I'll still be around when they get around to making those...
ReplyDeleteThere was one movie that had a death at the end - perhaps its only redeeming quality - which was Sommersby, the Jodie Foster and Richard Gere flick in which Richard Gere can either admit he is not who he says he is or get hung. If he is proven to not be who he say he is, lots of people will suffer, so he hangs.
ReplyDeleteI also LOVED Where the Red Fern Grows. Other childhood tearjerkers: The Bridge to Teribithia, The Outsiders, and Tiger Eyes . . . .
you know they're making bridge to terabithia into a movie soon too?
ReplyDeletegosh, it's been so long since i read 'red fern'. i recently re-read 'charlotte's web' this past summer. um, i'll say it's for research since i'm writing a children's novel & all. i do have to say that 'island of the blue dolphins' didn't stand up after all these years though. i'll have to try 'tiger eyes' again soon.