Thornton Academy – AP Language 2018-2019

It is known to the active reader that although a valiant effort movies do not give the books we read justice. Often times in our American society you see people out in their merchandise, like a t-shirt, that has some sassy comment on how the book was better. However, I the case of the Walk in the Woods I would beg to differ. Granted I have only watched a short clip, however it was only this short clip that gives me valid support of my argument. I believe the movie not only captured the characters and their essence, but also portrayed Bryson’s writing in a very realistic manner. Two men, seemingly ordinary, one of a crude nature, while the other unsatisfied, take on this extraordinary adventure. This image initially captured by Bryson, then is portrayed on the screen with the same manner and detail.

I truly believe this is what a movie should be… a portrayal. No movie is going to completely capture the intensity found within a book, because sight and hearing cannot put us inside the character’s head where writing can. I think it would be unfair to hold movie makers to this writers. And while some do represent the book poorly, I believe this movie about A Walk in the Woods to be a wonderful exception.

Truly loving myself for who I am, at least in my entirety, is something I would call a struggle. I have had my days where I’ve felt like I’ve looked nice, or felt comfortable with the person I was in a single moment, but finding that constant, ever present confidence and love with who I was, who I am, is not something I have really been able to say I possess.

There have been days where’ve I’ve hated myself, feeling like I was a void, a terror, a person who didn’t contribute anything, who would not leave a mark if she were to disappear. Lately, however, these days have been fewer and more far between. I have, at least for the meantime, found a place to perch in the middle ground. I cannot say that I am overflowing with self love and resilience, but I feel grounded, like I mean something. I like most of what I am, of what I look like.

This ideal, this inner peace if you will, is essential. We need that bit of self love for survival. It is not just about pushing through one day, but truly seizing something inside and forcing yourself to see that you, and no one else, is in charge. This is not attainable with the flip of a switch, and will not cure mental ailments to the point where they disappear. I don’t think that a bit of airy-fairy “wish the pain away” makes anything better, and the whole “if you love yourself, mental illness can’t touch you” mantra is not what I’m preaching. No ma’am.

For me, harnessing that will inside of me and pushing myself to say “hey, this is it, this is what you’ve got, you better love it, dammit” is lifesaving. I think we need to become comfortable with who we are, at least. It’s a start.

In AP Language and Composition class, before spring vacation, we all watched the movie, A Walk in the Woods. We had read the book by Bill Bryson as part of our summer reading assignment. Frankly, I had no idea that there was a movie. If I knew beforehand, then I probably would have watched it earlier, after I had read the book.

In the time that we spent watching the movie, I thought that it was pretty good. Sometimes, when books are made into movies, the books are changed, causing the audience who read the book to not be pleased with the movie. However, I thought that this movie did a good job of keeping the story true to the book.

One of the most important parts of a movie is the cast. Good acting can make an average movie good, but it can also bring down a good movie if it is bad enough. For this movie, I thought they did a pretty good job with the casting of the characters that we saw. Bill Bryson’s actor looked a little different from how I pictured him when I read the book, but I thought the actor did a good job of portraying the character. With Katz, I pictured him to be a bit fatter, but I was still happy with the actor. He did a great job of playing Katz. The actress who played Mary Ellen was perfect. She looked exactly how I pictured her, and the actress did an excellent job of playing the character.
I wasn’t sure how the movie would work at first. How would they make a movie about walking entertaining? However, the people who made the movie did a great job, and I enjoyed what I saw.

“Tell me a story,” My mother prompts. She knows I have been in a funk, wants to know I am fine, wants to distract my mind. I cannot answer her.

“Tell me a story,” Mr. Arenstam instructs in reference to our blog posts. He wants us to write regularly, to exercise our minds, to feel comfortable enough to take the AP Exam in May. I cannot deliver.

I have no stories to tell.

I have nothing left to say. I will usually use what is on my mind, but there has been nothing but pain lately. Of course, I could use this, but it becomes a rather dull tale:

“Once upon a time there was a teen with depression and anxiety. She is one among millions. She wonders is she will ever stop failing, stop rocking her body in an attempt to self-soothe, stop sobbing into her hand at 1 am. She leaves her homework until the last minute, too wrought over perfection to complete the tasks. She types this in the dead of night, having accepted that she will go to school in 7 hours with only one assignment out of four completed. She is used to the pain, the waves of guilt and sheer disgust that follow. The absence of emotion that strikes occasionally is scary, as is the urge to leave this life. But she prides herself on her willpower, her independence. She occupies the dark abyss of her brain alone, and refuses to take the hands that reach towards her.”

I cannot tell a story because my story has already been told. The ending is unique to me, however, and unpredictable in all cases. The climax is incoming, and hope blossoms bright before it. Perhaps someday I shall have a story to tell. In present days, I wait for the pain to end.

My back is sore from laying on the hardwood of my hallway. I am on top of a leopard print rug, one that hasn’t been vacuumed for a while; it’s covered in cat hair and some dirt that has fallen off the boots on their way upstairs. My body hurts and the rug is dirty, but I can’t bring myself to get up.

There are ten studs holding in a panel in the ceiling that covers up what was once a hole. There are eight holding up the patch panel just to the right of this one, a much smaller, more square panel. I know this because I have counted these studs over and over again, going around and around, one, two, three, four, and so on, and studied the size and shape of each piece of panel, their rough edges and slight color difference from the rest of the ceiling, all from my vantage point on the floor.

I lay here because I don’t know what else to do. I feel so incredibly overwhelmed, but simultaneously I am empty, unable to comprehend any of the things I am feeling right now, unable to deal with any of them right now. My mind is swirling, but I push every thought to the back of my brain by staring at the off-white ceiling and counting the studs that hold the panels in. My shoulder blades jutt out from my back and dig into the pine beneath me, my eyes are hazy, my head hurts, and my skin is dry and tight from crying. I tap my fingers against the floor, one at a time, moving from thumb through to pinky, then repeating. I roll the rug up with my toes, pulling my knees into my chest and bringing bunches of the rug up with me, smoothing it back down when I straighten my legs. I continue to count the studs above me. One, two, three, four.

A Walk In The Woods film edition was released in 2015, 18 years after Bill Bryson originally published the book. Those who hadn’t read the story, which was based off of Bryson’s adventures hiking the Appalachian Trail with acquaintance Stephen Katz, may have picked up the movie for the number of famous actors who portrayed the characters, including Robert Redford and Nick Nolte. However, the movie seemed to, for the most part, accurately portray the narrative parts of the book, so readers and non-readers alike can enjoy the film.

     The movie, which was initially released in Belgium, has many similarities to the book it represents. For example, it accurately portrays many characters as described in the book, including Bryson, Katz, and Mary Ellen. Additionally, smaller details such as Katz’s struggle with alcohol were included, which resonated familiarly with readers of the book. Even with the similarities, however, the film did have differences from its text counterpart.

     Though much of Bryson’s book was facts and statistics about the United States’ woods and forests, the movie follows the storytelling parts of A Walk In The Woods instead, opting to leave this information out. Additionally, the movie hinted at a small flirtatious relationship between Bryson and a motel owner which I do not recall from the book. Though I may be incorrect, movie adaptations of other books in the past have not shied away from adapting romances that were not originally written about.

    Overall, A Walk In The Woods’ film adaptation seems to be fairly accurate and an enjoyable movie to watch. However, the book has additional insightful information about the topic of forests and the Appalachian Trail which makes for a beneficial and interesting read any day.