society

‘If I Stay’ – Cinematic Adaptation Review

Original Writing

“Sometimes, you make choices in life.
And sometimes, choices make you.”

After watching Forman’s novel come to life, I was overcome by both extreme sadness that the film was over, and complete ecstasy that the film was exactly how I envisioned it to be.

Mia, a girl with her whole life ahead of her, suddenly finds herself in a coma after a fatal car accident which took the lives of her parents and younger brother, Teddy. The novel, and the film, takes us through a series of flashbacks into Mia’s life and memorable moments which predominately surround her love interest, Adam. The reader is left right up until the end of the story to find out whether or not Mia survives the crash, and the journey from start to end is both tragically endearing and overwhelmingly exhilarating with a few life lessons along the way.

The character of Adam is strangely and seductively compelling, played exquisitely by Jamie Blackley, and represents the conflicts of love and morality thrown into question when someone we love is almost lost to us. I fell in love with his character from the moment Forman introduced us to him; a leather jacket-wearing rockstar who wears his heart on his sleeve and falls for the girl who remained invisible to all but him. Boys wanted to be him. Girls wanted to be on him. Right up until the very end of the story, Adam, and Blackley, did not disappoint.

Chloë Grace Moretz was brilliantly casted to play Mia Hall. She conveyed every emotion I felt whilst reading the novel, and I don’t think anyone else could have captured the essence of Mia Hall the way Moretz did.

I find that the music complimented the film perfectly, too. Very well chosen in accordance with the novel.

I cannot express how amazing it feels to read a book, fall in love with it, then see it on a screen exactly the way you imagined it would be.

So thank you, Gayle Forman, for manipulating me into thinking that true love exists in the form of a rocker, and to the cast of If I Stay, for bringing my imagination to life.

– Juliann Garey

Quotes

Not everyone can feel things as deeply as you. Most people, their feelings are… bland, tasteless. They’ll never understand what it’s like to read a poem and feel almost like they’re flying, or to see a bleeding fish and feel grief that shatters their heart…

Too Bright to Hear, Too Loud to See

Perspective

Current Affairs

It’s all a matter of perspective.
We cry about failed relationships and write poetry about bloodstains on our bathroom floors.
But what the blood splatter from that young child in Gaza, who was gunned down in a playground for being Palestinian? ‘Collateral damage’, they murmur with shifting gazes.
And let’s not forget the innocent men and women slaughtered by police for the colour of their skin.
Or the journalists who were decapitated for simply doing their job in informing and protecting the world, once camera reel at a time.
Have some perspective.
Let’s forgive those who’ve wronged us, and fight the institutions that oppress and condemn us, instead of each other.

Putting A Stop to Rape and “Rape Culture”

Current Affairs

Burqa or naked, rape is unacceptable, and it’s always the victim that suffers for the rest of their life. A rapist will be let off after serving a minimum of half their sentence, yet for the victim, they have to life with a death sentence involving shame and fear.

In a recent survey in North Dakota, men were asked if they would consider raping a woman if there were no ramifications afterwards. And one in three men said they would rape a woman if there were no consequences. They would essentially accept taking a woman’s right to say no, and forcing her to have non-consensual sex simply to satisfy their own needs. Is that how selfish we have become, that we would commit an unlawful and unethical crime to satisfy ourselves, ignoring the emotional and physical (permanent) damage this would inflict on the victim?

It’s sickening to comprehend that some men in today’s society believe it is perfectly okay to rape a woman, and then condemn her for her outfit choice or suggesting she even “led him on” or was “asking for it.” There is no excuse or justification for forcing someone to have sex. And it makes me question why on earth we are telling women how to dress, as opposed to teaching men NOT to rape and to show some self-restraint when it comes to their sexual desires. I think it’s time we started teaching people that forcing someone to have sex is rape, and there are no two ways about it. Non-consent is rape. It is a criminal act that could lead to your imprisonment. It damages the victim’s physical and psychological welfare permanently. It’s time to stop putting the victims in the spotlight, and telling them what they did wrong that caused them to be sexually assaulted and raped. It’s time to stop predators committing these acts of sexual violence.