The Author of 'The Giver' Weighs In on the Movie

If you attended an American educational institution during your young adulthood — and that young adulthood happened to take place sometime after 1993 — chances are, you read The Giver, Lois Lowry's dystopian novel about engineered perfection, conformity, breaking free at all costs, and other such beautifully wrought adolescent concepts. And if you were one of said Giver-fed young adults, then you've also probably been waiting with a barely-suppressed cringe for the film adaptation to debut, ever since it was announced last September (though apparently, it's been in development for over 15 years). So far, we've bravely weathered announcements that Taylor Swift was set to co-star, then that the trailer was in color (when we all know the book's world is black and white), then JK there's black and white, too, but it's also basically an action movie, until we just basically couldn't take it anymore. However, there may yet be a reason not to give up on the film before its August release, and that reason comes in the form of its author herself, who has come out in its staunch support. Indeed, The Giver 's latest poster prominently features Lowry's endorsement, which reads:

It's all there. The boy. The old man. The baby. The sled. If you loved the book take my word for it — you'll love the movie as well.

On the one hand, this seems like great news for wary fans — especially those nervous that the trailer looked a little too thriller-y. Hearing straight from the source that book-lovers will be happy movie-goers, in her opinion, has got to provide some real comfort.

On the other hand, however, it's worth remarking that "It's all there" isn't always the best approach for film adaptations. My pet example is the first two Harry Potter films — how, in their effort to cram in all plot elements possible, they ended up more than a little stilted. Though Order of the Phoenix was probably the least accurate in terms of detail, it arguably made for the best film of the bunch — or at least the best-paced, the most cinematic.

There are plenty of other cases — the entirely invented end of The Notebook, for example — that prove film and books are just fundamentally different art forms. Also, for that matter, who's to say that everything leading up to "The baby. The sled." — a scene of which I still have visceral and tearful memory — isn't somehow botched? Did I mention that this movie stars Taylor Swift? In short, no matter how much we might want to trust Lowry's fond feelings, they're still not necessarily predictive of a satisfying movie.

And so, we're left to sigh and hand-wring once more 'til August, nit-picking the trailer near to death for any indication either way. Here, for your convenience, should you like to get started immediately:

Image: thegivermovie/Tumblr