by Cory Woodroof | Aug 13, 2014 | Opinion
If you’re in the film industry and hoping to make a splash at the box office, it never hurts to bring a popular young adult book to the big screen. With post-apocalyptic YA adaptations The Hunger Games and Divergent cashing in with audiences, an adaptation of the legendary novel The Giver couldn’t have been too far behind. Lois Lowry’s Newbery-winning story, a beloved tale about the importance of a vivid life, has been favorite of many since its 1993 bow. Similar to the two titles above (but written far before those two), The Giver centers on a young protagonist (in this case, Jonas) who, within the perimeters of a limiting society, sets off a chain of events that could disrupt the status quo. Even though Katniss and Tris beat Jonas to the cinemas, The Giver stands apart from the stories that followed it. The film’s contemplative ways only serves to push the original ideas of the novel home in a new setting. After an unknown series of events, society has turned into a vanilla world of predestination, paleness and politeness. Children are told what their futures will be, there is no such thing as color and no one ever speaks out of turn or in anger. Even the simplest offenses receive a prompt apology. When he becomes of age, Jonas (Brenton Thwaites), a bright young man, is given his life’s job by a deciding council (anchored by Meryl Streep’s Chief Elder). Jonas is summoned to receive the memories of the past from a man named the Giver (Jeff Bridges) in order to become an adviser to the higher-ups in making...
