LASHAWNDA WHITE
Staff Writer
The wildly popular coming-of-age novel, The Fault in Our Stars is getting the silver-screen treatment. This best-selling novel by John Green is about cancer stricken teenagers Hazel Lancaster and Augustus Waters, who meet at a support group and eventually fall in love.
When released, the novel received fairly positive accolades for its first few weeks on the shelf, and then began to pick up speed and sold incredibly well. It received critical acclaim from “NPR,” “The New York Times” and “The Critical Review.”
“The Fault in our Stars” has recently been receiving media attention because of the upcoming release of its film adaptation. On January 29th, the first official trailer was released, and has so far received over 11 million views on YouTube. The trailer gives a brief, but thorough preview of what is to come by sporting some of the more classic scenes of the novel as its centerpieces.
However, like any book-to-film adaptation, there have been complaints about its casting. Leading actress Shailene Woodley, along with co-stars Ansel Elgort and Nat Wolff, are not living up to fan expectations of the characters described in the book.
Freshman Taylor Hannon remarked, “Shailene Woodley is a dull actor, and I don’t think she will live up to playing Hazel.”
The author, John Green, has said that physical appearance was never a big deal when casting actors, but the same cannot be said for the fans who became really invested in the characters. This could be turned into the debate of whether a film adaptation ever does the book justice. However, the success of the Harry Potter films remains a testament to the possibility of success when a novel is turned into a film.
Freshman Adrian Benn has “spent an immense amount of time of my life crying during sad books, movies and TV shows, but few times compared to The Fault in Our Stars. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product in theaters.”
“I found this to be an amazing book, and recommend it to anyone that reads.” freshman Leah Smith-Green added.
However, everyone doesn’t share these positive opinions. Freshman Nicolette Burns said, “The plot was unrealistic and predictable, but I may still go and see the movie.”
The Fault in Our Stars seems to be a title that will either reinforce the love shared between fans of the novel or act as another classic example of how films have a hard time capturing the true essence of a well-written book. Either way, the box offices are sure to see their numbers shoot to the stars.