The Spectrum

Issue date: 4/27/06 Section: A & E

Media Credit: AP Photo/ Simon Mein Tom Hanks in a scene from the suspense thriller, "The Da Vinci Code." The film, based on the novel by Dan Brown, will be released May 17-19 around the world.

It seems of late that many movies are not as wholly original as they should be. One of the most talked about movies of 2005, "Brokeback Mountain," was indeed a short story before making the jump to the silver screen. Also, what is sure to be one of the most talked about movies of the summer, "The Da Vinci Code," follows the same pattern from being published to being projected. Are there no more original ideas left in Hollywood or is it that books and movies have more in common than most people realize? I'm going to shoot for the latter.

I bring this topic up only because I was watching "The Hours" over Easter break and got to think how well made that movie is, but also how well written the book is. It may be slow for some people to watch, yes; but, then again, aren't some books slow in the middle? As an English major I can attest to that. "The Hours" presents a story about three women in three different decades of the twentieth century. Suicide is a common thread among them, but the palpable object that keeps all the stories related is a book by Virginia Woolf called "Mrs. Dalloway."

The story of "The Hours" involves Virginia Woolf as one of the characters, writing her famous novel. Another character is a 1950's housewife in California reading the novel; and the last character is nicknamed Mrs. Dalloway by a friend and plays out all of the actions that the titular character does in the book. May sound confusing at first, but whether in a book or on a screen, the story is told impeccably.

The book represents struggle for women and their plight to find their place in society. Each decade more and more freedom is issued, yet, they are all still bound by their secret feelings for the same sex. Each character is a strong woman in the world; confident and able, but inside, they are utterly alone and fragile. The movies had very strong homosexual undertones from the female perspective and it shows a great deal of persecution among them in their respective time periods.

Homosexuality is a very strong issue in America today and this book offers great insight to that. But honestly, how many people read nowadays as compared to the time before film? The reading community lost many members when film was developed because it offers a quicker, easier way to experience emotions as opposed to the longer, more satisfying feeling one gets from reading a book. On a positive note, however, it is the film that will get issues out in the open. George Clooney said it best at this year's Oscars when he said "Hollywood is out of touch," because they are. Writers need to be in touch to display the rawness of reality and fantasy. It is then turned over to Hollywood to bring the rawness to light.

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