THIS POST IS LONG AND CHOCK FULL OF SPOILERS - ALSO SOMEWHAT RANTISH

How in the hell can something that starts out so good end so badly?  I've been on a fantasy kick lately (as mentioned in the Stardust post), and when I saw The Bridge to Terebithia On Demand next to Narnia, Legend, Pan's Labyrinth, and others, I decided to give it a look.

What you have is a great setup.  Two pre-teenage kids, the boy a budding artist, the girl an aspiring writer, who moves in next door to him.   Each has trouble making friends for different reasons, but they connect with each other on several levels.  While exploring the woods near their rural home, they begin creating a fantasy world (Terebithia) that exists only in their shared imagination.  

So good, so far, right?  Watching it, you soon realize it is basically a geek boy's fairy tale.  The boy is basically every geek boy I've ever met (and sadly been, at one time).  He doesn't have many friends, has problems at home, and deals with his problems through a creative outlet (art).  The girl is smart, has a wonderful imagination, and is cute as the proverbial button--someone any geek boy gamer would have loved to meet when they were a kid.  

The stretch of land they call Terebithia lies across a flowing river and can only be reached by swinging across on an old rope.  They restore an old treehouse and set it up as their palace, where they become King and Queen of Terebithia.  The world is inhabited by good creatures and bad--the bad ones being fantasy representations of people they dislike (a girl bully at school becomes a troll, for example).  The two become closer as the story unfolds, each buying into the other's vision of Terebithia.  

Oh, and then the girl dies.  Just like that.  You don't see her die, thankfully.  The boy goes on an impromptu museum field trip with a music teacher he has a crush on--for a moment he thought about asking the girl along, but decided against it. He comes home and finds out from his parents that she went looking for him, swung across the river on her way to Terebithia, the rope broke and she hit her head on a rock and drowned.  

I think my jaw actually dropped open at this point.  There was very little foreshadowing and absolutely no warning.  I had no idea the movie was going to take a turn like this.  It's already been established in the Stardust post that I may be going a little soft, so I don't mind saying I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach at this point.  It probably didn't help that the girl reminded me so much of my daughter (who is only 5) and that I had started interposing the two in my head, wondering what I would do if she brought a boy like that home, going off playing in the woods near our home, etc.

In any case, I then had to slog through the funeral, the boy finally getting enough balls to stand up to the local bully, and deal with some other problems that I had completely lost interest in by then,  The "throw a shoe at the screen" moment came as the girl's father was driving away in the moving truck and the boy chased him down--I was expecting some sort of tear-filled scene of clarity or resolution (the boy was sort of morose and withdrawn), but all he did was ask if he could use some of the lumber the man had left in his yard.  What?  The guy's daughter is dead and you, her best friend, is asking about lumber?  Not for a photograph, or something that belonged to her?  I'm pretty sure if I had been that father I would have punched him in the nose.

In any case, the boy wanted the lumber so he could build a bridge across the river to Terebithia, which he does, and then takes his little sister (who also liked the girl) across it and introduces her to the world of Terebithia, which I guess was supposed to provide some sort of closure, but to me it fell very flat.  

Here's the deal.  
1. The girl's parents moved out to the country hoping she would have an easier time making friends.  The girl dies, which probably leaves them ridden with guilt.  
2. The boy could have asked the girl to go along with him on the museum trip, but he selfishly wanted to be with the teacher.  Now he's ridden with guilt (or he should be).
 
I kept hoping for something fantastic to happen--like it was all a dream, or her death was part of the fantasy that would make him realize how much he cared for herl--something!  But nope, she really was dead.  I just don't see how this makes a good movie.  Again, as a father, I may be more than  a bit biased.

In any case, I just had to get this off my chest, even though it seems kind of shallow next to all the political and philosophical posts in Off-Topic.  Is this why people start blogging?  

Anyone else have any thoughts on the movie?

Pete

You know, my kids loved that movie, depressing ending and all.  The only part that I've seen is the depressing ending, which has left me wondering why they enjoyed it so much.

My wife informs me that the book upon which the movie is based ties the beginning to the end much more concretely, relying far less on the fatastical special effects to carry the middle.  In other words, the film adaptation went too far in portraying the story as a fantasy in the vein of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and not as a pre-teen psychodrama.

!i!

Quote from: pspahnAnyone else have any thoughts on the movie?

It's based on an awesome book and is a bad adaptation. As others have said, the marketing for it was...inaccurate.

Seanchai

Quote from: pspahnIs this why people start blogging?  

I'd bet.

I remember reading the book long ago, back in the days of like 4th or 5th grade.  I could also swear I remember seeing a tv movie of it before.

When I saw the big screen movie ads for it, I wondered what was going on because the original story has jack-all to do with the fantasy world.

Quote from: pspahnAnyone else have any thoughts on the movie?

Pete

More on the fact that someone I know watched this about a week ago and told me the exact same thing, that it was a giant downer they tried to make uplifting but failed to rescue. Just struck me as odd that two people would happen to watch it around the same time, and both mention the same conclusions. It's been out a while now. But then, most coincidences sound stupid if you spell them out.

Don't think I'll bother with it.

Quote from: jgantsWhen I saw the big screen movie ads for it, I wondered what was going on because the original story has jack-all to do with the fantasy world.

Well, that explains a lot.  I put most of the blame on Hollywood.  Aside from a long record of screwing up books to movies, they've sucessfully conditioned the unwashed masses like myself to believe that: fantasy + kids = feel good ending.  They broke that formula with this movie and it left me cold.  It's odd, but this is the first movie in a long time that has resonated with me at all.  Figures it would be in a negative way.  

Ah well, thanks everyone for humoring me.  

Pete

Quote from: pspahnWell, that explains a lot.  I put most of the blame on Hollywood.  Aside from a long record of screwing up books to movies, they've sucessfully conditioned the unwashed masses like myself to believe that: fantasy + kids = feel good ending.  

Yep, I'm afraid Bridge to Terebithia is in the literature vein of Old Yeller, Where the Red Fern Grows, or A Taste of Blackberries.

I read the book aeons ago (better watch out, MTV will sue me for that word...) and the one thing that always stuck with me about it was the girl dies (of screen) at the end of the book.

IF they had stuck with an upbeat, no death, ending then rest assured, it wasn't Bridge to Terebithia, regardless of how otherwise faithful an adaption it may/may not have been.

I rather understand that the girl dying at the end is the entire point: This magical summer that ends with tragedy is a part of life and growing up or some such.

Also: I seem to recall the author was a woman, and her son was deeply involved in bringing the project to light. Geek girl fantasy?

I had the hardest time trying to play the locale of the story until I did some research. Turns out, it's *kinda* although not obviously set in Silver Spring, MD, just outside of Washington DC> That's how the kid got to the museum so locally, and the river was meant to be the Sligo Creek.

Totally local to me.