Film adaptations of books always scare me. I worry that the beloved line I underlined in hearts in my paperback book will not make a grand appearance in the movie. I am terrified that the characters will not embody those I envisioned in my head. Like many readers, I fear for the very real possibility that the movie will simply pale in comparison to the story I care for deeply.
When it was announced that “People We Meet On Vacation” by Emily Henry was being adapted into a film, I had all of these quiet fears, but mostly was ecstatic at the prospect of the return of the rom-com film genre after a dull dry spell. As a self-proclaimed romance genre expert, I have noticed a distinct lack in good quality rom-coms, and even more so, well done book adaptations. Amazingly, I have to say that the film defied my expectations of failure as someone who will insist that “the book was better” in any case of adaptation.
“People We Meet On Vacation” follows the adventurous and spunky Poppy Wright, played by Emily Bader, and her high-maintenance best friend Alex Nilsen, portrayed by Tom Blyth, as they embark on annual summer vacations, eventually considering if their friendship could lead to a deeper, romantic relationship. As soon as the casting was announced, I was counting down the days until I saw the perfect Poppy and Alex on my screen. Maybe it was my bias for Blyth from his “Hunger Games” era, as he starred in the prequel “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” or my love for Bader in “My Lady Jane” (another fun book adaptation), but I had full confidence that they would both deliver fantastic performances. Though the movie was different from the book, it was clear that the most important aspects were held on to.
I expected the simple change of the main character’s hair color to cause an uproar, but fans of the book were surprisingly adaptable to the change in “People We Meet on Vacation.” Audiences are usually unforgiving with matters such as appearance when an adaptation is not entirely faithful to how a character was written. For example, with the release of the new Percy Jackson TV show, fans were upset over the simple change of Percy being blonde as opposed to brunette as he is described in the book series. Alex and Poppy were both blondes in the book, contrasting with Blyth and Bader’s dark locks. In an interview, Blyth expressed to Bader, “you are just Poppy through and through, so it doesn’t matter what color your hair is.” Blyth’s words show that an adaptation can be so much more than a word-for-word copy of a novel. Though a film can change little bits of the story, such as a character’s hair color, it can still bring to life the parts that really matter.
In an interview with Good Morning America, Bader stated that she wanted to keep Poppy’s “muchness” from the novel in the film. She says Poppy is “a bolt of sunshine and lightning, and I wanted to keep that safe.” The film gender swaps the dynamic in “When Harry Met Sally,” which served as the inspiration for the book. Poppy is eccentric, laid-back and hilarious, similar to her male counterpart, Harry, from the older film. Alex is the more reserved of the pair, mirroring Sally, and in turn, highlighting Poppy’s unique character. Bader, in keeping true to the essence of the character, sets the precedent that women can take up room in a story; their personalities should not be toned down for anyone. She continued to say, “women are capable of all sorts of things, and I didn’t want to minimize her.”
I really admire Bader and the film for recognizing how important it is to portray women as unapologetically themselves. It was one of the aspects of the book that was important to me when I read it. I was happy to find that the Poppy encountered in the pages of my orange paperback was still embracing her muchness in the film, even in an abridged rendition of the story.
“Muchness” adds to a film adaptation. Rather than expecting an entirely faithful translation onto a screen, a film should be expected to simply be good. That seems a rather obvious limitation for critiquing a film, but we cannot hold our standards too high when it comes to adaptation. It is not exactly possible to compact a 400 page novel into a two hour movie. There will always be losses in terms of coveted scenes and lines, as much as it may pain me to admit. The important thing to center is the faithfulness to the story and characters themselves. Blyth and Bader made it clear that they understood the importance of keeping what made the book so special alive. Changes may be made, but losing the feeling that an original story evokes is where an adaptation starts to slip.
A movie cannot capture what each page says, inevitably cuts must be made. However, that does not mean the essence of the book should be lost. That is the thing about an adaptation. Maybe it is not word-for-word. Sure, we did not get those little underlined phrases in the novel. Maybe the characters are not blonde as stated in the text. An adaptation is a glimpse into one avenue of a specific interpretation of an established story. There are many different paths it can take, bringing new meaning and beauty to the original work.
The film “People We Meet On Vacation” embraces its muchness by allowing itself to make some changes, while staying true to what made the book special to its audience. An adaptation can certainly fall short of the original text, but by appreciating its individual muchness, we can find new value in our favorite stories.