In this essay, I will be analyzing two versions of the text Just Mercy through the lens of adaptation studies. First, I will provide some insight into what adaptation studies is through three scholarly adaptation studies, and how it is perceived in the sense of film versus book. Second, I will provide an in-depth analysis at the book Just Mercy. After looking at the book, I will then provide an in-depth analysis of the film adaptation of Just Mercy. Finally, I will analyze the similarities and differences of Just Mercy presented as both a book and a film through the lens of adaptation studies.
The first adaptation study I looked at was “A Theory of Adaptation” by Linda Hutcheon. In her study, Hutcheon describes how adaptations are often looked down upon and not valued more than the original work. According to Hutcheon, “Whether it be in the form of a video game or a musical, an adaptation is likely to be greeted as minor and subsidiary and certainly never as good as the ‘original.’” (Hutcheon 2013: XIV). Hutcheon also describes how technology alters how we tell and re-tell stories. Of particular notice, Hutcheon discusses how adaptations challenge the traditional way of narrating. “We can stop reading at any point; we can re-read or skip ahead; we hold the book in our hands and feel, as well as see, how much, of the story remains to be read. But with the move to the mode fo showing, as in film and stage adaptation, we are caught in an unrelenting, forward driving story. And we have moved from the imagination to the realm of direct perception. (Hutcheon 2013: 23). With technology, there is a “ new compendium of graphic text, still and moving images, sound, and a cursor or interactive touch screen is to digital narration what cross-cutting, tracking shots, and close-ups are to narration that privileges the moving image and sound.” that engages us, the readers/viewers, directly. (Hutcheon 2013: XXI). Hutcheon’s main point is that adaptations are considered “inferior and secondary creations” (Hutcheon 2013: 4) due to them being “haunted at all times by their adapted texts” (Hutcheon 2013: 6) because “If we know that prior text, we always feel its presence shadowing the one we are experiencing directly.” (Hutcheon 2013: 6). Therefore, while some criticize adaptations due to them being overshadowed by the original work, it is forgotten that the adaption is a work that is separate from the original and brings its own unique aspects to the forefront.
Along with Hutcheon, I looked at “The Pedagogy of Adaptation” by Dennis Cutchins. Similar to Hutcheon’s idea of the adaption being overshadowed, Cutchins explains in his essay how “we are invited to hold at least two texts in our minds at once, resulting in ‘an essential and persistent double-mindedness.’” (Cutchins 2010: vii). Cuthcins describes how there is a signature global dismissal of film adaptations because “The book was better.” (Cutchins 2010: 1). This is a universal judgment about book to film adaptations due to, as Cuthcins puts it, a lack of education and a lack of analysis on the film. It is a basic response from simply reading the book and watching the film and noticing that there are differences, without actually analyzing to see what the differences are and how they affect the presentation. Cutchins even goes so far as to say that film adaptation is treated with less hostility and more so neglect through this response. This brings us back to Hucheon who said asks if film adaptations are so bad,” Why, then are they so omnipresent in our culture and, indeed increasing steadily in numbers? Why, even according to 1992 statistics, are 85% of all Oscar-winning Best Pictures adaptations? Why do adaptations make up 95% of all the miniseries and 70% of all the TV movies of the week that win Emmy Awards?” (Hutcheon 2013: 4).
Along with Hutcheon and Cutchins, I also looked at “The Literature /Film Reader: Issues of Adaptation” by James Welsh. Similar to Hutcheon and Cutchins, Walsh also discusses how adaptations are often misjudged. According to Walsh, “When viewing the film version of a novel or play they know, they want to find in the film what they valued in the literary work, without asking whether this is the sort of thing film can do. They are too often not interested in something new being made in the film but only in assessing how far their own conception of the novel has been transposed from one medium to the other.” (Welsh 2007: 5-6). Like with Cutchins, this is another case of “the book was better.” People will read the original work, and hoping that the film adaptation will be exactly the same, but it is not. The two forms are similar, but are presented differently as they are two different versions of the same text.
The nonfiction book Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption was written by Bryan Stevenson and was published in 2014. The film adaptation Just Mercy was directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and was released in 2019. The book is about the personal experiences of Bryan Stevenson, a civil rights lawyer, as he navigates through helping counsel death row inmates. The film adaptation, is also about the personal experiences of Bryan Stevenson, but mostly focuses on the case of Walter McMillian rather than all of the cases mentioned in the book.
In the book, Stevenson opens up by describing his prior experiences at college before he began his internship in Alabama. He then goes into detail about the first death row inmate he met, and how he was so nervous to tell this man that there was no news on his case except that he will not be executed in the next year. Stevenson was very confused by how relieved this man was at the prospect of no further developments on his case. In this scene, you can imagine the confusion on his face and the relief on the inmate’s face that he has another year to live. The inmate even went so far as to profusely thank Bryan for giving him this great news, but Bryan didn’t see it as great news. He even apologized for not being able to tell him much more about the case. This same scene is shown in the film adaptation, but it is shown a little differently. Unlike the book, the film opens up by showing Walter McMillian being arrested and put on death row. After that scene, it cuts to the scene of Stevenson at the jail to meet with the inmate. This is where it starts to derail from the original text. The guard tells Stevenson he has to be strip searched before meeting with any inmates, which is important in portraying just how racist and unjust the system was in Alabama, but was never in the book. (Just Mercy). The scene then cuts to Stevenson conversing with the inmate. The conversation with them stays the same as in the book, just with more detail provided regarding the conversation. In the book, we are only told that “Henry asked me questions about myself, and I asked him about his life. Within an hour we were both lost in conversation. We talked about everything. He told me about his family, and he told me abut his trial. He asked me about law school and my family. We talked about music, we talked about prison, we talked about what’s important in life and what’s not.” (Stevenson 2014: 5). In the film adaptation, we get to hear exactly what questions he asks Bryan. For example, Henry asks him what school he goes to, they talk about where each other grew up, etc. Once again, while this is not explicitly detailed in the book, it is still there. This goes back to Hutcheon’s idea that the adaptation is second but not explicitly secondary, it should be considered an adaption but also its own thing separate from the original text. The film and the book contain the same ideas and a lot of the same content. However, the film presents it differently by providing more in-depth details for the viewers, so as to get them more emotionally involved in the characters. It is also important to note that with the film version, you do not have to imagine how the characters are feeling in your head because you can visually see their feelings through oral and nonverbal communication. For example, in the film you can see the inmates faces when they are crying and angry at the injustices that have been done to them through the court system. You can also see the anger and hopelessness that Walter’s family feels, when Stevenson visits them at their home. This is particularly seen when Walter’s wife is speaking and she describes not knowing how to safely raise her children when you can be surrounded by people hours away from where a crime is committed and still be given the death penalty for that same crime due to the color of your skin. (Just Mercy).
Another difference between the film and the book is the scene where Darnell is arrested for perjury. In the book, Darnell calls Stevenson directly and tells him that he had been arrested and taken to jail. Bryan then goes straight to a meeting with the D.A to have Darnell released. In the film, Darnell calls Bryan’s office and is patched through to Bryan. Bryan then goes to the jail to pick up Darnell and talk with him. Once again, we get more details on what happened in the film than in the book. For example, in the film Darnell tells Bryan that the cops showed up at his job and arrested him in front of his boss. Darnell then says that he doesn’t know if even still has a job, and tries to back out of testifying for Walter. We then see Bryan march into a meeting with the D.A. and Sheriff Tate. Once again, there is a conversation between Bryan and Sheriff Tate that is never in the book about Sheriff Tate going to see the victim’s mother. (Just Mercy).
Another portion of the film that differentiates from the book, is showing how Bryan converses the case with Walter. We are not shown that in the book, other than when Bryan first meets with Walter. In the film, we see Walter fighting Bryan on being his lawyer. We see Walter and Bryan discuss how Bryan met his whole family. We see Walter telling Bryan not to go see Ralph, the witness in the trial, because he will not tell him anything that will help Walter’s case. None of this is seen in the original text, but is included in the film to show a connection between Bryan and Walter, since the film is mainly focused on Walter’s case. (Just Mercy).
Overall, there are differences between the two presentations of Just Mercy. While they both hold the same content, the film adaptation changes the content around to make it its own separate thing from the overshadowing original text. The film provides more details into specific conversations that are glossed over or generalized in the book. The film also provides the viewers with visual and auditory emotion, which in turn makes them connect and feel more emotionally involved with the film. While the film allows you to see the emotion and nonverbal communication among the characters, the book allows you to read their innermost thoughts and imagine the feelings among the characters. Both presentations are wonderful in portraying the unjust court system in Alabama and the powerful emotions felt by the characters. Just because the film is not exactly word-for-word as the book, it does not diminish it’s value. The book and the film are both exceptional at getting the message across to its particular audience, they just do it in different ways. If people took the time to analyze the two different version, maybe adaptations would not be condemned and neglected by society simply because it is not exactly like the book was.
Sources
Cutchins, Dennis R., et al. The Pedagogy of Adaptation. Scarecrow Press, 2010.
Hutcheon, Linda, and Siobhan OFlynn. A Theory of Adaptation. Routledge, 2013.
“Just Mercy ; Directed by Daniel Cretton.”
Stevenson, Bryan. Just Mercy: a Story of Justice and Redemption. Spiegel & Grau, 2014.
Welsh, James Michael., and Peter Lev. The Literature/Film Reader: Issues of Adaptation. Scarecrow Press, 2007.
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