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Being There

Being There The book, "Being There," is about a man named Chance, who is forced to move out of the house he lived in his whole life and his experience in the outside world. Based on the success of the book, the movie, "Being There," was made. The author of the book, Jerzy Kosinski, also wrote the screenplay for the movie. I think the major difference between the book and the movie is that in the book, we get to read what Chance is feeling and thinking, but in the movie, we only get to see his actions. Since we can only see Chance's actions in the movie, Chance appears to be even more innocent and clueless than in the book. For example, in the beginning of the book, Chance is working on the garden and the narrator explains Chance's feelings on the garden. In the movie, we can only see Chance working on the garden, as if he was a robot with no feelings or emotions. Since Chance shows no facial expression or emotion, we can't even tell if he is tired, sad, happy, or anything. Another example is when Chance watches television. In the book, the narrator explains that when Chance changes the channel, he feels like he is changing himself. As he changes the channel, he gets caught up in all the different images he sees. In the movie, all you see is a man watching television, which doesn't explain too much. In the movie, the only time we find out what Chance thinks of television is when he is talking to someone else. It seems as if Chance represents a God-like character in the movie, but he is given some human qualities in the book. From watching the movie, I think that Chance represented God or some type of heavenly body. The way everyone felt good about themselves when he was around and the pure innocence he possessed shows that he was full of good intentions. Chance was even there when Ben died, which I think shows that God was with him to make him feel comfortable when his time was up. At Ben's funeral, Chance is shown wandering around the woods and then he walks on water. Nothing on earth can walk on water, except God. In the book, Chance is given some human qualities such as having the ability to think and feel for something. The ending of the book could be interpreted to mean that Chance dies. The last sentence says that, "peace filled his chest." If this is true than Chance has the human ability to live and then die. This could also mean that Chance leaves earth when his job is done, which would be to make Ben feel good when he dies. Another difference between the book and the movie is that the movie has some added scenes. In the movie, when Chance is forced to leave the house he lived in, he is runs into a group of black people. When Chance asks them for directions, they pull out a knife and threaten him. They think that some guy named, Raphael, sent Chance there for something. The man with the knife tells Chance to bring back Raphael a message, which was explicit. Later in the movie, Chance sees another black person, and he asks him if he knows Raphael because he needs to give him a message. In the book, as soon as Chance is leaves the house, he is hit by the limousine. Another added scene in the movie is when Chance is in the elevator with one of the Rand's servants. Chance doesn't know where he is and why he is in such a small room. When Chance asks the servant some questions about the room, he laughs and thinks that Chance is joking around. In the book, Chance knows what an elevator is because he has seen it on television. Some other things were added to the movie to make it more of a comedy. One of the funniest scenes was when Eve was in the room with Chance and he told her that he would like to watch her. So, Eve gets on the floor of the room and starts masturbating. As she thinks Chance is watching her, he is on the bed doing exercises that he sees on the television. When Eve is done, she is so appreciative that Chance watched her. In the beginning of the book, we find out some background information on Chance. Chance was an orphan and the old man that owned the house took care of Chance his whole life. He was named Chance based on the fact that he was born by Chance. In all likelihood, everyone in the world was born by chance or some form of a risk. His entire life was limited to staying in the house at all times except to work on the garden. When we watch the movie, we don't find out any of these facts. We can only assume that Chance didn't have much of a life because we only see him watching television and working in the garden. When Chance was in the limousine with Eve, there were some differences between the book and the movie. One difference is that we find out Eve's name, but in the book she is called EE. When Chance introduces himself to EE or Eve, he is misunderstood as Chauncey Gardiner instead of Chance the Gardener. In the movie, when Eve calls him Chauncey, Chance just accepts it but in the book, we find out why he lets everyone call him that. From watching television, he knows that the actors have different names than there real ones, so he thinks that Chauncey Gardiner is just a new name for him. Also, in the book, the limousine stops short and Chance blacks out. When he wakes up he is in a bed in the Rand's mansion. From reading the book and watching the movie, I think the book was more insightful, but the movie was more entertaining. The only problem with the movie is that you don't know what is going through Chance's mind and his background information. The movie does help make some things clearer by seeing it, instead of just picturing it in your mind. The added scenes in the movie helps to put some humor into the story and make it more entertaining. By just watching the movie, some people could be confused if they don't know some background on Chance. I think that by reading the book, you can understand the story better and by watching the movie you can enjoy the story better. Bibliography:

Word Count: 1156