Adaptation

The movie adaptation explores the worlds of imagination and reality through the characters, a novel and a orchid flower. The movie opens up with the main character which is also the narrator, Charles. Charles is a screenwriter with low self esteem. He wants to make a movie based on a book called, The Orchid Thief. The book was written by a woman named Susan Orleans. Susan Orleans wrote this book because she wants to feel  passion for something. In the process of writing the book she discovered a man named John. John knew a lot about orchids so Susan decided to interview him and use the questions and answers in her book. As a result, Susan and John started having and affair and using orchids as drugs. As someone in the audience I am put into a position where I do not know what is real or not. It is hard to tell what is real or not because the author leaves you in suspense. The author is manipulating reality and imagination because he is pulling everything from the real world and joining it in with fiction clips to leave the audience questioning what is real or imaginary. However, there is a way to figure out what is real or what is a part of his imagination. A simple internet search can solve all the audience problems and put an end to all the questions. In a strange way most people do not want the answers because they enjoy not knowing the truth. The author is very creative about making the audience uncertain of reality because he makes it difficult to point out what aspects of the movie is real or not. The title of the movie however foreshadows the entire movie. The word adaptation can be used in a range of things. The reality of the movie is the title itself, adaptation. Although, the audience cannot tell what is real or not in the movie everything throughout the movie is caused to adapt. The man who wrote this movie touched on three different types of adaptation. One use of adaptation is the psychological theme of adaptation. Everyone in the movie was forced to adapt in their environment. The main character Charles was forced to adapt the book The Orchid Thief into a movie. Susan Orleans was forced to adapt through her personal life experience. John was forced to adapt into Susan Orleans world and thought process. Another theme is the novel that is adapted into the movie. Charles struggles over a long period of time to find a way to turn the novel into a movie. The final use of adaptation is the biological use. The orchid itself was forced to adapt in the different environment. With all these events that are happening in the story it is hard to distinguish what is reality or imaginary. The people, orchid and novel are real, but the events taken place leaves a number of questions.