Fahrenheit 451: Did the adaptation work with book changes?
Developing with social media
One thing the book didn’t have (it was first published in 1953) was social media. Unsurprisingly, the idea of social media didn’t crop up. However, HBO’s Fahrenheit 451 played with the idea of social media becoming the tool to spread propaganda. And why not, right? It is a powerful way to spread messages now, so surely it would be in this sort of dystopian future.
And the movie did a good job of integrating that aspect. We saw more of the technology and had a chance to see how the message spread across the masses; how people were watched closely and the way technology was used by individuals and the government.
More importantly, the use of social media helped us to see more of what happened to the Eels. This was the thing I was curious about from the books. Were they executed? Would they be imprisoned for life or tortured? Well, in the movie’s world their “freedom” was erased. Of course, nobody really had freedom but there was the sense of it.
Fingerprints were used to access everything. Individuals’ fingerprints were updated to make them Eels, so everyone would know what they were when using the fingerprint scanners. One thing that I would have enjoyed seeing in more detail was what that meant for the individuals after. We only saw Clarisse and her neighbor.
No idea about the ending
Fahrenheit 451 made a major change to the ending of the story. It followed through with what would have likely happened to Montag after the ending of the book. This was also a growing point for Montag.
After years of working as a fireman, he finally figured out the truths about his family; the truth about the world. We saw flashes of the past, as he realized who his father really was. As the world opened up to him, he knew he needed to help spread the message as far and wide as possible.
This was never going to be easy. Remember that everyone used fingerprints to get around. Beatty could relatively easily track Montag down. As a movie, it had to come to a climactic showdown at the end and that’s just what it did, albeit a fairly obvious one. Montag chose to sacrifice himself to save the idea of a free world. He’d have no idea if his sacrifice would work or if it would be worth it, but he made it anyway.
The problem is all the real action happens in the last 15 minutes of the episode. Part of me wonders whether this would have worked better as a limited series. Just 6-8 episodes would have been enough time to flesh out the stories, add a little drama into each one, and help us get to know Montag a lot better before he made the sacrifice. As a movie, it was slow in the middle and that meant the ending didn’t work as well as it could–although the ending was necessary for a movie, because I just can’t see the book’s working that well.
Overall, I do recommend the movie if you want another dystopian future movie that shows the problems with reliance on social media and technology. If you’re a loyal book reader, though, the whole movie is going to annoy you from start to finish. Those expecting a lot of action may find themselves skipping forward to the final 15-20 minutes of the movie.
What did you think about Fahrenheit 451? Was the adaption worth it for you? Share your thoughts in the comments below.