“We carry with us, as human beings, not just the capacity to be kind, but the very choice of kindness.” – RJ Palacio

“Fate smiled and destiny laughed, as she came to my cradle, know this child will be able, laughed as my body she lifted, know this child will be gifted with love, with patience and with faith she'll make her way.” – Wonder, Natalie Merchant 

 

Imagine being a wonder in a world full of apathy. This is what life for young August Pullman is like. Being born with genetic malfunctions turned him into a medical miracle, but now this wonder has to face the wrath of teenage normalcy and go to middle school. Working in a camp for special needs children, as a teenager, Natalie Merchant was prompted to write the 1995 hit single, “Wonder”. This lyrical masterpiece gave birth to RJ Palacio’s novel with the same name; both of these centred around the life of children, who are differently-abled marvels, and teach us a lesson on compassion and embracing differences. Now a major motion picture, it is a visual and spiritual treat, since it manages to capture the essence of the book as well as maintaining its originality. However, some movies manipulate the plot to suit their own monetary ambitions. A clear example would be the movie Twilight, with a vampire shimmering in sunlight and a girl unable to make her own decisions.

 

When readers tend to watch cinematic adaptations, they are mostly disappointed due to the lack of justice it does to the quintessence and spirit of the novels. Having said that, this particular one in question was a pleasant surprise since it captured the thematic element of the author’s intentions, but on the flip side it had some disparities as well. Unlike the book, the movie revolved solely on August, expanding on Via’s metaphor of Auggie as the sun, the book explored each character’s depth as a planet, while the movie failed to do so. For example, most actions of all characters were limited to how it affected Auggie and they were not treated as separate characters but an audience and as consultants. 

 

Many important scenes were also cut out from the movie. In the book, Auggie gets new hearing aids, which completely make his tipsy curvy life go around in circles, it completely changed the way he carried himself, but the movie failed to bring this scene to life. Auggie visits Summer and says something that gives us a life example of how upbringing can influence a person’s behavior; “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” Julian really evolved as a character when his grandmother told him the story of her life as a Jew in hiding during the holocaust, and how she was saved by a disabled boy that she used to bully. This scene played a vital role in the development of Julian as a character, however, people who would’ve only seen the move, missed out on this particular aspect. The influence of Justin on Via, Jack and August was downsized to the point of negligibility in the movie. The role that he played as Olivia’s confidant was neglected throughout the movie, but the author made sure that he was given appropriate representation in the book.

 

Despite its flaws, it made sure to keep the soul of the movie alive. The dialogues spoken in the movie were delivered with ease and accuracy. Auggie was exceptionally well portrayed, and his personality was beautifully encapsulated in the film. Auggie’s syndrome wasn’t glorified and made to seem pitiful but the empowerment was also inadequate. As mentioned, Auggie’s character was played meticulously and was marvellously portrayed. 

 

On the other hand, some characters were downplayed and minimized. For an instance, Miranda was shown as a humble character in the novel but in the movie, she came off as mean. The actors could’ve been cast more inclusively since the book had diverse characters, for example, instead of Julia Roberts, an actual Brazilian actress could’ve been cast since Isabelle Pullman was born and brought up in Brazil. Via was portrayed as a stronger character in the book. As mentioned all the other characters in the book were shown to have individual lives, and not everything revolved around August. We actually came to know what pushed the characters to do what they did, and not only how their actions affected August but how they impacted them as well. The book's approach towards individuality was more holistic. 

 

All in all, the movie changed and removed a lot of scenes, and also made the characters seem way different from what they were seen as in the novel. The book taught us to embrace our differences and celebrate who we are. With this book and its movie adaptation, we are left with a delicious palette cleanser as compared to the bitter aftertaste that generic movies have to offer. If we see the broader picture the criticism falls short of how successful the movie was as a whole. It is unimaginable that a movie can make you feel the same way as the book did. 

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Although, we can safely say that Wonder lives up to its name. Another thing we can safely say is that 2020 has been a miserable year, but in the same spirit as of this book promoting love and kindness, we hope Mr. Tushman’s words make it a little better, “It’s what you’ve done with your time, how you’ve chosen to spend your days, and whom you’ve touched this year. That, to me, is the greatest measure of success”

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