Their Eyes Were Watching God Film Analysis

Media: From T.V. to Books is a Changin' Thing

"There's two things everybody got to find out for theyselves: they got to find out about love, and they got to find out about living. Now, love is like the sea. It's a moving thing. And it's different on every shore." (Film) Janie, a young, strong willed, black woman, sets of on a life long journey to find her perfect shore in Their Eyes Were Watching God. While this is true for both the film and novel, some argue that the film excluded some of the most important pieces from the novel. However, details about Nanny, Leafy, Logan Killicks, and Jody, may have been unnecessary for the big screen.

Now, it is easy to see why it is argued that the film should have included more about
Nanny and Leafy. Nanny represented the threshold guardian, set up the marriage to Logan Killicks, and, because of Leafy, felt she had good reason to do so. While the film may not go out and explicitly show all the details of Janie's creation, it gives the audience subtle clues that work. Janie, upon arriving to Eatonville is noticeably lighter skinned than many of the other
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The film adds important touches here not seen in the book. Janie is required to help plow the fields, cut up seed potatoes, and slaughter farm animals. In the book, Logan does most of the outside work, calling Janie "spoilt"(Hurston 26). While these details may not have been in the book they highlight the lack of love in the Killicks' home and make it easier for the audience to agree with her decision to run away with Jody Starks.

While the movie may have left out a lot of background information some viewers considered crucial to the story, the film added other details that not only made up for those left out, but translated better on the big screen. Nanny, Leafy, and Logan Killicks, were not nearly as important to the love story of Tea Cake and Janie as later parts of the