Bridge to Terabithia

[Alix]

OK, any of you who haven't read the book and are planning to take your kids I am going to post a spoiler here. If you want to be surprised, stop reading now!







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OK, is this enough?









So, one of the main characters DIES!!! The girl DIES! I was so taken aback. I was really enjoying the movie til then and totally didn't see it coming! We don't take the girls out to movies all that often (too danged expensive!) so none of us were really too happy with THAT little twist. Sheesh. Wish someone had warned me.

 

[jkath]

I heard that as well, Alix. Bummer that they would do that! Same goes for the Eragon movie - a few of my kid's friends saw it and were horrified that they changed the story and also killed off one main character.

 

[Yakuta]

I took my boys for this yesterday and we all enjoyed the movie. I have not read the book by Katherine Paterson so I did not know that the story was changed.

Yes the girl dying was sad and my kids did sniffle but the good thing was that it was not very melodramatic. It was very subtle and handled really well by the directors and actors.

Overall it was a refreshing movie in days when schools are stuck in a rut to increase test scores and create scholars and forget to emphasize imagination and creative the key elements of development.

 

[Barbara L]

I have read the book (it has been awhile) and was also very surprised when the girl died. I haven't seen the movie. From the ads it doesn't even look like the same story. It seems (from the trailers I have seen) to be a fantasy. In the book Terabithia was a place in their imaginations, but we never saw it. The main story was the boy and girl getting to know each other. Is the movie that different from the book?

Barbara

 

[Alix]

I don't know if the story was changed, but I do know that unless you've read the books you wouldn't see that coming. We were expecting something entirely different and I was completely unprepared for that. Don't get me wrong Yakuta, I think the story was wonderful and I'd have wanted to see the movie anyway. My issue is that I was unprepared for this. And as someone who cries at Hallmark commercials I need to make sure I have tissue with me! Our car was pretty darned quiet on the way home from the movie. We were all expecting something quite different and likely would have chosen a different movie had we known what was coming.

 

[Alix]

Oops, Barbara, we were posting at the same time. No, Terabithia lived in their imaginations, and we just got to "see" what they were seeing. It was a good story in that regard.

So are you telling me she doesn't die in the book?

 

[Barbara L]

Yes, she did die in the book. That is why I said I was surprised when it happened. I was just reading along, blissfully unaware, and suddenly it happened. Shocked me!

BTW there is a great book for older kids (same age level as this one) called (I think) On My Honor. It deals with death also. It is a very touching book. It is about a couple of boys who sneak down to this river to go swimming, after one of the boys promises his dad he won't. His friend dies and he is left with the dilemma of what to do.

Barbara

 

[Alix]

I think I'll pass. Thanks anyway Barbara. Its one thing for someone to die in an epic battle in a fantasy novel, but I really don't much care for reading about death otherwise. My one exception to that rule is A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle.

 

[Barbara L]

I don't normally like reading about death either (unless it is a murder mystery or horror story, lol). I did like that book (not sure like is the right word!) though. The thought processes the boy goes through, whether to admit what he had done or to just let everyone think the other boy had gone by himself, etc. were interesting. Definitely not a fun book!

Barbara

 

[Yakuta]

Hi Alix, yes the movie got a bit sad at the end and yes if you are not expecting it you may be shocked but overall it was enjoyable for the most part.

As for death, I found the worse book to be Pilots Wife which is by Anita Shreve. It is part of Oprah's book club and it was literally making me sick. You can actually feel the emotions the wife goes through after her husbands death.

I lost my only brother at a young age of 25. It was totally out of a blue, an accident that no one can ever expect. Reading that book took me back to the emotions I felt when I lost him. If you don't have a strong stomach I suggest you stay away from it.

Death if coupled with other lighter moments is fine but if the entire story revolves around it then it's a bit much.

 

[Candocook]

I took my boys for this yesterday and we all enjoyed the movie. I have not read the book by Katherine Paterson so I did not know that the story was changed.

The story wasn't changed. I went with my 6 year old DGS without knowledge of the book and only previews of the movie which seemed to be quite different from the movie.
That said, it is an absolutely beautiful movie--for older children. It is very sad from many points of view. It is a movie with MANY messages. My DGS and his friend were fine--they liked the movie, but I think it is for older children.
The movie was written and produced by the son of the author. The book was originally written NOT about the son, but about something that did happen when he was 8--he had a very good friend who died in an accident. They, the mother and son, have kept the film rights for all these years. As they said, many who wanted the rights also wanted to "fix" it--as in not have Leslie die. The interview with these two was on NPR and was a wonderful treatise on death and coming to terms with it.

 

[Barbara]

I heard Michael Medved on the radio warning parents not to take the young ones - he thought the movie was being marketed to young people and it should not be. This must be what he was referring to.

did any of you see Pan's Labyrinth? I saw it yesterday and am still tense. Must say, it was well done.

 

[Yakuta]

Candocook, thanks for your insight. It indeed is a beautiful story and movie with many messages as you correctly stated. My boys are 9 and 6 and perhaps are not too young to be traumatized by the concept of death.

 

[Renee Attili]

I was first introduced to this story when I was about 10 or 11 at summer camp. The story was always with me as I grew up. So I guess it did affect me. But I don't think it was do to "Trauma" but do to the way the sadness was handled with expert writing and how enjoyable the rest of the story was. I read it again when I was about 25 and was struck with how I still really enjoyed it. I actually read the story again when I was 35. Still think it is one of the best books out on the market for both adults and children. I think it provides a way to discuss death with your kids without it being when someone they love has passed.

 

[Candocook]

Right on!! That is exactly what the author said in the interview also. I agree, it was a surprise, but the movie is excellent and beautiful.

 

[Renee Attili]

I can not wait to see the movie. I hope my imagination wasn't better than film.

 

[jpmcgrew]

How is this different than when Bambi's mother is shot in a film?I never watched because I can not take it,Then there is Old Yeller and numerous other films like Below 8 Degrees or something like that,The Yearling ,heck I cried at the 101 Dalmations movie with Glenn Close
I guess it is a way to get kids used to the concept of loss and death but it sucks non the less.Still great stories cause life is not perfect.

 

[Alix]

Sounds like you and I would need SEVERAL boxes of kleenex at the movies if we went together! We own Air Bud and I STILL cry when Josh has to send Buddy away.

 

[urmaniac13]

Okay, don't blame me for the tardiness, the film wasn't released here in Italy until last week...
On the whole it was really lovely, kids were great especially Lesley and the little sis of Jesse. I never had the opportunity to read the book (now I would love to...), but I just KNEW that Lesley would die or at least Jesse would never see her again during the scene of their last parting. The camera work was pretty much tell tale. But now it makes sense that she wasn't really supposed to die. I was wondering why she had to, now I wonder even more why this decision by the film makers.