Zora’s Eyes Were Watching in Disappointment Oprah Winfrey produced the movie Their Eyes Were Watching God based on the novel but she changed so many important details from the book in the movie that it is as if she has not read the book at all.
In the novel there are many vital symbols that Oprah removed while making the movie, one of those, the gate. When Janie kisses Johnny Taylor the gate appears between them; on one side of the gate the life of innocence and Janie’s childhood, a life of womanhood and self-exploration on the other. The gate symbolizes a new beginning that has an important meaning in the story. “Janie hurried out of the front gate and turned south. Even if Joe was not there waiting for her, the change was bound to do her …show more content…
Janie married because her grandmother wanted her too, also Janie stayed in a marriage with Joe that had emotionally, sometimes physically, abused her. In the making of the film, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Oprah portrayed Janie as a strong independent woman; In the 1930s there was no such thing as that. Janie's grandmother wanted Janie to have protection so she made her marry someone who would not put her to hard work. “Heah you got uh prop tuh lean on all yo bawn days, and big protection, and everybody got tuh tip dey hat tuh you and call you Mis’ Killicks…” (Hurston 23). This shows that Nanny would have never let Janie marry someone who would put Janie to work. Yet in the movie Logan makes Janie do hard work like plant in the fields, also Logan tells Janie to slaughter a pig. Joe talked big about the new town of black people and how he wished to make it better when Janie first met him. During the process of making the town better and building it up, Joe had Janie run the store and stay in the house. So when someone watches the movie and sees Janie lifting logs and helping build up the town it ought to come as a surprise. In another scene in the movie Janie gets offered a head rag to tie up her hair, Janie refuses to wear it by throwing it down and running out of the store to pack her things and leave Joe, “...You had nothing when I met you and you'll have less than nothing when you leave me Janie” (Their Eyes Were Watching God). By saying this Joe proves that Janie may not have the strong woman qualities she thinks she has. Janie may not have had strength in the beginning of the book but by the end she strengthened her emotions and found herself
In the novel there are many vital symbols that Oprah removed while making the movie, one of those, the gate. When Janie kisses Johnny Taylor the gate appears between them; on one side of the gate the life of innocence and Janie’s childhood, a life of womanhood and self-exploration on the other. The gate symbolizes a new beginning that has an important meaning in the story. “Janie hurried out of the front gate and turned south. Even if Joe was not there waiting for her, the change was bound to do her …show more content…
Janie married because her grandmother wanted her too, also Janie stayed in a marriage with Joe that had emotionally, sometimes physically, abused her. In the making of the film, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Oprah portrayed Janie as a strong independent woman; In the 1930s there was no such thing as that. Janie's grandmother wanted Janie to have protection so she made her marry someone who would not put her to hard work. “Heah you got uh prop tuh lean on all yo bawn days, and big protection, and everybody got tuh tip dey hat tuh you and call you Mis’ Killicks…” (Hurston 23). This shows that Nanny would have never let Janie marry someone who would put Janie to work. Yet in the movie Logan makes Janie do hard work like plant in the fields, also Logan tells Janie to slaughter a pig. Joe talked big about the new town of black people and how he wished to make it better when Janie first met him. During the process of making the town better and building it up, Joe had Janie run the store and stay in the house. So when someone watches the movie and sees Janie lifting logs and helping build up the town it ought to come as a surprise. In another scene in the movie Janie gets offered a head rag to tie up her hair, Janie refuses to wear it by throwing it down and running out of the store to pack her things and leave Joe, “...You had nothing when I met you and you'll have less than nothing when you leave me Janie” (Their Eyes Were Watching God). By saying this Joe proves that Janie may not have the strong woman qualities she thinks she has. Janie may not have had strength in the beginning of the book but by the end she strengthened her emotions and found herself