Turtles All The Way Down has dropped for those with a Max subscription – and the author of the book, John Green, is celebrating how they brought his raw and authentic novel to the screen in a respectful way.
For those who haven't watched yet, Turtles All The Way Down is the latest coming-of-age film on streaming. It's about a character named Aza who suffers from OCD and anxiety. The movie is based on a book written by John Green, which is itself based on experiences with OCD Green has experienced himself. The novel has touched millions of hearts everywhere; as such, it was essential to make sure the film adaptation kept that same spirit and I recently got to ask Green about it.
Ryan Reynolds watched Turtles All The Way Down and we are loving his review of the film.
I asked John Green and the director of the film, Hannah Marks, about the proper representation of OCD in the film, considering Hollywood, in general, has not had the best track record for showing the realities of mental illness. Green said that he was afraid at first they might fall into the stereotypes viewers often see, but because of the director, they were able to balance the the story and the themes with entertainment properly:
I think Hollywood in general has done a pretty bad job of portraying OCD and other mental illnesses over the years. So I was very worried about those stereotypes. Either that the film might stigmatize people living with mental illness, or else that it might romanticize them. And finding that line about how you portray something as it is…finding that line is a big challenge for any storyteller. And I think we're just really lucky that Hannah held that throughout the entire process.
There are plenty of mental health movies out there about the subject, and even some television characters that allow viewers to really dive deep into their psyche. We could talk about the development of Ted Lasso's mental health or maybe even the complexities of films that talk about depression, for example.
But truthfully, it's rare when a coming-of-age film featuring a young woman is told accurately, often because Hollywood – as Green said – romanticizes mental illness, usually with younger people. Turtles All The Way Down, however, perfectly captures what it's like to live with anxiety and OCD in high school and life in general. It's why I personally recommend everyone see it as part of their appointment viewing on the 2024 movie schedule.
Hannah Marks also commented on the importance of getting the logistics right, saying that a big reason why they were able to keep the spirit of the original novel and make sure it was appropriately told was because of a personal connection that most of the cast and crew had with the book the film was based on:
I think all of our filmmakers involved, and our cast and crew, all dealt with some extent of anxiety or OCD, and felt really, really connected to the material. And also pretty much everybody had read the book going into the shoot. That was really important to me. I wanted everyone to read it.
Green praised that it was "incredible" to have that feeling and know that everyone had read the book and understood the meaning. In short, he felt like he knew the film would be in good hands.
It was incredible to get on set. And not only had the cinematographer read the book, but the drivers had read the book, the hair and makeup crew had read the book, the props team had read the book. And I knew from the beginning that the story was going to be well cared for because everybody in the crew cared about it so much.
There are so many upcoming book-to-screen adaptations that many fans are excited for, but personally, it'll be hard to beat Turtles All The Way Down, considering it was so well taken care of and adapted wonderfully.
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