Oprah's Eyes Were Watching God, By Zora Neale Hurston

Oprah’s Eyes Did Not Watch

Oprah Winfrey changes the dynamic of Their Eyes Are Watching God, by creating her own script for the movie, instead of keeping the original dynamic from the novel. Janie’s strength had changed within herself and in her relationship with Jody; a love story and symbolism added; characters became missing: changing the story, and Eatonville and Everglades environments changed. Oprah Winfrey took and added ideas making it Oprah’s idea and twisting Zora Neale Hurston’s work.

Oprah took out Mrs. Robbins, Mrs. Turner and, Nunkie. Zora had Mrs. Robbins come in at the store making a fool of herself, but gets treated like a queen by her husband. “These men consider women too lowly to spend much money on and consider it appropriate to beat their wives when they don’t perform up to expectations Any man who won’t hit a women is thought to be a fool” (Shmoop). Janie, the perfect mayor wife, but she gets treated like dirt by Jody. Mrs. Turner had suggested to Janie that she should go with Mrs. Turner’s brother, because Mrs. Turner’s brother has white characteristics and Tea Cake does not. It does not show the black on black racism between Mrs. Turner and other black people in the town. “‘…Ah can’t stand

Oprah made it about Janie a love story between Tea Cake and Janie. Before Tea Cake fell when he got shot, he did his last hate act before he died. Tea Cake bit Janie on the arm. Oprah did not have Tea Cake bite Janie, because in Oprah’s version their love had become too strong for Tea Cake to bite Janie, making their relationship pure. “Janie does find love, but a love story, the novel is not” (Ceptus). Janie finds the love she has been longing for, but at the end she found herself not love. Zora gives an imagery, by Tea Cake hitting Janie just to show that Janie belongs to him, but Oprah gave a non-violence aspect to the storyline to show that Tea Cake would never hit