Do you ever notice when you read a certain book and watch the movie, there are differences that are important in the book but not shown in the movie? Much like the fiction novel, Ellen Foster, written by Kaye Gibbons, there is a major contrast between the book and the movie. There are two aspects of the book and the movie that differ from one another. The death of mama and the way Ellen approaches court are two important examples that occur. Throughout the many differences between the book and the movie, one difference that stands out is the way mama died. In the book, mama dies in her sleep because she overdoses on too many heart pills. Ellen and mama lie in bed and, mama’s heart stops. Ellen tells mama not to worry and says, “You can rest …show more content…
In the novel, Ellen is in court because they are deciding where she should live since both of her parents are deceased. Ellen wants an opinion, but all she does is get talked over and ignored. Sitting in the courtroom Ellen says, “I was in my seat frustrated like when my teacher makes a mistake on the chalkboard, and it will not do any good to tell her because so quick she can erase it all and onto the next problem,” (Gibbons 56). As stated, Ellen is in court due to her living situation. She explains how she is frustrated much like if a teacher were to make a mistake on the board and not know, but erase it too quickly to understand. Now onto the movie. Ellen actually stands up and speaks her mind on how she does not want to live with mama’s mama and how miserable she would be. This changes the whole scene of Ellen in the courthouse. This also modifies the audience's perspective wholly due to the fact that Ellen stood up for herself in the movie rather than in the book. In conclusion, we see many differences throughout, and when Ellen is in the court is one of the many that can be seen through the novel and movie. Perpetually, there are changes that occur left and right in the novel and film, some of those even relating back to connections. Ellen is sexually assaulted and abused in the book by her father. Ellen is in her room with daddy, and she says “Get