Reply #50: I guess it would depend a lot on both the movie and the book in question [View All]

[cemaphonic]

In The Maltese Falcon, Hammett memorably describes Sam Spade as looking like "a blond Satan." But it's really pretty incidental to the character, and it's hard to imagine anyone doing a better job in that role than Bogart (in fact, that version was actually the third time the book had been adapted.) And the movie is so great that complaints of this nature just seem like serious nitpicking.

I see what you mean about Anne of Green Gables though. If looks (or for that matter, ethnicity) are a big part of the character's self image, or how others react to them, filmmakers should really try to match that. Philip Seymour Hoffman as Malcom X just wouldn't work, even with his considerable skill at submerging himself into his characters. Or for that matter, Harry Potter - red hair is an ethnic/class marker in the UK, so the Weaslys have got to be redheads.


I don't remember The Great Gatsby in enough detail (and haven't seen the movie) to be able to say whether it would bug me in that case or not.