Flowers for Algernon VS Charly Review and Comparison

I read Flowers for Algernon and I watched the movie Charly. The concepts that intrigued me most in the book were 2 Charlies, Charlie’s romances, the family, and the ethics of the surgery. I was very excited to see the movie and draw the comparisons but I was really let down. They left out one of my whole sections; the family. I also noticed that they left out the Warren State Home, Fay, and they showed Charlie’s intelligence for a very short time. Why did they leave all this out? Why did they cut out some of the richest parts of the book? The most common answer is because they have time constraints. In my opinion, that is not a good enough excuse considering the substantial amount of detail they left out.

The movie felt very short and they could have added so much more detail especially because the movie wasn’t that long. It was only 1 43 hour and 43 minutes. Not only did they leave out some very rich sections, but they altered the material that they did use in a way that really didn’t compliment the book. Another thing that was cut very short was Charlie’s progress. I completely understand that the audience would get bored if they spent 30 minutes of screentime on Charlie’s progress, but one second Charlie was mentally delayed and the next he was already deteriorating from the peak of his intelligence. Another thing I did not agree with was that Algernon’s deterioration was not mentioned at all so the audience could not make any inferences as the plot moved on. Leaving out this detail was a creative decision but I definitely would have included Algernon’s deterioration to help the audience have a better understanding of what is going on and what is going to happen.

In the book, I noticed that Charlie’s thinking and interaction in the book was more scientific and poetic but in the film it was very focused on his romances and it was hard to follow his thinking and progress. Another thing they altered a lot was Charlie’s sexual state. In the book, Charlie’s sexual state is nowhere near the level of his intellectual state, so when he was practically raping Alice, it really changed my view of his character completely. By not adding that very small detail, the whole process of Charlie’s progression is changed because one of the main components it that his sexual state is nowhere near his physical and intellectual state.

If I hadn’t read the book, I may have enjoyed the movie a little bit more because I would have had no comparison, but I probably would have been completely lost trying to follow the storyline.

One thing that I really enjoyed was the storyline (even though the film destroyed some of the best parts). The storyline really saved the movie and the exceptional acting on Cliff Robertson (Charlie)’s  part. Charlie’s acting was very good and was my favourite. It is no surprise he won an award, but I did not enjoy Dr. Strauss’ acting. A change I did enjoy about Dr. Strauss is that they made him a woman. It was a little odd to adjust to and the fact that the acting was not up to par just made my opinion worse. I do however understand why they made it a woman; so that it would be easier to differentiate P. Neumer and Dr. Strauss. So that was a very good call to make.

Ideas Book Film

2 Charlies	Charlie describes his hallucinations Lots of scenarios of when the second Charlie is watching him Second Charlie is watching and following all throughout Charlie’s progression Charlie doesn’t seem terrified of his hallucinations; they just hold him back	Second Charlie is standing still and staring Charlie down everywhere he goes Second Charlie is only shown as Charlie is rapidly deteriorating Charlie is terrified of his hallucinations When Charlie is back in his room, he hallucinates his old room/ life
Charlie’s Romances	Fay Reluctant with Alice because of the second Charlie and his past experiences/ memories Charlie’s sexual state is not at the same level as his physical and intellectual state	Charlie basically rapes Alice- does not hesitate Charlie doesn’t seem to have any issues with his sexual state as his progression moves along
Family	Many details and memories Lots of insight Follows family and their story very closely and relates it to Charlie’s progress	Not mentioned
Ethics of the Surgery	Hilda (the nurse who was moved) said that the surgery is extremely unethical and that it is against god’s word Alice tells Charlie he is changing (Overall characters are not particularly in favour of the surgery)	Characters seem to not have a very strong opinion of the ethics

“A big part of the story is lost when it becomes a movie.”

Normally I am not one who reads the book before seeing the movie, and I normally enjoy the movie more. This is not the case for Flowers for Algernon and Charly. I feel that people who have not read the book and have only seen the movie are really missing out.