Bridge to Terebithia

It was up to him to pay back to the world in beauty and caring what Leslie had loaned him in vision and strength.

- Katherine Paterson, "Bridge to Terabithia"

Bridge to Terabithia was one of my favourite books growing up. It was introduced to me in grade 5 (1996/97) as a reading assignment. I was not excited to read it at first. But Katherine Paterson has a great sense of her reader, knowing they can connect with Jesse in any way, shape or form. That's what drew me into Bridge to Terabithia - Jesse Aarons, Jr. His story captivated me as I was able to relate to the pressures he is under and the struggles he faces. 

As I grew up I often thought about how this novel would be adapted to film, as most of my favourite books were already films or turning into them. But when David Paterson, son of Katherine Paterson, and Jeff Stockwell created the screenplay for Bridge to Terabithia, they did not consult me first.

Director Gabor Csupo captured the basic emotion of the novel throughout, providing excellent visuals in setting but with a modern take (as the book was published in 1977). The Aarons household, farm and life are emulated exactly as I imagined - poor, bleak and hard-up. But the light in Jesse Aarons' life emerges when Leslie Burke arrives, and the momentum picks up in both story and emotion.

I know I am saying emotion a lot in this post, but the novel provides a lot of it. And while I try to remain unbiased based on reading the novel, I was looking for the emotional aspects of the novel to remain in the novel. And I think because this is a Disney film, there's an over-emphasis on visual effects and theatrics when it comes to "Terabithia", the imaginary land developed by Jesse and Leslie. I understand - it's a children's novel and is adapted into a children's movie; however, the film has such adult themes - death, grief, rebellion - that aren't always understood by youth. Escaping into a world of imagination is not childish, and letting children have a childhood is important, but I think what irritates me with this film is the interpretation of Terabithia. It's sort of how I imagined the world to be, but was too over the top in terms of theatrics. The battle between Jesse, Leslie and The Giant Troll, as well as May Belle's entrance into Terabithia, are too drawn out in showing the character's interaction with the imaginary world. It's nice to have an imagination though - guess mine's stifled by sitting at a desk all day.

Overall I would have liked to see a more (I guess) serious interpretation of the story be taken. The themes of the story are ones that children have a tough time understand, so making the film into a imaginary land is good to draw in the audience, but takes away from the overall story. But that's biased - I read and thoroughly appreciate the novel, so it's hard to keep my opinion separate on this one.

Although there is a generation that is very familiar with the book, if you are over 40, then you probably haven't, and we need to reach them. [...] Everyone who read the book and sees the trailer says, 'What is this? This is nothing like the book. What are you doing, Dave?' And I say, 'You know what you're seeing is 15 seconds of a 90-minute film. Give me a little leeway and respect. Go see it, and then tell me what you think.

- David Paterson (son of author Katerine Paterson) on Bridge to Terabithia's adaptation