“We all end up in diapers” (Roth CCBB). This is an intriguing quote by the character Daisy in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button about how everyone, aging normally or reversed, ends up the exact same way. Eric Roth’s beautifully written screenplay for the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button took F. Scott Fitzgerald’s original short story by storm. Fitzgerald’s approach to his story was whimsical and comedic, but very far-fetched and not relatable like Roth’s movie version. CCBB director David Fincher played a huge role in making the film a success by incorporating the essence of the characters, makeup, wardrobe and location and making them all come to life. The actors in the film nailed their parts by evoking vitality and emotion from the audience. Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, who play Benjamin and Daisy, gave solid heartwarming performances that put the icing on the cake. The page to screen adaptation of CCBB was a complete success, which makes my decision easy to say that the film version is better than the short story. Many page to screen adaptations have not measured up to their book versions or did not get as much praise as the books received. CCBB is quite a cinematic fete because it one of the few movies that is more enjoyable than the book. As a reader, you might be wondering, how is this possible? It is possible by three major points that note how the plot of the film version of CCBB is more appealing to audiences than the story is. The film draws more emotion from its viewers, evokes vitality and it is more relatable to real life. The first point is how Benjamin’s aging backwards is an “illness” and it takes on a more serious role in the movie rather than a comedic role in the story. The second point is how Benjamin’s and Daisy’s relationship is full of love and complexity, and it is more relatable than Benjamin and Hildegarde’s in the story. The third and final point is how positive Benjamin’s life experience is throughout the movie. His mother Queenie adores him, the people around him accept him, and he is not shunned like his character is in the story. Fitzgerald’s story is fantastic, but it is comedic, whimsical, and far-fetched. The story is not easily relevant to everyday life. Roth’s screenplay enhances the vitality of the story, builds upon it with excellent emotions, and it appeals to audiences more because of its heartwarming plot and mood.
Benjamin is born in his mid-eighties and is portrayed as a wrinkly old baby in the film. His mother dies giving birth to him, and his father, Thomas Button, who seems scared out of his wits, takes Benjamin and drops him at the doorstep of a nursing home. A couple who runs the nursing home, Queenie and Tizzy, discover Benjamin on their steps. Queenie falls in love immediately with Benjamin and decides to make him her “honorary” son. She consults with a doctor on staff at the nursing home and he explains, “His body is failing him before it has begun.” (Roth CCBB). Queenie’s enthusiasm to care for Benjamin and her devotion to him evoke sentiment from audiences, and we become emotionally linked to the film because we feel happy and sad at the same time. The audience has sympathy for Benjamin because of his condition, and then they are delighted that Queenie takes him under her wing.
Benjamin fits right into the nursing home, and the elderly occupants welcome him with open arms. Queenie introduces Benjamin to everyone, and an elderly woman exclaims that she can take care of any child and she takes one look at him and says, “He looks just like my ex-husband!” (Roth CCBB) Her reaction is wonderful and comedic, and there is no sense of disgust in her voice. He starts his life with many of the physical disabilities of a geriatric person. In the film he does not stand out like a sore thumb like he does in Fitzgerald’s story. “It was actually a stroke of brilliance by Roth to place Benjamin in such a setting for his formative years” (Tapley pg. 1). No one judges Benjamin as he progressively grows larger, and they all seem loving and accepting of him. Queenie has much to do with this because she is loving and supportive towards him. One night when Queenie and Benjamin are in their bed’s sleeping and Benjamin is worrisome and asks, “Momma? Some days, I feel different than the day before.” Queenie soothes him by saying, “Everyone feels different about themselves one way or another, but we all goin’ the same way” (Roth CCBB).
In the film, Benjamin experiences love at first sight with Daisy. They connect from the beginning and Daisy even as a young child accepts him for who he is. They experience a rendezvous in a make-shift tent in the nursing home at night, and Daisy asks, “Are you sick?” Benjamin replies, “They said I was gonna die soon but, maybe not.” Then Daisy realizes he is just a child, and says, “I knew you were different” (Roth CCBB). She was very excited to find out that he was just like her, and she was not judging him at all. They continue to bond through their “childhood”, and when he leaves for war she says, “Send me a postcard from everywhere” (Roth CCBB). She is very adamant about him keeping in touch with her. Daisy is always accepting of him and that is the main reason the spark between the two always stays alive. Benjamin pursues a relationship with Daisy throughout the film, and this ignites emotion from the audience because people, women especially, love to be pursued by someone with undying devotion for them. When Benjamin and Daisy have a full blooming relationship before she becomes pregnant, they have a conversation about their future. Daisy says, “Would you still love me if I were old and saggy?” Benjamin smiles and replies, “Would you still love me if I were young and had acne? When I’m afraid of what’s under the bed? Or if I end up wetting the bed?”(Roth CCBB). Their conversation shows how at peace they both are with Benjamin’s odd age reversal.
In Fitzgerald’s story, there is still love at first sight between Benjamin and Hildgarde, and she accepts him at first. A young Hildegarde is completely smitten with an “older” Benjamin when they first meet and she says, “I like men of your age. Young boys are so idiotic. Men of your age know how to appreciate women” (Fitzgerald Ch. 5). She also made this premonitory comment about marriage, “I’ve always said that I’d rather marry a man of fifty and be taken care of than marry a man of thirty and take care of him” (Fitzgerald Ch. 5). After he starts to grow younger, Hildegarde starts to despise him. She realizes that she is babysitting a younger man. Benjamin returns the same emotion as he falls out of love for Hildegarde because he loses his attraction for her. Hildegarde stops supporting Benjamin, and as an audience we are sad that this is not the beautiful romance it once was and the vitality is lost.
The mood of the movie is positive and inspiring. It gives people hope that even if you have a deformity or if you are unusual people will still accept you with open arms. Roth’s screenwriting enhances this by creating characters that are loving and full of life. In Fitzgerald’s story it seems that if you are different, you are hidden away and forced to be like everyone else. Queenie is always supportive of Benjamin, who always says this when Benjamin is feeling blue, “Baby, you are just different” (Roth CCBB). Her words are encouraging and caring, and as an audience we are drawn into the warmth. She welcomes him as her son right away and that also pulls at our emotional heart strings. She is a wonderful mother to him and loves him from the beginning. “He is a child of god” (Roth CCBB).
Outsiders for the most part do not bat an eye at him, mainly because in the beginning he looks like a tiny old man, but also because they might not know the situation. When Benjamin accepts a position to work on a tugboat, Captain Mike does not care about his age or appearance, just as long as he can do the work. Captain Mike notices that Benjamin is appearing younger and healthier by the year, and Benjamin sums it up to “You are always drunk Captain” (Roth CCBB). He does not pass harsh judgment on him and just laughs the situation off.
When Daisy is faced with the life changing event of her pregnancy, she still wants Benjamin in her and her daughter’s life. She accepts the consequences of him aging and still supports him and wants to be with him. “We will make this work” (Roth CCBB). Daisy’s commitment to Benjamin is more appealing to audiences, unlike Fitzgerald’s story where after a certain age Benjamin is thrown away by everyone closest to him.
Benjamin has to hide his age throughout his life in Fitzgerald’s story. Every age he surpasses he is still not quite good enough for those around him. The story is a fun and comical read, but its appeal to readers is lost by the lack of emotion. When Benjamin is born, Mr. Button tries to conceal his age by cutting his beard, dying his hair, and dressing him in children’s clothing. “Even after the new addition to the Button family had his hair cut short and then dyed to a sparse unnatural black, he had his face shaved so close it glistened, and had been attired in small boy clothes, it was impossible for Button to ignore the fact that his son was an excuse for a first family baby” (Fitzgerald Ch. 3). His wife Hildegarde wants him to stop growing younger, and thinks he can change his age by choice. His grown son Roscoe becomes disgusted with a younger Benjamin and wants him to act older. “You better turn right around and start back the other way. This has gone too far to be a joke. It isn’t funny any longer. You—you behave yourself” (Fitzgerald Ch.9). It seems in Fitzgerald’s story no one ever truly accepts Benjamin.
The “Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is a hit either way, on paper or on a movie screen. The movie however appeals to more people because of its vitality and emotional connections. The move is relatable to life in the aspects of being different, being in love, and experiencing the great joys in life. “In the original version Benjamin is born as a fully formed 87 year old at 5ft. 8in. and virtually smoking a cigar. I thought that would have leant itself to comedy and I didn’t want to write a comedy, per se. I wanted to write something… a little more meaningful” (Roth Interview).
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Dir. David Fincher. Screenplay by Eric Roth. Perf. Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. Paramount Picturers and Warner Bros. Pictures, 2008. DVD.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” Tales of the Jazz Age. New York: Scribner & Sons, 1922. American Studies at the University of Virginia. University of Virginia. Web. 28 Oct. 2009. <http://xroads.virginia.edu>.
Roth, Eric. “Interview: Eric Roth.” Interview. Www.guardian.co.uk. Guardian News and Media Limited. Web. 28 Oct. 2009. <www.guardian.co.uk>.
Tapley, Kristopher. “Page to Screen: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” by Eric Roth.” Rev. of “Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Web log post. Www.incontetion.com. N.p., 26 Aug. 2008. Web. 28 Oct. 2009. <http://www.incontention.com>.
