The Outsiders- My Comments

I enjoyed both the book and the movie because they gave me different imagery but somehow they connected and I liked it.
The book was quite visual and very detailed. It showed Ponboy's thoughts on situations and explanations too. Such situations and when Dally broke down in the hospital after Johnny's death, gave me an image of high drama, sadness and frustration.
After reading the book it was great of Mr.White to allow us to watch the film. As, in most film, unfortunately parts were cut out, but it was still understandable and fluent. Especially after reading the book, scenes such as the rumble between the Greasers and the Soc.s, were great to see in action!
However I thought the ending was a bit dim , it didn't make much sense! At the beginning of the film it showed Ponyboy writing his memoirs, OK, fair enough, but then at the end it showed him writing the exact same words again...! I thought it would have been a lot better and more understandable if, at the end of the film it had Ponyboy finishing his memoirs and have a full stop. But the actual ending of the movie did confuse me slightly.
There were quite a few similarities and differences that made an impact on the story, such a difference was when Ponyboy had a nightmare in Windrixville, but in the book he has a wonderful dream. The nightmare was about his parent's death, it showed the couple happy and then their car getting crushed by a train. Francis Ford Coppola did this to show that the Curtis's parents were dead. I thought it was logical but mean at the same time, as it made Darry's lashing out at Ponyboy a whole lot worse. Then there were differences that had no impact on the story, like, when Tim Shepard arrived at the cinema. During the film Tim turns up and complains about how Dally had slashed his tyres and how he wanted a "word". This seemed slightly out of the blue, and does not happen in the book. There were also similarities between the book and the film that seemed so close to how I pictured it, like when the Soc.s arrive after the film. Cherry took Pony to one side and said "If I see you and school and don't say hi, don't take it personal Pony, OK?", which is exactly what happened in the book. Her face seemed genuinely apologetic in the film, which is how I had pictured it as I was reading. It had the same dialogue and characters and obviously imagery. There was another similarity too, when Dally comes to see Pony and Johnny in Windrixville, as promised. He hands pony a letter from "the President" well actually Sodapop, it reads exactly word for word the same as in the book. The dialogue, imagery, characters and actions were all the same in this scene.
There was one difference, that I didn't mention as I felt it was really important as to have a place of its own. When Dally died, in the book it says he pulls out a fake gun, knowing he will be shot and crumples under a street light. I thought it would just show Dally being surrounded and pulling out a gun and the getting shot once and falling and then some sad music coming on. Whereas in the film, it showed Dally in the distance running and then you heard a gunshot, it was all very blurry. If it wasn't for reading the book I wouldn't have known it was Dally. I thought it was unclear and pathetic for such a dramatized in the book.
Overall I enjoyed both the Outsiders book and the film. Especially as S.E. Hinton wrote this aged only 17. AMAZING!! It's a really good story that was obviously easy for her to write, but it fabulous nonetheless. There should have been an Outsiders 2, that would have been great! I would really like to read more of her books.