Ragtime Movie/Book Comparison

In 1981 when director Milos Forman took up the challenge of making the 1975 novel Ragtime written by E.L. Doctorow a movie, he had to make many changes. Some of these included rewriting whole characters so they were able to fit into the genre of a movie. Some of these include how Tateh in the movie is never a socialist, or how Harry Houdini is only shown once in brief. These absences and changes affect the …showed first 75 words of 695 total…

…showed last 75 words of 695 total…him shot. In the book however it leaves that to the imagination which in turn leaves Whitman’s reputation untarnished. In both versions however Coalhouse still dies a martyr. Even though movies usually change the story line most of the time the general feeling, moral, or story is still portrayed through them. Movies will continue to change the story in novels so that they can fit with in the constraints of their audience and genre.