Any book that turns into a film has to compromise and
adapt from the original narrative to make an appealing screenplay as they are
targeting a different set of audience. The book itself received a Pulitzer
Prize and McCarthy was recognised globally for his epic novel. To have already
gained so much attention, an adaption of a film would no doubt be a success as
their was already a fan base, therefore the question would be is how to turn it
into a blockbuster?
The
imagery of a bleak and hopelessness world was translated well in the movie and
makes a strong impact on the audience. The film fundamentally acts as an visual
aid that the reader may not want to see, but it also falls in the blockbuster
category as it created such sublime images of an dystopian world.
The relentlessness of such a
despondent world with such a spectacle of the world can also be described as
‘disaster porn’. Horror films are commonly associated with disaster porn and it
is suggested how it is used as a technique to dramatise media. Michael Chabon argues
how The Road can be read as a horror narrative and a strong element that
supports this is how the narrative centres on moral conflict[1].
The man and child both struggle with the meaning of life and how they as humans
should live up to the moral codes[2].
Thus this element of humanity worst fear and shattered ideologies all make an
entertaining blockbuster.
By omitting certain sub-plots or key
scenes in the film; it can reveal a lot. A key scene that would could have
emphasised the ‘disaster porn’ element is the omission of when the travellers
consume the wife’s baby. Obviously this scene raises such direct issues of
cannibalism and something the audience may not want to see but it questions the
reader of how far humans would act in a situation like this. The means of
survival has resorted to animal behaviour, which is something so ugly and
uncharacteristic of human actions. Although the producers convey McCarthy's main concerns their adaption excludes a vital scene which I believe hinders the overarching message of the novel.
I would agree with you that 'The Road' falls neatly into the category of the Blockbuster. However I do not think that excluding scenes such as the cannibalism you stated hinders the overall message. I think it is quite clear from the film, how far humans would be willing to go under those circumstances. For example the scene in the film where humans are found in the basement of a house is particularly harrowing. Although I think the main problem is that nobody actually knows how far humans would be willing to go. It is a very scary thought that humans could one day turn into cannibals due to a dire situation.
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