South Messenger - July 24th, 2022

www.columbusmessenger.com
Film version does not do
justice to popular novel
The Reel Deal
Adapting a popular novel for another
medium can be a difficult undertaking, to
say the least.
Not only do the directorial and writing
teams have to determine which material
could be modified or cut altogether to make
the written word more viable on the screen
or stage, they also have to balance the
demands and expectation of the fervent
fanbase. If they manage to get it right, all
who worked on the adaptation will be
hailed as heroes and their names will be
etched onto the walls of the halls of greatness
forever. But if they manage to get it
wrong, however, all who worked on the
adaptation will be vocally eviscerated and
their names cast down into the pits of
social media hell and the depths of personal
grievance grudges for all of eternity.
In the case of the newly released adaptation
of wildlife scientist Delia Owens’
best-selling fictional novel “Where the
Crawdads Sing,” there is a very good
chance director Olivia Newman, screenwriter
Lucy Alibar and the primary cast of
actors will find themselves in the former
category, although their reception into the
hall may be a bit more tepid. While the cast
and crew have managed to make an incredibly
faithful adaptation of the 2018 atmospheric
murder-mystery, it does often stumble
in its transition from page to screen,
making it feel more inert and static than
viscerally eerie or threatening.
Like the novel on which it is based, the
film starts with the discovery of a body.
The year is 1969 and two boys riding along
the wooded pathways of a North Carolina
marsh find the partially submerged
remains of an adult male. It is later determined
to be the body of the town’s Golden
Boy Chase Andrews (Harris Dickinson), a
former high school football hero with an
apparent sterling reputation. Local law
enforcement officials initially surmise he
fell to his death from the rickety fire tower
after a night of heavy drinking, but a trip
to the local bar and grill soon has them
changing their tune.
Since the Clark family moved to the
semi-affluent area decades prior, the townies
have largely treated them as pariahs.
Deeply poor and living in isolation, they
are jeered at and mocked, especially the
youngest child Kya (played by Jojo Regina
and then Daisy Edgar-Jones) who becomes
something of a myth when word spreads
she was abandoned by her family.
Derisively referred to as “The Marsh Girl,”
this “half-woman, half-wolf missing link”
becomes the town’s prime suspect in
Chase’s untimely demise.
“She probably put a spell on him, lured
him out there, and killed him,” says one
bar patron as they talk about the rumored
and illicit relationship between the two.
Despite having just innuendoes and ageold
biases to go on — no fingerprints, footprints,
or other materials
were found at
the death scene — the
police officers decided
to arrest Kya and
charge her with his murder.
Dedra
Cordle
Like the book, the film switches between
the past and the present, flashing between
Kya’s lonely upbringing as she tries to raise
herself in the wild marshes, her first blush
of teenage love with the well-meaning
neighbor Tate Walker (Taylor John Smith),
her contemptuous relationship with the
two-faced Chase, and her time on trial for
his murder. But what works on the page
doesn’t also work on the screen, and this set
up is a primary example of it not working
the way it was intended.
While I was not the biggest fan of Owens’
“Where the Crawdads Sing,” I enjoyed the
atmosphere and her use of ambiguity as it
pertains to the murder-mystery portion of
the plot. In the novel, there are multiple
suspects in Chase’s death and enough conflicting
witness statements to muddy the
waters of who was seen where and when. In
the film, the finger is pointed at Kya and
only Kya, striping all sense of ambiguity
and presenting a much less complicated
case during the integral courtroom scenes.
And therein lies the main issue I had
with the theatrical adaptation of “Where
the Crawdads Sing”, the stripping down of
the hidden grittiness of the book. Though
lushly capturing the weird majesty of
marshes and swamps and the creatures
that call it home, the film douses everything
with a sense of beauty, including the
childhood home of Kya. In my mind, this
cabin was a holler shack, the kind I saw
while traveling to a Kentucky town to see
my paternal family’s own holler shack (a
truly great vacation). In the film, which
was produced by Reese Witherspoon’s
Hello Sunshine media company, it looks
barely weathered and magical, like you
would find fairy lights strung up throughout
— it was genuinely a surprise when
they never showed up.
With the ambiguity of the murder and
grittiness of the people and the environment
paired back, “Where the Crawdads
Sing” often feels like a fancy Hallmark or
Lifetime movie, designed to be pleasant to
look at and unoffensive and unchallenging.
Though efficiently acted, filmed, and written,
there is something missing within the
spirit of this adaptation but not enough I
would say to turn away or turn off dedicated
fans of the book or newbies to the world
of Kya Clark and Delia Owens.
Grade: C+
Dedra Cordle is a Messenger staff writer
and columnist.
July 24, 2022 - SOUTH MESSENGER - PAGE 7
HTHS Ranger Athletic Hall of Fame inductees
The Hamilton Township High School
Athletic Hall of Fame will hold its 2022
Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Sept.
2 prior to the start of the varsity football
game against Heath. The inductees are:
•Keith Cupp, class of 2001. A wrestler
whose record stands at 80-0 including winning
his second state title during his senior
season. He went on to the prestigious
National Wrestling Coaches Association
and competed in the Senior National
Championships. After defeating multiple
state champions and one four time state
champion, he finished as national runnerup
after a close one-point decision in the
finals. He went on to win an NAIA
National Title for Cumberland College,
becoming the first national champion in
their school history.
•Brandon Mancuso, class of 2001. He
participated in basketball for two years
and football and track & field for all four
years. While he showed excellent skills on
the football field and earned a varsity letter
all four years, his achievements in
track in various running events are where
he excelled. At the state track meet in 2001
Hann Farm's Market
'SWEET CORN'
IS HERE!
he finished second in 110’s (by four hundredths
of second) and took first place in
the 300 hurdles.
•Austin Niemann, class of 2014. He
burnt up the track in the 400m and 800m
dashes as well as various relays. He holds
the school record for both indoor and outdoor
for the 200m, 400m, and 800m, 4x2
relay, and 4x4 relay. He is the HTHS
Alumni Stadium record holder for the
800m. He was a state qualifier, Division I,
in the 400m in both his junior and senior
years and was a state runner-up in the
400m his senior year.
•Sue McKnight, class of 1986, is this
year’s Ranger Award of Merit winner. She
has volunteered in athletics for 30-plus
years, which started with taking tickets for
all middle school football games and moved
on from there. Now you can see her smiling
face at both middle and high football
games, volleyball matches, basketball, and
all home track meets. She has been
employed by the district since 2002 and is
currently the head cook at the middle
school.
4600 Lockbourne Road, Columbus, Ohio
HOURS: Mon. - Sat. 10am-6pm Sun. Noon - 5pm
(614)-491-0812
hannfarmsmarket.com Hann-Farm-Market-LLC