For me, Outsiders: Liked the book and the movie, but for different reasons.
That Was Then: Don’t like either one.
Rumble Fish: Liked the book a lot, \*\*love\*\* the movie.
Tex: Love the book, hate the movie.
Now, to clarify. I was in middle school when the Outsiders movie came out, and at the time, I hated it mainly because I was a book purist. Later on, though, I came to appreciate the actors’ interpretations. See, in the book, we see everything from Pony’s POV, so we’re shown Darrel as a grumpy control freak, and Dallas as a misunderstood saint. With Patrick Swayze playing Darrel, though, I get his grit and determination, and I can sense how much he gave up for his brothers. Check the look he gives the leader of the Soc’s — his former teammate — just before the rumble. And Matt Dillon played Dallas in a way that showed just how much he let his bitterness get in his way.
Still, it bugs because so many little moments had to be left out. “‘Well hell, I can’t clean it up and Soda doesn’t, so I guess that leaves you.’ He was giving me one of his looks. ‘All right, that don’t leave you…'” Still, could have been worse.
That Was Then, I don’t have much to say about it. Hinton was so far off base with her anti-drug propaganda. LSD does not mess up people’s chromosomes, and speed/downers are not “a step in \[the\] direction” of acid. In fairness, it’s scary to think that Bryon spent who knows how long living with a dealer, and going out and about with him. I would have kicked Mark out of the apartment, and told him “You’re on your own now,” but I would not have dropped a dime on him. And certainly not to somehow bring balance to the Force after what happened to M&M. Never seen the movie, and don’t want to, if M&M was turned into a nasty punk.
Rumble Fish: This is like her “art” book, but she did well at it. And it became an art film! Great economy of story; fantastic, trippy visuals.
Tex: Now this is the book that Outsiders wanted to be. Tex is a knockout of a character. The laziest student ever, but he sees things so clearly. “Maybe being popular and being liked ain’t necessarily the same thing.” There should be a way to channel his energy. The movie, OTOH, completely defanged all the characters, and watered down the conflict.
by Charlotte_Braun