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  • Essay / The role of George C. Wolfe in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

    The Immortal Life of Henrietta LacksThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, is one of the books most popular since its release. was published in 2010 because it told a very complex, but also very fascinating, story about the life of Henrietta Lacks, a person whose cells benefited everyone alive today. However, the film's director, George C. Wolfe, took some liberties with the film that I believe compromised the integrity of the story Skloot was trying to tell. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay One of the most notable differences between the book and the film was Rebecca Skloot's involvement in the film. Even though Skloot was indeed in the book, she tried to keep her personal opinions and emotions out of the book and focus on Henrietta and her family. While I realize that the interactions with Skloot and Deborah as well as the rest of her family tell viewers a lot about the family and their characters, Skloot should not have been the main focus of the film. It almost felt like it was a movie about Skloot's journey to writing the book and the struggles she went through researching Henrietta, instead of focusing on Henrietta's life , what happened to his cells and to Henrietta's family. I really think this takes away from the real message of the book that Skloot was trying to get across. The film focused largely on whether it was right or wrong to take Henrietta's cells and what kind of consent should have been there. However, in the book, Skloot presents it in a complicated way that makes us question the decisions of the doctors who worked at Johns Hopkins, without seeing them as completely wrong. The film makes it seem like the doctors who worked at Johns Hopkins and the institution in general are the devil and that it's not really about consent in a very straightforward way. All the doctors and nurses are portrayed as very condescending, dry and apathetic people. I think it also takes away from how Skloot wanted the story to be told. There were many other small differences between the book and the film that affected how the story as a whole was understood. Skloot spends a lot of time talking about the difficulties that Deborah and her siblings faced following the death of their mother. She explains in detail how their stepmother was very cruel and beat them every day, the father didn't care much for them, how Deborah was sexually assaulted, and much more. However, we only get about 1 minute of flashbacks to these pivotal events in the film. I think it really took away from the story of the family and the difficulties they faced after Henrietta's death, which may have left people who haven't read the book a little confused. Additionally, an important turning point in the book was when Deborah finally let Skloot see her mother's files, as this symbolized that Deborah had finally completely let Skloot in, but this didn't seem like such a significant turning point in the film . Keep in mind: This is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay However, if we ignore some of the differences from the book and treat the film almost as a separate entity, it is an exceptional film. The acting, in particular that.