What Effects Have Adaptation and Medium on the Original Story; A Comparison of 3 versions of Stephen King’s It

Abstract

This work mentions the difference between Stephen King’s book It (1986) and its two adaptations. It discusses the changes that need to be made in order to turn a book into a screenplay and takes into consideration the difference between television and the movie theatre as its medium in order to discuss the question what effects medium and adapting have on a story. The research question is answered by using Linda Hutcheon’s Theory of Adaptation as a guideline, along with additional articles. The horror genre along with its gruesome scenes lends the story of It to showing changes in acceptability of the story between 1986 and 2019. It becomes clear that not only the medium has an effect on the contents of the film, but society plays a role too. The change of media brings with it the ability to use noise and the ‘jumpscare’ in order to bring more fear to the viewer, but restricts the director in the sense that not all scenes can be shown to its audience. The freedom to view more gruesome content in the movie theatre, therefore comes with a restriction in viewers age. The passing of time brings an acceptability towards graphic scenes, but with it comes a change in the use of derogatory terms and gender roles. These changes stem from societal influence in media.