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| Chris Colfer - "Carson Philips" |
It’s time for you to throw your hands in the
air, Chris Colfer fans, because “Struck By Lightning” the movie is finally out
for our personal viewing! It wasn’t too long ago (November 20th
2012) that Chris finally released “Struck by Lightning”, his first novel and
second published work thus far, as a prelude to his movie that was released one
month later (in most states anyway).
“Struck
By Lightning” is light-hearted and easy-to-read, and it revolves around the
main character, Carson Philips (Chris Colfer). Carson is a snarky yet driven
young writer hoping to get out of his small town and into his dream school,
Northwestern, before he becomes the head editor at the New Yorker. Bottom line
is, he’s really nothing but a self-righteous yet motivated teenager with big
dreams.
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| "Carson Philips" |
Carson’s
character is not unlike ‘Kurt Hummel’, a character from Glee that struggles
with teen-drama and conflicts of his own. Still, I think that this is to be
expected, really – both ‘Kurt Hummel’ and ‘Carson Philips’ are based off Chris
Colfer’s actual character, anyway. At least Chris is sticking with what he
knows before he feels the need to try and amaze us with something totally
unexpected and potentially horrifying.
The
movie’s plot does not differ much from the book storyline. We still have the
same gang of ‘potential failures’- the cliché head cheerleader, the clueless
jock, the drama king, and the lifeless Goth kid and, finally, we have Carson’s
likable but not-too-intelligent lackey, Malerie Baggs (Rebel Wilson).
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| A fraction of the Struck By Lightning Cast |
The
book deals with many controversial (or not any more) topics like homosexuality,
drugs, divorce and even fornication. I’d just like to say though; I found the
ending of the book and the movie incredibly dissatisfactory. Chris basically built
up the story on Carson’s unwavering determination and ambition, but then he chose
to end it in such a way that none of that
actually came to fruition. Was this really the best choice? Still, he did
manage to salvage it with a little snippet of a quote given to us by Carson’s
mother, Sheryl (Allison Janey), regarding his death, which goes something like
this:
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| Rebel Wilson: Malerie Baggs |
“I was reading that
lightning is a negative charge that comes from the friction clouds carry. Since
opposites attract, I would like to think that he was so positive the moment he
died - so happy, he pulled that bolt right out of the sky”.
I’m
not too sure what that means – never get ourselves too motivated? But it seemed to soften the blow (personally,
anyway)… though it failed to really make up for the sudden and disappointing
turn of events. I suppose that maybe Chris just wanted an overly dramatic
ending, or he simply wanted to add a little more realism and honesty to his
book’s title.
What
really made this book enjoyable to read for me would be Carson Philip’s
never-ending wit and the oh-so-relatable human inferiority complexes that we
see in almost every chapter. Although Carson detests his peers and is
constantly putting them down for something or the other, these ‘enemies’ of his
are never portrayed to be more than human, and are all able to individually
portray a negative element of humanity that we can relate with all too well.
Chris
is obviously trying to impart some little life-lessons to his readers with each
character’s story that he delves into. Here’s a quote by the head cheerleader
Claire Matthews (Sarah Hyland):
“It must be really nice
to have plans to journey out into the world, but some of us don’t have that
capability. Some of us are stuck here and have to make the most of it. So
excuse me for wanting to have a little fun my senior year. It could be the last
chance I get.”
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| Sarah Hyland: Claire Matthews |
This
quote represents ‘Insecurity’ and ‘Hopelessness’ to me. Every character is
never portrayed as a true villain, and they all show their vulnerability to us in
one way or another. However, Chris refrains from going into nitty-gritty
details concerning each character’s backstory, and he simply allows us to get a
slight glimpse of their struggles without actually knowing too much. This made
the book a lot less tedious to read, but it also made it lose a lot more depth
than it could have had.
The
movie should resonate well with anybody who has ever felt a little out of place
(and who hasn’t, really), and we might all walk away from it with a little more
insight in our heads. Few people might actually share Carson’s undeniably
‘unpleasant’ sense of humor, but it’s probably a good thing for anybody to
possess that same level of ambition and confidence.
Both
the movie and the book were equally enjoyable to me, and I would recommend them
to anybody that’s looking for a light-hearted laugh or a simple novel to
tackle. I understand that this whole experience must have been a testing one
for Chris (especially because his movie was an independent one), and I truly
applaud him for what he has accomplished. This is truly a man with a variety of
exceptional talents.
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| Mock Poster |
Thank
you so much for your time. I hope that you have enjoyed this review as ‘Struck
By Lightning’ is one of my favorite movies. Please don’t hesitate to share with
my anything that you would like to say at Ordinarysgkid@hotmail.com or @NatKathXo on twitter.
My
Rating: 6.5/10 (Movie), 7.5/10 (Book).
Credits:
First pic: imdb.com, Third pic: movpins.com, Second pic: showblitz.com, Fourth
pic: rottentomatoes.com, Fifth pic: geektyrant.com
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