Movie vs. Show: Compare And Contrast

[Meredith Quill]

Discuss Here!

[bilgistic]

I watched the movie maybe a month ago in preparation for the show. There are some marked differences.

The biggest difference is that the teacher in the movie wasn't married, but single and living with a roommate. The roommate was ultimately the one who found out about the "relationship" when the teacher and student were together at the apartment and the roommate came home unexpectedly. I can already see where the anvillicious "married and trying to get pregnant" angle is going in the show.

The movie teacher was more aggressive than the student, so to speak, and less demonstrative than the show teacher's character was in the beginning, when she told the student that his advances (again, so to speak) were inappropriate and they needed to stop their relationship.

There was no college visit in the movie. Both the movie and show have the teacher driving a station wagon, because it's...roomy.

The movie is just OK, but it's interesting to see how it compares because the same writer is behind both it and the show. I'm finding the show more compelling because it's a slower-paced unfolding of the events and behavior behind them.

I'd like to know more about the psychology/pathology behind these types of abusive situations, but I don't think that's the focus here. It seems to be specifically storytelling.

[CrystalBlue]

A Teacher, the movie from 2013, popped up on my Hulu so I gave it a watch.  I was annoyed at the low voices overridden by loud background noise or music and had to replay a lot with subtitles.  Especially with all the lovey-dovey whispering!

Everything bilgistic says is accurate.  The movie changes the names of Claire and Eric to Diana and Eric last name Tull, not Walker.  Although the story takes place in Texas there isn't a Texas accent in town.  Diana's roommate Sophia had an especially peculiar speaking manner.  Is it Texas-style Valley Girl?  I do not know.

Eric's father is the one who puts two and two together, or in this case 1 + 1 = 2, and he's not too happy about it.  It seems he's the one who drops by Eric's high school before the shit hits the fan, and not a colleague of Miss Watts who spills the beans.

Diana comes to find out the jig is up and she artistically rolls around in anguish in her newly-occupied motel room bed.  We don't know the full extent of the aftermath on teacher, student, the high school, or the town in general.

The movie is essentially a story of the life of a teacher for a few thrilling months with her at first underage then 18-year-old male student based on mutual attraction.  Eric stops loving his what he thinks is his hot teacher when he realizes she's a hot mess psychologically and, of course, doesn't know how to deal.