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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been a story that has been brought to the Hollywood screen before. Taking into account of the controversial and political themes embedded within the story, how might a modern film of Huckleberry Finn be conveyed today? Do you think Disney was an appropriate platform to recreate the story of Finn? In 2018, are we more susceptible to addressing and consuming these political implications, or are themes like racism and slavery a topic that is still considered taboo? Would words and ideas be interchangeable like it is in the public school system? What can we deduce a film like Huckleberry Finn would do for the entertainment industry as activism is more prominent than ever?

Who would you cast as the the director or even as actors?

Looking foward to reading your responses! 🙂

This a really interesting prompt! I think it all depends on the demographic audience that the producers would be focusing on, introducing a bias. Is it for educational purposes? Who is deciding what to include and what not to include? Who’s perception of the narrative is presenting the work as a film? With all art, especially in literature, it is all up to interpretation, so looking at a company like Disney, there is definitely a focus on a happy ending that is not present in all narratives. Really interesting idea!

Thanks for the post!

It is an interesting idea of having "Huckleberry Finn" as a movie. It would be interesting to see an adaptation in 2018, however, I feel it may still be difficult. As people have already pointed out, it is still considered a very controversial book, even to this day. Aside from some of the wording, I think the actual concept it is centered around-racism-would still be a bit uncomfortable for some. Racism itself, is still a very sensitive topic today, and people usually try to avoid talking about it. One thing I think that a movie on "Huckleberry Finn" could do, is develop more awareness of discrimination and racism. There is already a lot of awareness about the damaging aspects that it can bring and what we can do to prevent it, but a movie may help paint a better picture about this topic as well as give an insight into the historical views about racism. Changing the language may actually bring a similar controversy, like with the book, I feel. As for whether Disney would be a good source for a "Huckleberry Finn" movie, I honestly don't know. I guess it all depends on how it's done, but again it could bring controversy, as Disney is still primarily child-friendly, although they are experimenting with more "darker" themes in recent years. Overall though, I think "Huckleberry Finn" as a movie would be interesting, but probably controversial for the time being.

If Disney ever did make a film version of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", they would certainly need to make sure that is is appropriate for all ages. However, I think it would be very difficult to create a movie that is surrounded with so many controversies. In addition, Disney is known to make films that are very fantasy based and unrealistic and it would be interesting to see how they would handle a topic that is very "mature" or "real" in a way. Many different groups such as those who are literary critics and African-Americans would have clashing ideas and opinions about a film version of the novel. Even if there is no "Disney" depiction of Mark Twain's novel, there is still an ongoing debate about the N-word that he uses many times. Also, if Disney was to actually make a film version, many people would be very critical of the movie and will try to find many flaws. By creating a Disney version of the novel, I believe that it does romanticize race relations and if parents do decide to let their kids watch the film, I wonder if they will understand the historical context behind the film. In addition, it would put so much pressure on Disney, the director, the actors etc. especially since they need to do justice to Mark Twain's work.