In a post Faulkner and physics midterm stupor, I decided to watch James Franco's adaptation of As I Lay Dying this afternoon. I actually thoroughly enjoyed Franco's melodramatic yet beautifully done film, with the exception of a few of the casting choices.
JEWEL
First off, I did NOT picture him with a beard. Not at all! I actually pictured him to be more of a James Franco looking guy. If Darl and Jewel's actors had switched, that might have felt a little more right. But, if I got to choose who played Jewel, I would pick Tom Hiddleston.
Obviously a bit of a more rugged edged version of him, but still. The full faced beard on Jewel felt very off. A little facial hair, like pictured here, feels a little more similar to how I imagined him while reading the book.
DARL
James Franco is a great actor. He is awesome in certain roles (including the director's chair!) but as Darl, I wasn't a fan. I pictured Darl as more of a Mark Ruffalo.
So, James Franco and Mark Ruffalo look pretty similar. But I just feel like there's this little glint in Mark Ruffalo's eye that would have really brought out Darl's "crazy" side. I can just picture Mark Ruffalo urging Dewey Dell to leave her cakes behind, or nagging Jewel about who his father is.
DEWEY DELL
I thought that the casting for Dewey Dell was okay, except for I thought Ahna O'Reilly seemed a bit too old. Plus, I just kind of pictured Dewey Dell as Louisa Wendorff the entire time.
Granted, Louisa Wendorff is not an actress. She's a YouTube based singer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYkYHhlXH9U). Oddly enough, throughout the novel I just pictured Dewey Dell to look like Louisa. I thought Ahna O'Reilly (and the entire cast) did an excellent job, she just wasn't quite how I imagined it.
ADDIE
I pictured Addie as this beautiful woman, far out of Anse's league. Not that Beth Grant isn't lovely, but I just somehow pictured Addie to look like J.K. Rowling.
Don't ask me why. I have no legitimization for this one.
Overall, I thought the casting of As I Lay Dying was really well done. Of course, reading the novel first, I developed early judgements on how I pictured certain characters, so I just thought it would be fun to express those! Did you guys picture certain people/actors portraying any of the Bundrens?
By this point, I think we are all aware that many members of the Bundren family have more selfish reasons for wanting to go into town than to bury Addie with her family. Anse wants teeth, Cash wants a record player, and Dewey Dell wants something she's not entirely sure how to ask for; an abortion.
Dewey Dell's pregnancy and intention of abortion may seem mundane to us. Pregnancy now is a typically safe 9 months, where the expecting mother goes to the doctor for routine check ups, and can even see the child using ultrasound technology. But, Dewey Dell is not living in the 21st century. She is living in the 1920s. So what would her experience with abortion and pregnancy be like?
In the 1920s being a single, unmarried mom was not acceptable. Obviously it's not seen in the best light currently either, but back then there were no safe options for adoption or abortion. Dewey Dell is not going to be able to just walk into a clean clinic and have this procedure done.
Between the late 1800s and 1900s, abortion was illegal. That did not stop millions of women to seek them. A study from 1932 estimated that about 15,000 female deaths per year were caused by complications of illegal abortions. Most deaths were not from the actual abortion itself, but from complications afterwards such as infection and hemorrhaging. Illegal abortions accounted for approximately 14% of pregnancy related deaths.
While abortion was illegal, many wildly unsafe means were used to attempt to get rid of an unwanted child. One slightly disturbing one was women inserting metal coat hangers into their vagina in an attempt to cause an abortion.
By the 1930s, abortion was beginning to be widespread. Granted, there were still risks involved, given the lack of drugs such as penicillin until after World War II. Even when abortion was illegal, many trained doctors and nurses opened clinics despite the law, and preformed an estimated 2,000 relatively safe abortions.
History lesson aside, what would Dewey Dell had have to go through? Granted, we'll probably find out later in this book, but speculating based upon history, an abortion could go many ways for a pregnant woman in the 1920s. If she's lucky, there could be a safe-ish illegal abortion clinic. If she's not? She could end up in the back alley with a coat hanger.
The terrifying reality of child birth and femininity in As I Lay Dying is that Addie's attitude towards child bearing (a less than positive one) seems to have been passed down to Dewey Dell and the rest of the Bundrens. With Dewey Dell not receiving medical attention and adequate food on this long journey, there is definitely a high risk of complication for her pregnancy.
(Also my apologies for the weird white background on the text. I have no idea what I did.)
