By AMEARA DITSCHE
Arts Editor
I read Looking for Alaska when I was just 13 years old; far too young for its characters, themes, and target audience. I related to anti-heroine Alaska Young, whom the novel follows through the eyes of Miles Halter, a new student at Culver Creek school who befriends and falls in love with her. The book was about Alaska, but written filtered through the male gaze. Ironic, considering the character herself would have hated that. John Green actually succeeded in writing a strong, complicated, female protagonist, but fumbled by crafting an albeit just as loveable, unnecessary narrator. Luckily, this main gripe I had with the novel was semi-resolved in the show.
Admittedly, when it was announced that the novel would be turned into a Hulu series rather than a film, I was disappointed. My love for literature and film had me so excited to see what this could turn into if done correctly, and drawing it out to several episodes would water down the story I held so close to my heart.
Luckily, Hulu exceeded my expectations and brought the words to screens while crafting an even more heart wrenching sequence of events. Of course, with all of the extra time, there did need to be added filler that wasn’t part of the original story. The screenwriters did a wonderful job of storybuilding, without scenes that felt like fluff to boost the minutes. Every subplot and added adventures just enhanced the existing characters and their motives, allowing for you to get even more attached to them, letting the tragic ending consume you even deeper.
The show did do an incredibly thorough job at staying true to the important parts of the story, even though the elected to cut my favorite scene, the symbols that fans love made their appearances in the show. The bufrito, a Culver Creek lunch specialty adored by students was served on screen, and The Colonel still sipped vodka spiked milk to hide it from the dean. The novel was banned from schools across the country due to its addressing of mature topics and language, so kudos to the show for sticking to that and making an R rated program.
They sacrificed viewership for story integrity. While details like the chcarter’s school lunch might seem miniscule to some, these decisions are all intentional and tell you something about the writer, the owner of the story. Looking for Alaska screenwriters told us they care about this story just as much as we do.
The show’s cinematography was gorgeous. Conscientious Focus and framing allowed for emphasis and emotion that is often invisible in writing, to be held in front of our faces. The show started with the tragic accident that capstone’s the climax and begins the falling action. It gives a small sneak peak, setting an emotional tone and edge-of-your-seat attentiveness for the rest of the season.
Takumi is the backstage brains of the whole operation. He holds together miles, the colonel, and alaska. He is often the greatest asset to one or several of the characters but we never see him beyond the other three. We get background on the other three’s home lives and pasts, even their relationships to secondary characters. Our only background on takumi comes from witty one liners when he’s flexing his muscle to prove himself to his friends.
Still, he earned a spot in my heart. I respect the mystery of his character and the writers/directors choice to honor him, but I do think the show could have been enhanced even further by shining the light he deserves upon him. He is an incredible person, making him a widely movable character. It is often easiest to love the characters we would hang out with. Takumi is everyone’s best friend, yet seems to lack any real allies.
There is no tangent to subplot that serves him or his development. He deserves better, and the actor playing him surely seemed up to the challenge. Jay Lee is still early in his acting career but shows capabilities that are going unrecognized, not unlike Takumi.
The series is a work of art unlike one I have ever seen. It combined the beauty of sitting down and experiencing a film, with the longevity field attachment of a tv series. The entire series was uploaded at once so there is no anticipation for the next episode, aside from you have to pull yourself away from your screen to face the real world. But every second you’re not watching it, you’re thinking about it. The show would probably not be the most fun all day binge with your friends, but the good ones never really are. Some things need to be savored, Looking for Alaska is one of them. That being said, I beg please do not make a season two. Part of its beauty is its rarity, in how it exists freely somewhere between feature film and TV drama. Leave it there, do not taint the story with corporate churned follow up.
