Me Before You; a successful adaptation of emotion and romance but what happened to the supporting network and its multiple narratives?
The trailer slogan “#Live Boldly” captures the essence of Me Before You as a celebration of a courageous life, based on the best-selling novel Me before You by Jojo Moyes, directed by Thea Sharrock in 2016. The story is centered around the evolving relationship between Louisa Clark; a young, cheerful girl in a small English town, who becomes a care-taker to the quadriplegic William/Will Traynor. The adaptation explores the emotional dynamics of Louisa and Will which begins as a professional bond, evolving to a romance. However, though the film is successful in its “faithfulness” to the plot in terms of emotional authenticity and casting, it simplifies the narrative complexity of the supporting network present in the novel and its multiple narratives of the sub characters into a streamlined romantic narrative.
When it comes to the strengths of the adaptation, it retains its emotional authenticity through the involvement of the author as the screen writer. The emotional tone is well transferred to the visual media in the key moments. When Louisa goes out with Will to a classical music concert, the scene captures Louisa in her significant red dress and Will in his suit for the first time since his accident and the dialogues used in the scene such as “only you Will Traynor will tell a woman how to wear a bloody dress” are authentic and accessible to anyone in the audience even though they might be watching the film for the first time without reading the book. Furthermore, the film remains emotionally faithful not only in narration but also in its casting.
The casting of the film is an asset to the adaptation’s success since each and every character anchors the emotional core of the story. Emilia Clarke as Louisa brings out the lively and expressive nature of Louisa and Sam Claflin as Will portrays the pain and agony of being in a restraint position. The hardship of love when it comes to loving a differently-abled person who needs medical attention and is portrayed by Clarke successfully. Considering the romance, the chemistry between Clarke and Claflin sustains the audience and anyone who has read the book will not be disappointed in the representation of the romantic narrative.
In contrast to the strengths of the adaptation, one of the aspects that is overlooked is the omission of multiple perspectives. In the novel, the third person narration is filtered, not only through Louisa and Will but also through Will’s parents, Nathan (Will’s nurse) and Katrina (Louisa’s sister). Though it can be considered as a conscious choice to focus on the mainstream narrative of romantic love, appealing to larger audiences and to preserve the economy of time.
However, this choice sidelines the sub-characters and underscores their significant role as a support system. For an example the narrative of Will’s father where Will tries to commit suicide and how his father saves him is not explored. Though self-harm and the discourse surrounding the practice of assisted suicide, only available in Switzerland are sensitive subjects, exploring the mental health around them through the multiple layered narratives in a nuanced way is overshadowed by an overarching romantic narrative. Consequently, it diminishes the psychological struggles that underpin the decision of the Will’s assisted suicide and its impact on his support system. The audiences who may relate to these lived realities might resonate less with the reduction of the supporting perspectives through which the adaptation could have explored the social, moral and emotional complexities within the care network.
Finally, it can be summed up that the adaptation of Me Before You presents an authentic and emotionally compelling portrayal of romance but its omission of the multiple perspectives of the support system diminishes the potential of the visualized story in responsibly engaging with the realities of the care giving network.
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