Project Number One - Go Ask Alice

Go Ask Alice: Comparing the book to the movie

I was sitting at home, trying to figure out the best way to do this project when I searched for my book, Go Ask Alice, on Google. I hadn’t realized when starting the book that it was also a movie, but was pleasantly surprised to find that YouTube had the complete movie available to watch. 

The movie was filmed in 1973, just two years after the book was originally published. Being set in this time frame, especially so soon after the book was written, brought it to life. The slang and the diction that could only be found in the ‘70s, made it feel more natural, than if it was filmed today.

The 1973 Movie

Overall, I thought the movie was a very good representation of the book. While it included some parts that the book did not have, I thought they were necessary. For instance, the movie added scenes that really portrayed how much of a struggle it was for someone with a hard core addiction to acid, amongst other drugs, to quit them. I thought the book was lacking this. When reading the book, it seemed that Alice was able to switch on and off her addiction, almost effortlessly. She would have a relapse, leave, then come back and have everything be fine. Never once talking about the emotional difficulty she went through to be off the drugs. I found this unrealistic. The movie also included scenes where Alice talks to a priest. He’s the one who persuaded her to call her parents and go back home. I really liked this scene because it portrayed Alice at her weakest point, and struggling with her inner self on how to survive. The priest, who is played by Andy Griffith, talks to her about calling her parents so she can go home. When she protests, he says, “It’s there or die.” This scene was needed in order to show Alice that if she doesn’t give up acid, she’s going to die. When hearing it as bluntly as Andy put it, it made the difficulty with addiction much more real.

2006 Version of Go Ask Alice
(Another was originally published in 1971)

Like any movie, it was lacking some key points that the book had. The movie was very vague about what happened when Alice took the drugs. While some of the details in the book are vulgar, they’re real and are necessary to the plot. They show just how much drugs change a person and I thought the movie was missing that emphasis. 

The New York Times says, “[Go Ask Alice is] a document of horrifying reality.” Knowing that the book is based on an actual diary, reading the words made you feel like you understood her world and seeing the movie, made you feel like you know her. Despite the fact that both were created over 35 years ago, the things in the book and movie still apply to today. In the end, because of this connection, I found the movie as timeless as the book.