Paper Towns (Book vs. Movie)

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Margo Roth Speigelman. You can say her name over and over and over again but can never get tired of it. The movie adaptation of Paper Towns by John Green has been out lately. And from the books he wrote, Paper Towns has by far been my favorite. So I was pretty much waiting for this movie to come out since the day they announced it. And since it's my favorite book, I had high expectations for it. Of course, as expected from a movie adaptation of a book, there are scenes and events that are cut off or changed to make the story fit in to 2 hours. 

The story is not like your normal high school love story. It's about an extra ordinary girl who loves mystery and adventure. And a boy who would do anything to find her again. Margo Roth Speigelman is the very definition of a girl who can't plant her feet on the ground, she wanted to be free. 

The actors in the movie really did bring life into the characters. Cara Delevingne was a perfect actress for Margo, they both are very extra ordinary people and it was how I pretty much pictured out how Margo would be like. The movie was really good, and didn't fail my expectations. Changes were indeed inevitable, but they brought out a little surprise in some scenes that would probably make you laugh out of your seat.

So for those who hasn't read the book yet, here's what you missed : (Spoilers up ahead, read at your own risk!)

The book is split into 3 parts: The Strings, The Grass, and The Vessel. "The Strings" is about the adventure Margo pulled Q into on her last night. "The Grass" is about how Q and his friends tried to solve the mystery on how to find Margo Roth Spiegleman. And lastly, "The Vessel" is about their road trip trying to get to Margo.

When Margo surprises Q by showing up by his window, she was actually wearing black face paint all over her face (including her eyelids). I really wanted to see this part in the movie. I was quiet curious about how people would react as they were buying supplies. But then if they did do it, we wouldn't be able to see Cara Delevingne's stunning beauty and her legendary eyebrows.

As it turns out, Margo had 11 things to do that night:
1. Club Jase's stirring wheel.

2. Call Becca's dad and tell him about the "Becca and Jase thing" going on in their basement. However in the book, it was Q who call the dad.

3. Take Jase's picture as he runs out of the house naked.

4. Get Jase's clothes from the basement in case he tries to come back for them.

5. Leave catfish #1 for Becca.

6. Leave Tulips for Karin. Karin wasn't mentioned in the movie. She was actually the one who told Margo about Jase and Becca. And to Margo's surprise she happened to say a bunch of horrible things to Karin as a reaction for finding out about the truth. She felt bad about that so she left Tulips and a letter for her.

7. Leave catfish #2 for Jase. This part wasn't mentioned in the movie either. Margo broke a window in Jase's house, threw the fish, sprayed on a blue "M", and left a note saying "MS's love For you: it Sleeps With the Fishes".
8. Leave catfish #3 for Lacey. This prank however is quite different compared to the movie. They didn't use cling wrap. Instead, they stuck a fish under the seat of Lacey's black car and sprayed the blue "M" on the roof of the car.

9. The SunTrust Building.

10. Q's victim. This time, Margo convinced Q to pick a victim of his choice. And they went with shaving off Chuck Parson's right eyebrow.

11. Break into Sea World. This part was cut out in the movie (as expected, because it would've made the movie longer if they didn't). In this scene Margo wanted to break into Sea World because according to her, it was the only theme park she haven't broken into. They had to cross the waist-high moat. A garter snake bit Margo on the ankle as they got out of the moat. And they got caught by security after they climbed over the 6 foot fence. They would have gone to jail but Margo bribed the guard. As they were walking out, a song started playing. And that moment, Q and Margo danced.

When Margo had been missing for days, things in their school when chaotic. Practically, Margo was their queen and no one could be the new Margo.The bullies that Margo had control over started to jerk around. Q finally had use for the picture he took of Jase. He emailed him and blacked mailed him to make thing right again.

Ever since Q went over to the abandoned souvenir shop. He was troubled and kept worrying about Margo. He was scared to one day find her lifeless body. He wanted to find her so badly. What's good about reading the book is that you get to really know what Q is thinking and how he really feels. You get that thrill of wanting to find Margo too. And to unravel the mystery behind her. His friends tells him to give on the paper towns, and that she might actually be there at their graduation. However Q didn't lose hope. Till he found out about the entry on the Omnictionary about Agloe.

Anonymous wrote:

"fyi, whoever Edits this - the Population of Agloe Will actually be One until may 29th at Noon"

he knew imediately that it was Margo due to the random capitalization - which was usually how Margo writes.

The day after he found out about Margo's entry on the Omnictionary was their graduation. However they skipped out on graduation because they needed to rush over to Agloe and get to Margo before she takes off. It took them 21 hours to get to Agloe.

This part, the ending, is quite different compared to the movie. When they got to Agloe, they actually find Margo in the abandoned building. Sitting and writing. Her hair is much shorter with choppy bangs above her eyebrows. When Margo saw them, she was actually shocked. And she happened to get into a fight with Becca and Q. She never expected them to come to her at all. She left the clues in order to tell them she was fine. After that fight, they left Q and Margo alone. Margo told Q why she wanted to leave. She wanted to find herself. She knew that Orlando wasn't the place that she could find what she was looking for. In the movie, when Q saw Margo, she was holding a black notebook. In this note book, Margo wrote all her plans, and a story she wrote when she was in the fourth grade about her, Q, Robert Joyner(the dead man from earlier), and their adventure. The story ended with them kissing after they burried Margo's black notebook.

Book Facts:

-Radar's real name is Marcus. Howerver Ben and Q calls him Radar because they happen to think that he looked like a guy named "Radar" on an old TV show called M*A*S*H.

-Chuck Parson actually shaved off his left eyebrow to make it look even.

-Quentin's parents are both therapists.

-Angela never actually went with them on the road trip. So no, she and Radar never did "it". They actually planed to wait after graduation.

-For graduation, Q, Ben, and Radar agreed on not wearing anything at all under their toga. But since Q picked them up for the road trip, Q actually was dressed and they weren't. So they had to pick up some clothes at the gas station.

Exciting movie add-ons:
"Valar Morghulis" It's actually exciting to hear some Game of Thrones reference in movies. This phrase was really unexpected but quite appropriate and funny when they used it.

"The Pokemon Song" This wasn't in the book, but it sure made us sing along.

"Prom and Graduation (The alternate ending)"

They actually changed the events to make Prom and Graduation happen for the kids. Which to me was really good. The ending wasn't a cliff hanger at all. You actually see everyone happy and ready for the next chapter in life. It was a good way to end the movie after all those searching. There was peace.