The first element that is fundamental in The Left Hand of Darkness is its length and components. The book is lengthy and entails various themes, such as gender and sexuality, betrayal and loyalty, otherness and connectedness, religion and spirituality, light and dark, and truth and storytelling. The novel is interesting in the way it utilizes these themes to question gender and sexuality, just like science questions most other things. All these themes interact to develop a fictional planet and a society with gender neutrality while embracing diversity. It also brings out an aspect of the journeys that individuals have to take alone and those that they work cohesively with other parties to attain common strategies. All these themes play a significant role in bringing out the experiences of people in daily life and the way they live with each other.
However, in making the movie, the book needs to be trimmed to two hours. In this case, the novel will need to be subdivided into various parts with subheadings referencing the most essential parts relating to the final goal. Editing will be centered on the theme of gender and sexuality, betrayal and loyalty. For example, the exploration on culture and society in relation to Estraven and Ai to bring out feminism is essential. Family and love will help highlight the bonds that society has in the world and how they maintain these bonds. To make the movie appealing in this century, a few editions involving today’s family expectations, spiritual values, and feminism will be incorporated. For example, digital forums of communication help families reconnect and use solicitors to fight for the rights of the planet’s citizens. The use of spaceships and neurotransmitters will also help neutralize the originality of the book.
The second most important element in the novel is gender equality and neutrality. The book is set as a science fiction novel where the inhabitants are ambisexual to bring equality between men and women. Therefore, both men and women in the book possess both female and male qualities since they can reproduce and bear children. However, the author uses the pronoun ‘he’ for both genders in the book. The novel looks at the essentiality of masculine and feminine aspects in biological terms and not how other factors influence them. Furthermore, from various incidents, it is easy to distinguish the males and females.
The use of proper nouns is critical in defining the gender of characters in a movie. However, the use of the pronoun ‘he’ dominates in the narrator’s opinion, the use of ‘he’ and ‘she’ in defining characters would help create a better effect of Ursula’s ideas. However, for some sensitive parts where the author aims at using neutrality or indicating a character as genderless, then using ‘he’ as she does would reinforce the action.
The text also brings out females negatively with the language that is directed or in reference to males promoting superiority which alters the overall balance. In this case, in the movie, employing gender-sensitive language would be employed to reinforce the authors’ ideas. For example, the description of Estraven being more built like a woman with more fat and less muscle, a head shorter describes the connotation of power given to a man. It will be necessary to elucidate the place of a woman in the Gethenian society.
The characters in the book are a mix of both white and black because Genly is asked whether the rest of the people are as black as him. They are described as dark and of short height, which captures the looks of an African American. However, the book clearly shows that in the country, people are not affected by a person’s race but rather, gender is an issue. The characters play diverse roles to identify the existence of a civil war through which people are expected to align with the specific parties to win and resolve the existing conflicts.
The movie will hence depict various actors from diverse backgrounds to bring a color mix and racial diversity, which influences casting considerations. Furthermore, to add to the character’s recognition and reputation, well-known actors will be invited in playing key roles. Based on the Gethenian features of shortness and heavyweight, there will be a blend of physical characteristics. Half of the actors will acquire the description, and the other half will acquire other definitive characteristics. For example, a few relatively tall and several short actors capture the idea in the book. The height and weight will relate to their roles in the movie. However, the stars of the movie will be conspicuous with their height and weight, balancing the physical appeal of the target audience. For example, Genly will be slightly dark, relatively tall, and medium-bodied. Estraven will be relatively short, with a dark complexion and heavyweight (Le Guin, 14). The stars for the movie could be Will Smith for Genly and Viola Davis for Estraven. The stars will capture the book descriptions and expectations of those who have come across the book. Several characters may also be lost during adaptation because some parts may be edited from the movie to achieve consistency.
Another critical element of the book is the story itself and the ending. Both the story and its end are crucial parts in arousing the feelings of the audience. The book maintains a difference in the way male and female readers feel about it. It favors masculinity, identifies the history of religions and mythology, and suggests new ideas on gender in promoting neutrality. The end is also captivating, which explains how the author sets everything to fall into place. Dressing of the time was not gendered or valued in the text; hence, similarly, in the movie, the dressing will be a mix of both modern and traditional attire.
Work Cited
Le Gumi, Ursula K. The left hand of darkness. Hachette, UK, 2012. Web.