{"id":8822,"date":"2017-09-14T07:37:01","date_gmt":"2017-09-14T12:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/?p=8822"},"modified":"2017-09-14T07:37:01","modified_gmt":"2017-09-14T12:37:01","slug":"dont-hold-your-breath-for-new-death-note-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/archives\/8822","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t hold your breath for new Death Note movie"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"maxresdefault\"by Christina Vazquez–<\/strong>\u201cDeath Note,\u201d the story of a high school boy who finds himself able to deal death to whom he pleases, began as a manga (a Japanese comic book) serialized in the mid-2000s.\u00a0 It quickly garnered popularity and was subsequently adapted into an anime series, which remains popular amongst fans of the genre even today.<\/p>\n

In an effort to capitalize on that popularity, Netflix released in late August 2017 a movie also titled \u201cDeath Note,\u201d presumably adapted for an American audience.\u00a0 Like the anime, Death Note (2017) is also based on a high school boy turning serial killer, but that is where the similarities end.<\/p>\n

In the anime, Light Yagami is a terrifying villain.\u00a0 He is cold, methodical, and truly believes he is ushering in a new era to the world.\u00a0 Though his first introduction to the Death Note, a notebook that kills people if their names are written within, is an accident, all Light\u2019s subsequent interaction with the book are anything but accidental, from his initial testing of the Note\u2019s power to his murder of hundreds of people within a few days.<\/p>\n

Netflix\u2019s Light Turner is ever a victim of circumstance.\u00a0 He sees himself bullied by students and administrative staff at his school, and when the Death Note fell into his possession, he only ever used it because he was practically forced to by Ryuk, a death god and the book\u2019s original owner.\u00a0 Light, burdened by his newfound power, quickly shares the knowledge with a classmate, Mia.<\/p>\n

The two develop a relationship that is worrisome at best and dangerously unhealthy at worst, as it is primarily based on a desire to use the Death Note to kill people.\u00a0 The people killed without due process start out as criminals and thugs, but the situation escalates quickly. Mere children are playing god\u2014one Light nicknames \u201cKira\u201d\u2014and the power goes to their heads, Mia especially.<\/p>\n

Throughout the various murders the duo consider and carry out, it is clear that Mia is the more ruthless of the two, encouraging Light to kill people he otherwise would not.\u00a0 Ryuk voices the opinion that the Death Note should have gone to her.<\/p>\n

Netflix\u2019s adaptation of \u201cDeath Note\u201d shifts plot points and character roles as adaptations are wont to do, but the media mogul\u2019s biggest mistake was to change Light\u2019s position from psychopathic villain without compunction to a morally bankrupt but gutless follower.\u00a0 This topsy-turvy take on the main character greatly negates the psychological thriller aspect of the cult classic story.<\/p>\n

The Netflix movie is not totally devoid of merit, however.\u00a0 Morningside alumna Alex Sullivan comments that \u201cthe cinematography was good.\u201d\u00a0 She also says that while it was not perfect, she thinks the studio \u201cdid a good job adapting it for the format and audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, if you\u2019re after a good thriller and have the time, watch the original anime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Christina Vazquez–\u201cDeath Note,\u201d the story of a high school boy who finds himself able to deal death to whom he pleases, began as a manga (a Japanese comic book) serialized in the mid-2000s.\u00a0 It quickly garnered popularity and was subsequently adapted into an anime series, which remains popular amongst fans of the genre even…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":8823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[205],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8822"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8824,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8822\/revisions\/8824"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.morningside.edu\/thecr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}