Dec 10, 2018
Biggest Takeaways
Dumplin’, by Julie Murphy, is laugh-out-loud-funny and tears-slipping-down-your-face-unexpectedly-sad. The story of how Willowdean “Dumplin’” Dickerson enters the famous Clover City beauty pageant, along with 3 other unlikely candidates is poignant, thought-provoking, and stand-up-and-cheer good.
It is a beautifully written exploration of how hard it is to figure out who you are, especially when you don’t feel like you fit in with what’s “normal.” And isn’t that all of us?
And while the book is always, always better, Netflix did a great job with adapting it to the small screen.
Differences
There are some missing characters in the movie (Mitch, Amanda) and some of the characters are not as well developed in the movie as in the book (Ellen, Bo, Hannah, Tim).
Because Mitch is missing, the whole plotline involving Willowdean’s relationship with him is absent from the movie.
In the book, Willowdean loves Ellen’s boyfriend, Tim. In the movie, his character is kind of jerky, and seems to be combined with Patrick Thomas’ from the book.
The movie has a feel-good, reconciliation moment between Willowdean and her mom that the book never really embraced. I actually liked it, but the book was more realistic.
The rift between Willowdean and Ellen was based mostly on their disagreement about the pageant in the movie. In the book, it was much more complex, and a big component was Ellen’s decision to have sex with her boyfriend Tim.
Issues
Questions to Talk About with Your Teen
Referenced in this Episode
Dumplin’ Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
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