Little Fires Everywhere (Prime)
- Thread starter AutumnGhost
- Start date
Renegadedancer
VIP Member
Reese Witherspoon plays a very Reese Witherspoon character. Very similar to big little lies, but def worth a watchI didn’t love the book, in fact couldn’t understand the hypeI’m looking for something to watch later & might give it a go, seems popular & I do like Reese Witherspoon!
I haven’t read the book but would love to know where the differences lie (if you fancy it of course, no obligation
)I haven't read the book. I enjoyed the series but wasn't keen on the characters, there wasn't anyone who I particularly liked. Mia constantly had that rude expression on her face like you'd expect from the bad guy, is that true to the book or has the character been portrayed badly?
I also thought the ending felt a bit unfinished. Not in the sense that you're left wondering but more like the ending hadn't been written.
I also thought the ending felt a bit unfinished. Not in the sense that you're left wondering but more like the ending hadn't been written.
twilightgarden
VIP Member
I liked Reese Witherspoon in it but then I like her generally and think she’s ace.
I’m tempted to read the book and compare the two, I agree Mia’s character was horrible in the series and the ending was shite.
I haven’t read the book but would love to know where the differences lie (if you fancy it of course, no obligation
I’m more than happy to! Apologies in advance, I have a feeling this will be long
Obv (minor) spoilers for people who haven’t read the book...I just wanna say first that there are some general additions that I thought were good - eg Pearl and Moody going to the junk yard. This isn’t in the book but it was a good addition to show their friendship in more depth. A lot of the story with Izzy was embellished as well and I thought that was worthwhile. There are additions to Elena’s story (eg both meet ups with her ex in NYC) but they correlate with and add to the personality depicted in the book.
As I said, the main issue (lol so serious) for me was Mia’s personality, they made her cold, derisive and quite frankly, a horrible person.
A large part of the meaning of the book was that Elena, with all her money, social standing, love of rules and organisation and apparent happy family had no idea what was going on under her nose and she wasn’t a very nice person. Whenever she does a favour for someone she chalks it up as something that person now owes her, waiting for the perfect time to cash it in for her advantage. Mia was the complete opposite. Despite the disadvantages she faced (being a black single parent earning next to nothing) and her somewhat chaotic life, she was a loving, caring mother who was completely involved in her child’s life. She was content in following her dream of being an artist and doing whatever she could to help others, wanting nothing in return.
Some actual examples RE Mia:
1. Mia and Pauline don’t have an intimate relationship. In the book Pauline is in a committed relationship and Mia is friends with them both! Pauline is purely her mentor. I thought the addition of sex into their relationship was gratuitous in that it added a grey area to and undermined a platonic relationship that was crucial to Mia’s personal and artistic growth. She had finally found an older woman who valued her talent and knew how to help her achieve her goals, something she never got from her own mother. IMO this was a much better storyline than a university professor essentially taking advantage of her student.
2. Mia is kind and loving to Lexie after her abortion, she doesn’t shout at her and she isn’t mean - essentially she isn’t an absolute witch to a child. She takes care of her and helps her come to terms with what has happened. Lexie then starts hanging out at Mia’s and she’s sees her house as a “safe haven”.
3. Mia doesn’t smoke weed. I don’t particularly care about this change but I felt it was unnecessarily included to add to the narrative that Mia was “naughty” and a “rule breaker”. Boring and predictable!
4. Also not as important but she NEVER shouts at Pearl and they don’t fall out, she doesn’t have sex in the front seat of her car whilst toddler Pearl is sat in the back, she doesn’t do any of the sneaking around to do with Bebe and the baby and she doesn’t pretend to be Elena’s friend to get information out of her (those last two are exactly the sort of things book Elena would do though!)
Sorry about the essay! It was quite cathartic typing all that out though
basically I just felt like the changes took a lot away from the main theme of the book. I get that they maybe exaggerated some elements to make her more overtly vocal about racism, but I felt this all came through in the book and it could have been cleverly woven into the script without fundamentally changing Mia’s personality.I do however, think that Kerry Washington did a great job portraying this version of Mia. I just need to make peace with the fact it’s not the Mia I had in my head! Also Reese Witherspoon was fab as well. Still haven’t finished it
Edited to add - omg so sorry this is so long!!!!
Thank you so much! I think I might have to read the book now as the series made people I know quite empathetic to Elena and I feel like it wasn’t meant toI’m more than happy to! Apologies in advance, I have a feeling this will be long
I just wanna say first that there are some general additions that I thought were good - eg Pearl and Moody going to the junk yard. This isn’t in the book but it was a good addition to show their friendship in more depth. A lot of the story with Izzy was embellished as well and I thought that was worthwhile. There are additions to Elena’s story (eg both meet ups with her ex in NYC) but they correlate with and add to the personality depicted in the book.
As I said, the main issue (lol so serious) for me was Mia’s personality, they made her cold, derisive and quite frankly, a horrible person.
A large part of the meaning of the book was that Elena, with all her money, social standing, love of rules and organisation and apparent happy family had no idea what was going on under her nose and she wasn’t a very nice person. Whenever she does a favour for someone she chalks it up as something that person now owes her, waiting for the perfect time to cash it in for her advantage. Mia was the complete opposite. Despite the disadvantages she faced (being a black single parent earning next to nothing) and her somewhat chaotic life, she was a loving, caring mother who was completely involved in her child’s life. She was content in following her dream of being an artist and doing whatever she could to help others, wanting nothing in return.
Some actual examples RE Mia:
1. Mia and Pauline don’t have an intimate relationship. In the book Pauline is in a committed relationship and Mia is friends with them both! Pauline is purely her mentor. I thought the addition of sex into their relationship was gratuitous in that it added a grey area to and undermined a platonic relationship that was crucial to Mia’s personal and artistic growth. She had finally found an older woman who valued her talent and knew how to help her achieve her goals, something she never got from her own mother. IMO this was a much better storyline than a university professor essentially taking advantage of her student.
2. Mia is kind and loving to Lexie after her abortion, she doesn’t shout at her and she isn’t mean - essentially she isn’t an absolute witch to a child. She takes care of her and helps her come to terms with what has happened. Lexie then starts hanging out at Mia’s and she’s sees her house as a “safe haven”.
3. Mia doesn’t smoke weed. I don’t particularly care about this change but I felt it was unnecessarily included to add to the narrative that Mia was “naughty” and a “rule breaker”. Boring and predictable!
4. Also not as important but she NEVER shouts at Pearl and they don’t fall out, she doesn’t have sex in the front seat of her car whilst toddler Pearl is sat in the back, she doesn’t do any of the sneaking around to do with Bebe and the baby and she doesn’t pretend to be Elena’s friend to get information out of her (those last two are exactly the sort of things book Elena would do though!)
Sorry about the essay! It was quite cathartic typing all that out though
I do however, think that Kerry Washington did a great job portraying this version of Mia. I just need to make peace with the fact it’s not the Mia I had in my head! Also Reese Witherspoon was fab as well. Still haven’t finished it
Edited to add - omg so sorry this is so long!!!!
Thank you so much! I think I might have to read the book now as the series made people I know quite empathetic to Elena and I feel like it wasn’t meant to
Well done for getting through that
and yes exactly, I kept feeling sorry for Elena in the show and don’t think I once felt sorry for her when reading. Also in the book she’s rarely referred to as Elena, usually it’s Mrs Richardson which adds to the feeling of her being prim and proper and someone who constantly abides by societal / class rules.