The Outsiders is a book that everyone will read once you get into eighth grade. As you know, when books have movies inspired by them, teachers will try to give you a chance to watch the movie.  The book is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is from the point of view of the protagonist, Ponyboy. Ponyboy is a fourteen year old boy who is a “Greaser.” Where they live they have two sides, the “Greasers” are the poorer side of town, while the “Socs” are the rich side of town. The book is written by S.E. Hinton which is based on real life experiences and the movie is heavily inspired by the book.  

What do students think about the book, The Outsiders?

Students generally like the book. A lot of students comment on how sad and emotional this book is. The book does a good job of introducing and showing about how people can really affect you in negative ways. Crismarie Priego said she appreciates the character’s development and the personalities of the characters, “Honestly, just the character development and the personalities. That really pulled me into the story.” S.E. Hinton makes the characters come alive. One thing that bothered Priego was how they didn’t show the other character’s emotions when something traumatic happened in the book, like a character dying. They would only show the main characters,  “Yes, they could have described the deaths better and more on how the other people were feeling after the deaths. It was only the main characters, even though there are even more people.”  

What do students think about the movie, The Outsiders?

 The movie, on the other hand, isn’t taken as well. The movie is vague with details from the book and a lot of the time they skip important details that the viewer needs to really understand what is happening. For example, at the beginning it just starts and the introduction is rushed. But, the book takes a bit of a slower place to make sure the reader understands what is happening before any of the actual chaos starts.  

Emily Zielinski, an 8th grade student at WMS, highlighted how some of the characters in the movie didn’t match their physical appearance from the book, “Some of the characters weren’t matched with hair color. One character had blonde hair in the book, but in the movie he had black.”  She also mentions how the movie made her laugh at certain scenes, “My favorite part is when Cherry threw the coke bottle at Dally.” 

What do students think in general? 

Overall, the book does a good job at introducing harsh topics while describing these events very well, while the movie doesn’t really introduce things well, leaving the viewer confused. The movie doesn’t really account for what the original book The Outsiders said or how much detail and thought was put into it even with simple things such as a character’s hair. The book could have talked about other characters’ emotions  rather than just the main character’s.