Rooney Tunes: Hulu's "Normal People" adaptation

I’m not going to write about the production value of Hulu’s Normal People, or the incredible performances of the actors, or its successes as an adaptation. Enough has been said about this on the world wide web, and I don’t want to preach to the choir. The show is, certainly, very good. I appreciated its honest depiction of intimacy as well as the care with which it was made. But…

I love Sally Rooney’s writing. I picked up Normal People last June and voraciously read my way through Rooney’s entire bibliography. I’d pretty much read anything this woman writes. This seems to be the case for many readers my age, with her books having astronomical popularity on the internet and endorsements by influencers the world over. I was stoked, if a little apprehensive, that Normal People was coming to the small screen.

The book makes an adaptation to television particularly difficult, as so much of Normal People’s success depends on the internal monologues of Marianne and Connell and the subtlety of their actions and choices. It’s easy to lose this in the translation from page to screen. But overall, I think that little was lost. The adaptation was strong, the best book-to-TV I’ve seen recently, maybe ever (sorry, Hello Sunshine). I credit this to Sally Rooney’s work on the screenplay and an overall feeling that this show was produced with extreme care. There are buckets of successes and I think the show is well worth a watch.

Here comes the “but.” I found myself unhappy with the way Marianne’s character was portrayed on TV in a way that I never experienced in the book. It seemed like so many of her actions — her relationship in Sweden, not standing up for herself with her friends — read strangely in a visual format. I was so impressed with the way in which they portrayed Connell’s depression — episode 10 was especially strong, and a glimpse of university life that we never see. I wish that Marianne’s character had gotten a similar treatment. Her abusive relationship with her family was covered in the show, but I felt like I had much less understanding of how she felt than I did with the source material. Her actions (or lack thereof) seemed much more realistic, believable even, in the book.

I don’t think my issues with TV Marianne can be attributed to Daisy Edgar Jones's performance. I was blown away by the acting of both Mescal and Jones (who are both relative newcomers). But I think that the complexity of Marianne’s storylines in the latter half of the novel (specifically, the fight in Italy, her relationship in Sweden, and being back with her family in Carricklea) were likely very difficult to adapt onscreen, and this is where Normal People struggled.

But I can move past this and say that, yes, this is a quality show. Being stuck in our houses, it’s just what we need right now. Go out and live vicariously through Marianne and Connell (they're DEFINITELY not six feet apart) and let yourself get emotional about something other than the state of the world right now. My rewatch commences...