What message ‘The Notebook’ actually conveys

‘The Notebook’ by Nicholas Sparks is one of his best seller books and one of the most popular romance movies you can possibility find out there. But, could the movie convey what the book tried to convey completely ? I would have to say no. While many may say that the movie is an excellent master piece , I wouldn’t deny. But here is how the movie failed to portray what the book did –

1. When Noah meets Allie in the movie , her striking emerald eyes catches his and he decides that very moment that he wants Allie in his life. A very similar notion has been made in the book too but here’s where it gets paradoxical in the movie , when Noah approaches Allie in the movie she clearly shows disinterest while she walks off with her date but Noah refuses to take the rejection and decides to risk his life by getting into the Ferris Wheel forcefully with Allie and her alleged date for the night. When he’s forced out from between them , he decides to risk his life on the Ferris wheel by hanging on top of it to persuade Allie to go out with him. Allie finally agrees to go out with him but it was more of a forced agreement which can’t be counted as consent hence, the concept of consent is violated. Meanwhile, in the book we can see how they both felt the spark between them the very moment they caught each others eyes and they both became inseparable. Now, The movie tried to portray Noah as a romantically heroic personality but was it worth it at the cost of normalizing toxic behavior and psychopathic admirers? No, it definitely wasn’t. The book portrayed a way more healthy start to their relationship.
2. In the book , we see how Allie truly fell in love with Lon and it was hard for her to say goodbye to him but the reason why she chose Noah over Lon was because Noah shaped what love feels like , what love looks like for Allie. Lon loved her too but he had a very busy schedule and he couldn’t spend as much time with Allie to get to know her better , to offer her the serenity that she unknowingly endeavored. This proves that love can happen again but the best kind of love always stays with us. And , as Nicholas Spark writes, ‘The best kind of love is the kind that awakens our soul , that makes us reach for more ; that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds’ but in the movie , it was rather portrayed as she always loved Noah more. She didn’t love Noah more or less than Lon , Noah simply awakened her soul and bought peace to her mind but Lon couldn’t.
3. Noah helped Allie grow, he loved her enough to let her go and he always supported Allie and her dreams as shown in the book but the movie failed to show it because the representation was too vague. It should’ve been shown how Noah supported her dream of becoming an artist and how successful she became as an artist later in life because while I understand how the movie was centered around their undying love for each other , but love is beyond just wanting each other , it is also about helping each other grow , inspiring each other , loving each other enough to let each other go when necessary. And it is very important for the young viewers to see that , understand that and be exposed to a healthy love language.
4. The movie interpreted as though Noah and Allie were each others first romantic partner while they were clearly not , as mentioned in the book. Allie had a boyfriend back at home and Noah had a couple of relationships in the past which never lasted. This shows us how it’s okay to have failed relationships in life because the right one will always find it’s way back to you no matter what. Time, distance , arguments or problems can’t take it away.

While the movie perfectly showed how beautiful their undying love was , it failed to show us how love can shape our lives in various ways, how the right kind of love can help us grow and how love can happen again but only the best kind matters and stays with us forever.