The Creator within the Creation
Adaptation, directed by Spike Jonze and written by Charlie Kaufman, can be read as a remediation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in the way that it incorporates the idea of intertextuality, and shows how within every story there are countless other stories. One possible thesis for the film would be the idea that every story is a remediation of existing ideas, whether the ideas are real events, a previous work, or merely ideas in the writer’s mind, just as Frankenstein remediates the idea of a creation story (such as in Genesis), some poems by her husband, Percy Shelly, and her original ideas.
One thing about the film that can be confusing is that the characters represent real people. Charlie Kaufman, the writer of Adaptation, adapts Susan Orlean’s book, The Orchid Thief, which is about an orchid poacher, John Laroche. The film revolves around the semi-fictional character of Charlie Kaufman, who writes an adaptation of The Orchid Thief. The idea of Charlie Kaufman (the real one) incorporating himself into the work is similar to how Mary Shelley creates the character of Victor Frankenstein to represent herself, and her creation of the novel. Through the fictional Charlie Kaufman, the real Charlie Kaufman tells the story of the fictional Susan Orlean, who tells the story of the fictional John Laroche. This bears a strong resemblance to the way Mary Shelly tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, who tells of his creation, who tells of a family he observed.
One scene that makes a number of points about remediation is where Charlie Kaufman is talking with Valerie Thomas about his adaptation of the film. Valerie Thomas wants to create details of the plot that don’t exist in the original book, but Kaufman argues that he wants the screenplay to remain true to the original, without adding Hollywood effects and devices. This statement is ironic, because the film itself bears nearly no resemblance to The Orchid Thief and even less resemblance to Frankenstein in terms of plot. What the film does manage to do is capture the essence of Frankenstein in its self-referential concepts.
this looks to be very rich terrain for the essay. you could even say, both texts are about creation/creativity as remediation (no pure invention or creation from nothing). look forward to seeing what you do with this.