Blog: Looking for Alaska
I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. I read Looking for Alaska years ago, back when I was on my John Green kick. I knew after reading it that there was going to be a day where I was watching it on the TV screen. First there came The Fault in Our Stars, then Paper Towns. I still wondered when it would be time for Looking for Alaska. A month ago, I came across the trailer by coincidence- and I about lost my shit. Finally.
It’s been years since I read this book but from what I do remember and what I’ve read online, the Hulu miniseries did a brilliant job sticking to the book. Maybe this was possible because they made it into an eight-episode show. We’re often complaining about movies leaving out important elements from the book, but I don’t know why we keep acting so damn surprised. It is not possible to fit the magnitude of details from a novel into an hour and a half of cinema. It. will. never. happen. But whoever had the thought to break up Looking for Alaska into eight, 52-minute episodes was a freaking genius. This would not have worked as a movie. Because for this story, it’s the little details that make it special.
Miles Halter (Charlie Plummer) is on the hunt for his “Great Perhaps.” This being inspired by the last words of the late french poet, François Rabelais, who said “I go to seek a great perhaps” right before he died. That’s Miles’ thing- knowing the last words of people before they died. A random characteristic for someone to have, but it’s unique to say the least. The story begins with Miles transferring to Culver Creek Preparatory High School in Alabama where he meets Alaska Young (Kristine Froseth). He’s instantly captivated by her youthful spirit and alluring presence. Ironically, Miles’ roommate Chip a.k.a The Colonel (Denny Love) is her best friend. He is brought into their inner circle and for the first time in his life, he discovers friendship. He’s in the midst of finding his people, his Great Perhaps if you will.
From the first episode, you’re submerged into the lives of these characters and the culture of Culver Creek. These students are academic geniuses. But they also love their cigarettes and pulling pranks. Prank pulling is sort of a tradition at this school but the thing is, whatever you do, you CANNOT rat people out. It’s kind of hilarious how serious they all take that one rule. It’s like life or death really. The Eagle (Timothy Simons) seems to almost catch people mid-prank every time and if you’re caught, it’s donezo for you. So don’t rat, and don’t get caught.
The casting for these iconic characters is so epically spot on, I really couldn’t imagine anyone else as Miles, Alaska or The Colonel. And Culver Creek was exactly as I had pictured it. Don’t you love that? When these characters and places you’ve created in your mind sync up with what the writers, directors, set designers, prop department and everyone else made it up to be?
But this book, this show, is about much more than finding your people. Green wrote this beautiful character, Alaska Young. She is so full of life and captivating to everyone who crosses her path. You can’t help but gravitate toward her even as a viewer. But we get these glimpses of her loneliness, of the isolation she feels. We are shown it for what seems like a split second before she puts on a brave face and continues battling her demons- sometimes not in the nicest ways. Her one question for the universe is how will we ever get out of this labyrinth of suffering. One night, toward the end of the series, Alaska finds her way out of the labyrinth in a late-night car crash. We are never told whether it was an accident or on purpose. Usually, I am not one for these unanswered endings but for some reason, I’m okay with this one. Could be because the whole theme of the story is that there really are no concrete answers to our questions.
You can watch all eight episodes now on Hulu.
