In Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been written by Joyce Carol Orate, we can see how Connie, a fifteen-year old girl who is trying to find herself as a woman, is trapped by Arnold Friend who symbolizes the dark side of reality and eventually becomes a victim of poor guidance and empty judgment. As this short story has been described as “a study in the peril that lurks beneath the surface of everyday life”. A film, Smooth Talk, is directed with a screenplay based on this short story in 1986. Compared to the original story which ends abruptly at the point of Connie’s cross , the film continues after the story ends, giving viewers an unexpectedly optimistic glimpse of Connie’s fate.
In the short story, Connie is just one of the normal adolescents struggle with the transition from teen-age years to adulthood. She has a quick nervous giggling habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors, or checking other people’s faces to make sure her own was all right (Oates 898). She cares her appearance and wants others’ acceptance and besides she attempts to explore new territories and to find a new side of herself. Therefore, parents play an important role in offering support and help their adolescents when they need, especially during this difficult transition. Both in the story and film, her parents do not help in the right way, why do not you keep your room clean like your sister? How have you got your hair fixed - what the hell stinks? Hair spray? You do not see your sister using that junk. (Oates 899) Her mother envied her and her father fills his most of time with work.
This is why Connie never feel close to any of her family members so she even wishes her mother is dead. She makes me want to throw up sometimes (Oates 899). As a result, Connie enjoys listening to music and daydreaming about boys in the sun. Compared to the story, film Smooth Talk provides some typical elements of American adolescent in their world -- shoppi...