'Hello, Goodbye' Adaptation Was Always Destined for Mediocrity
- Haley Wong (she/her)
- Aug 2, 2022
- 3 min read
Clare and Aiden make a perfect couple, but their love is about to expire. Certain that their relationship could not handle the hardships of long distance, they had always agreed on breaking up before college. That way, they could live out the romance of their dreams without any heartache. Now, one day before leaving for universities on opposite coasts, their promise is not seeming so painless. Their last night together,
a road trip of all the spots that defined them, is meant to be one of reminiscing, but their plans turn upside down when the nostalgia brings out everything they have been hiding from each other. As the hours slip by and the future creeps closer, they must decide once and for all if love is really worth fighting for.
“Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between” is captivating to begin with. From the title to the premise, Jennifer E. Smith has crafted a book that draws readers in. The author of bestsellers “The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight” and “This is What Happy Looks Like,” Smith is clearly a sucker for writing about teenage drama.
Most of all, the problem with “Hello, Goodbye” is that the author genuinely believes her readers want to spend hundreds of pages reading about completely average people doing completely average things. Clare and Aiden are dull at best, their characterizations flimsy. This complete lack of substance nods to just how out of touch the writer is with today’s youth, a detachment which is especially alarming in this case since it applies to someone who almost exclusively writes about 21st-century teenagers.
Of all the unrealistic expectations Jennifer E. Smith has for her readers, perhaps the most outlandish is that they are actually supposed to root for Clare and Aiden to stay together. Given that the pair gets into an argument barely a quarter through the book, the audience simply does not have the time to get to
know them besides the way they tear each other apart. As soon as the disagreement begins, their charm is lost for good. Their untamed angst leaves such a bitter aftertaste that any following development is made irrelevant.
On July 6th of 2022, Netflix released the movie adaptation, with news of Jordan Fisher’s role as Aiden capturing fan interest. A household name, Fisher is renowned for both their starring role in Broadway’s Dear Evan Hansen and as the lovesick John Ambrose in To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You. For anyone outraged over the heartbreak Lara Jean caused him, fret not. John Ambrose might just get the girl this time around.
Movie magic left the basic plot of the novel untouched and its first impression is promising. What matters more than introductions, however, is the second glance, the moment when a viewer recognizes this film for exactly what it is: one-dimensionality in an extravagant disguise. For instance, the movie’s writers made sure to highlight Clare (Talia Ryder) and Aiden’s sentimental trip around town whereas the novel allowed this aspect of the plot to fizzle out. Their gallivanting is enjoyable in its whimsy, but this light-hearted spirit subtracts from the urgency of the main conflict. When the characters do finally fight, it reads as unnatural against the otherwise jovial mood.
At the very least, the on-screen characters have motives. Clare, for one, has a motive so incredible that she must remind Aiden of it every five minutes. Having witnessed the brutal destruction of her parent’s marriage, she believes that the only way to spare herself from heartache is to never truly open up to anyone. She knows just how dangerous love can be. This is an insightful detail, but one that loses effectiveness after it is brought up tirelessly. Rather than expand on her backstory, the movie’s writers assigned Clare a singular character trait and hoped it would hold up against the backbone of believability.
Jordan Fisher’s background in music is woven into Aiden’s development as an aspiring singer. “Everything I Ever Wanted,” sung by Fisher, is a snappy tune which hints at Aiden’s true feelings for Clare right before the credits roll. Still, the song is a sorry excuse for actual closure, of which neither the book nor movie possess.
Despite the honest attempts made to refurbish the original text, the “Hello, Goodbye” franchise remains pre-baked and infantile. Its emotional immaturity is exhaustively patronizing. In a perfect world, Netflix would have looked up the definition of irredeemable by now, but this film is only evidence that this cycle of average adaptations is doomed to repeat itself.
Image credits: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4181158/
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