Flying: Time changes everything

Nathan Hunt

Comparative Analysis Up in the Air

English 102 Laura Cline

19 April 2012

Flying: Time changes everything

Typical flying taking what you need in any amount and cramming it into your carryon for your short business trip turns into a thoughtful process of packing and limited items due to a devastating and horrific historical event. Up in the Air, a book about a typical businessman who travels for a living changes when turned into a film due to a terrorist attack that effects the world of flying for everyone in the United States. The idea of flying was a quick way to travel, turning into an uneasy way to travel. The book and the film portray the differences of economic times. In the book, the economic times were looking up, whereas in the film the economic times showed the down spiral of business and economics. In the book business was as usual with businessmen traveling for a living and not worrying about landing or keeping their jobs. There were more jobs if one got fired. In the film, the hardships that businessmen faced showed the reality of the downturn of economic times. The main character in the book and in the movie is also portrayed very differently. In the book, Ryan is portrayed as a mainstream businessman living a dreary life. In the movie, Ryan appears to love his job and lives a happy go lucky life. In the book, business took priority over family relationships, whereas in the movie, family takes precedence. Priorities, goals, and mood of the main character are main differences portrayed between the book and the film.

The book is written in second person narrative. This is a style of writing that may increase the reader’s attention. The second person makes the reader feel like they are a part of the story. The reader also gets a better sense of the emotions and senses of the characters. The main character, Ryan Bingham is a businessman who travels for a living as a “career transition counselor”. Basically he is paid by companies to tell people they’re fired, and does so in a way that makes them think positive and head in a new direction. The plot of the book focuses on Ryan’s lifestyle. There is no real direction in the book. The story seems lifeless, dreary, and depressing. The author portrays Ryan as a dedicated businessman who hides his emotions within. The film is not portrayed as the second person. The film is in first person but captivates the audience by focusing on Ryan and his unique lifestyle and how life is different for him than most people because of his type of work. He portrays that he likes his lifestyle and even fights to keep it when his boss wants to “ground” him.

The film is overall more upbeat and intriguing than the book. The film portrays Ryan, the main character as a good businessman and shows you how he is good at what he does. The film also portrays the economic hardship much differently than the book. In the film, the company that Ryan works for is in the process of setting up a system to fire their clients’ employees via webcam. This system would eliminate the traveling expenses. Although this small change for his company would drastically change Ryan’s lifestyle. Ryan decides to take it into his hands to prove to his boss, and the young woman who created the webcam idea, that it will not work. He does so by having Natalie tag along with him to the various jobs. He then has her try the idea, via webcam. She can tell there is a difference, as well as he can, but it still worked well. The film also addresses Ryan’s emotions about family, and relationships. Ryan falls for a woman with a similar lifestyle, but he does not know how to deal with becoming involved with someone else’s emotions. Ryan’s sister is also planning to get married so he knows he will be seeing his family soon, and Ryan has to decide how to deal with his interpersonal emotional feelings that he’s been avoiding.
            The beginning of the book begins differently than the beginning of the film. The book begins with Ryan on an airplane. He is talking to a fellow passenger and sharing some of his life with him. This is a good opening for the book as it gives the reader a picture of Ryan and explains his life and background. The film begins with Ryan doing his job, firing employees for other companies in person. This opening is good for the film because it gives the audience a picture of what Ryan’s job looks like.  

Ryan has an unusual lifestyle that most people would not like. He lives out of a suitcase, very well organized, including only the necessities. He eats at restaurants, drives rental cars, preferably Hertz rental cars, and has many acquaintances, not many close relationships. His goals in life are very different than most people’s goals. Ryan has a goal of reaching 1 million frequent flyer miles. He does not have goals of being in a relationship or having children.

            The book describes Ryan as having two goals in life: reaching his frequent flyer mile maximum, getting hired by a secretive corporation called MythTech, and selling a business allegory book. In the film, Ryan has two goals in life, one in which is the same in the book: reaching his frequent flyer mile maximum, and keeping his travelling lifestyle. The film does not mention MythTech, nor the book.

Ryan has two sisters. His parents are both deceased. One of his sisters is married with children; the other is engaged to be married. When he is asked to attend his sister’s wedding he contemplates going or not at first. Once he receives the invitation which is a large cardboard photo of his sister and her fiancé, she asked him to take pictures of them in various places. Ryan works hard at getting good background pictures in various places to show his sister he cares. This lets him down when he shows up to the rehearsal dinner and they have a slew of photos already.

            A twist to the film occurs when Ryan meets this woman, while traveling. She also travels for a living. In the beginning Ryan enjoys having a “fling” with her. Throughout the film he starts to fall in love with her. He invites her to be his date for his sister’s wedding, and she attends. They meet up in various cities to spend some time together. When Ryan finally realizes he wants more with her, he is completely heart-broken to find out that she does not.

            Ryan never thought he wanted to get married or have children. He never saw himself as a commitment kind of guy until he met Alex. Natalie also convinced him that it was unnatural to not want to be in a relationship. She even gets mad at him that he says he does not want more with Alex. Natalie impacts Ryan’s life significantly. She is a new employee for the company he works for. She is young and smart. She thinks cost effectively. She creates a new way for the company to do their work without having several employees travelling so frequently. This change drastically impacts Ryan because he knows no other lifestyle.

            In the film and in the book, Ryan has a goal of becoming a Platinum card holder which means he has accumulated 1 million frequent flyer miles. In the film, when he finally achieves this, it comes at a difficult time for Ryan. He is not as excited as he thought he would be. He never really thought about what he was going to use all of the miles on, so he thinks about giving them to his sister and her new husband.

            The ending of the book and the film are also different. The book’s closing discusses Ryan’s interest in pursuing a relationship with Alex, but contemplating how it will work out and how things will be different for him being in a committed relationship with someone. Ryan has no real commitments so far other than to his job. He also has no close relationships. He is estranged from his family and has no real friends. The film ends with Ryan settling down and getting used to being “grounded”, after finding out that Alex does not want a committed relationship with him. Then his boss asks him to get back in the air.

            The significant event that occurred in between the time that the book was written and the time that the film was created did not seem to be portrayed much in the film. Although 9-1-1 was a significant tragic event for the United States, and it effected how people travel, it did not seem to effect Ryan significantly. He was used to packing lightly, and traveling via airplane. The only significant comment stated in the film by Ryan was when he was in line to go through security at the airport and he commented on who to get behind in line. He commented that “those four guys will be selected for a random search; old people tend to have metal in their body that sets off the detector, but Asians pack light and get through security quick”.

            Although the two have several differences, the main character’s job is the consistent factor between the book and the film. The main differences seem to be Ryan’s mood, goals, and priorities. Ryan seems to be more dreary and depressed in the film, just going through every day motions. In the film, Ryan tends to come off as happier and more upbeat.

References:

Kirn, Walter. 2001. Up in the Air. Random House, Inc.

Up in the Air. Dir. Jason Reitman. Perf. George Clooney. 2009. Film.