# Flicka!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 10, 2006, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flicka/375874 "2006-10-10T00:48:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flicka/375874/21 "2006-10-10T14:11:13Z")
[QUOTE=Sailboat] Well, unless the movie is about a glue factory or a documentary about the horsemeat trade, aren’t they all “freakish accidents”? I mean, they don’t _set out_ to kill animals as part of the movie’s intention. So when one does die during filming, it likely means some unsafe practice was followed. [/QUOTE] I think the point was that they did an investigation and found that there was no negligence or unsafe practices, that it was just one of those bad things that happens sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flicka/375874/22 "2006-10-10T15:15:40Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] Usually when someone says “I don’t mean to be insulting but…” they intend their hearer to understand that what follows “and…” is something which reveals the hearer to be quite insultable, and they mean to pretend to have been just “forced” by context to say this insulting thing. Is this what you meant? -Kris [/QUOTE] What the hell are you blathering on about? People become offended by the simplest of comments on this board. I was trying to avoid that, but thank god you’re here to take up the banner. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flicka/375874/23 "2006-10-10T15:17:30Z")
[QUOTE=OpalCat] I kind of took it that way but wasn’t going to make an issue of it. Frankly, though, I thought the whole comment odd. I still don’t see what his point was… so what if there was an ancient version of it? I am not allowed to be excited that there is a modern version forthcoming? Or to ask on the board if the book was actually good, or if my extremely vague memories of “liking it” were just because I was young…? _shakes head_ Felt patronizing and condescending in addition to totally irrelevant. [/QUOTE] Oh for shit’s sake. Get over yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flicka/375874/24 "2006-10-10T16:26:41Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] What the hell are you blathering on about? People become offended by the simplest of comments on this board. I was trying to avoid that, but thank god you’re here to take up the banner. [/QUOTE] Calm down there, I’m trying to help! I’m trying to help you do what you’re trying to do. The way you tried to do it… doesn’t (and as you can see, didn’t) work.\* You were trying to make a simple comment without offending anyone. Try this: “There was an adaptation of it made in (year) as well, might be something you’d like to netflix!” or “Just a note: There was an adaptation of it made in (year) as well.” or maybe, though I’m not sure about this one: “For the record, there was an adaptation of it made in (year) as well.” As you can see, I recognize the need to frame the comment, since a simple, terse, “There was an adaptation of it made in (year) as well” could be misinterpreted. You were right to do some thinking about how to say it. But what you went with–framing with “I don’t mean to be insulting” and “you do know… don’t you” phraseology–was counterproductive to your intent. -FrL- \*From your first post, I wasn’t sure whether you were intending to be snarky, or whether you were only accidentally appearing to be snarky. That’s why I asked. ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flicka/375874/25 "2006-10-10T17:44:22Z")
_My Friend Flicka_ is a great book. The sequel, _Thunderhead_, is also very good. I don’t remember as much about the third book, _Green Grass of Wyoming_. However, considering that they’ve changed the main character from a boy to a girl, I have my doubts about the movie. If they’re going to make that kind of change, it’s quite likely to be one of those movies that steals the title of a great work and slaps it on some piece of crap that shares only the title. JMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/96bed5/32.png) [@Cat\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Jones)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flicka/375874/26 "2006-10-10T17:53:16Z")
[QUOTE=redtail23] … they’ve changed the main character from a boy to a girl … [/QUOTE] Noooooo! That’s why it was different from all the other horsey stuff out there - it wasn’t for girls in the same way (possibly why I didn’t like it so much but..). The whole father son dynamic was the pivot point no ? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flicka/375874/27 "2006-10-10T17:57:02Z")
Didn’t anybody else see this trailer and notice the kid is a girl? It’s been a decade at least since I read “My Friend Flicka”, but I’m quite certain it was about a boy. I was so pissed off I swore off the whole idea of the movie then and there. It’s funny, thinking about it, how much I remember about the book. I wasn’t as hopelessly enamoured of it as I was other books when I was Really Into Horses, but that one I remember so vividly. I wonder why? Can’t remember a thing about “Misty of Chincoteague” except them swimming the horses across the water. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flicka/375874/28 "2006-10-10T17:58:44Z")
[QUOTE=Cat Jones] Noooooo! That’s why it was different from all the other horsey stuff out there - it wasn’t for girls in the same way (possibly why I didn’t like it so much but..). The whole father son dynamic was the pivot point no ? [/QUOTE] Sigh, I swear I read the whole thread looking for outrage on the gender switch. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flicka/375874/29 "2006-10-10T18:01:55Z")
[QUOTE=OpalCat] Unfortunately, that is all I remember. DOH! Ok, I know it’s about a horse. And I was very young. Is this going to be good, or am I just remembering something crappy that I thought was good because I was a little kid? [/QUOTE] Well – you know how it goes about turning books into movies. A great book (and _My Friend Flicka_ is a classic) can end up being a really crappy movie. While the book is set on a horse ranch and does involve a young boy and a horse his dad gives him at his mother’s urging, the book is really more about the relationship between the boy and his parents, and his parents’ relationship to each other, than the horses, really. But a kid would almost certainly be most likely to pick up on the boy-and-his-horse story and not really ‘get’ the rest. I’m thinking if the movie makers try to concentrate more on the human drama (and it sounds from the one IMDB user comment I can see that they did), they could end up making it really sappy and simplistic. I can see that the boy in the story has morphed into a girl for the movie, and that land developers have been inserted into the story as the threat to the ranch and that quite a few other details have been changed. The director only has one other credit to his name, _A Home at the End of the World_, which I didn’t see (and is another book adaptation), so I’d say it’s a crapshoot. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flicka/375874/30 "2006-10-10T19:12:15Z")
My Friend Flicka was one of my favorite books growing up. I still re-read it occasionally. This said, I refuse to see this movie. As has been mentioned, they have changed Ken to a girl. The original Flicka was also a chestnut with a flaxen mane and tail, and is black in this piece of crap movie. _ALL_ wild horses have to be black, dontchaknow??? Flicka was also just a weanling filly in the book. In the movie previews, the girl now has to win some big race on Flicka to save the ranch. _yawn_ How many times has THAT been done? All in all… I think the ONLY thing from the book left if the horse’s name. And I bet they even changed the meaning… She was named in the book by the Swedish hired hand who said Flicka meant Little Girl in his language. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2006, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flicka/375874/31 "2006-10-11T03:29:14Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] Oh for shit’s sake. Get over yourself. [/QUOTE] Or I could have said that–it fits just as well. Thanks for the suggestion. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flicka/375874/32 "2006-10-12T19:13:59Z")
[QUOTE=redtail23] However, considering that they’ve changed the main character from a boy to a girl, I have my doubts about the movie. If they’re going to make that kind of change, it’s quite likely to be one of those movies that steals the title of a great work and slaps it on some piece of crap that shares only the title. JMHO. [/QUOTE] Then a new title is called for! I humbly suggest _The Neighing Game._ Sailboat ---
**Author:** ![The\_Blue-Sighted\_Shadow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@The\_Blue-Sighted\_Shadow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Blue-Sighted_Shadow)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2006, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flicka/375874/33 "2006-10-12T20:05:25Z")
[QUOTE=PapSett] As has been mentioned, they have changed Ken to a girl. The original Flicka was also a chestnut with a flaxen mane and tail, and is black in this piece of crap movie. _ALL_ wild horses have to be black, dontchaknow??? Flicka was also just a weanling filly in the book. In the movie previews, the girl now has to win some big race on Flicka to save the ranch. _yawn_ How many times has THAT been done? All in all… I think the ONLY thing from the book left if the horse’s name. And I bet they even changed the meaning… She was named in the book by the Swedish hired hand who said Flicka meant Little Girl in his language. :mad: [/QUOTE] Oh, I was wondering about that when I saw the preview. I read so many horse stories growing up, I thought I had confused **Flicka** with something else. I see that I didn’t and I’ll pass on the movie. It’s too bad, because \*\*Flicka \*\* and \*\*Thunderhead \*\* were good stories. I hate it when they take a well-known book and all the movie ends up having in common with the book is the title. See Demi Moore’s **The Scarlet Letter**. Or actually, don’t bother. :shudder: **Sailboat** , they used to deliberately kill horses while making movies, using such abominations as tripping, or even shooting them (with a gun, not a camera.) Other animals too, but mostly horses. Especially in older Westerns, a lot of the horses that went down during the shootouts or chases or whatever _died_. I believe that some movies filmed in countries without animal protection laws will occasionally use tripping and other methods for “realism” and that’s when you see the Humane Society raise a fuss about the movie. Otherwise, yes, it’s a freakish accident if an animal is harmed in filming these days, since I think they have more protections in place than humans. /hijack [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flicka/375874.md?page=1)