Oprah Winfrey found herself at the opposite end of the spectrum from Zora Neale Hurston when she produced her excruciating rendition of Hurston's stellar novel , Their eyes looked at God. She changed the characters and symbols, the theme and relationships, and completely devastated the meaning of the title, making it almost unrecognizable to someone who has read the book. Winfrey totally eviscerated Hurston's unparalleled novel, extrapolating what she thought was important without delving into the true meaning of the story. Oprah took Hurston's writing and turned it into her own abominable movie. Oprah's first mistake, changing Janie's character to make her equal to men, empowered Janie to show that she was in control of her life. Zora Neale Hurtson wrote Janie as a woman subordinate to men, like Logan Killicks or Joe Starks. “'She's a woman and her place is in the house'” (Hurston 51). By making Janie inferior to men, Hurston describes how men treated women in the 1920s and 1930s and how their husbands expected their wives to act. Janie, a wife, and strictly that, related to the things wives existed, back then, knew she had to follow these unspoken rules and act subservient to men. Oprah's change creates an essence of strength for her character to make Janie independent and do what she wants. In the movie, she played checkers with the residents of Eatonville, spoke to Joe in front of the town, and even worked in the field with Logan Killicks. Joe Starks nor Logan Killicks would not allow Janie to do these things, because men believed that a woman should do her feminine duties of cooking and cleaning, not a man's job. Oprah's edit tied Janie's character, middle of paper......ve-miller.hubpages.com/hub/Movie-vs-Book-Their-Eyes-Were-Watching- God > "SparkNotes: Their Eyes Were Watching God: Plot Overview." notes of sparkle. SparkNotes, Web. November 20, 2013. “Their Eyes Were Watching God, Summary.” hustle. Internet. November 20, 2013. "SparkNotes: Their Eyes Were Watching God: Chapters 17-18." notes of sparkle. SparkNotes, Web. November 25, 2013. “Their eyes were looking at God: literary criticism article. » their eyes looked at God-awwoetzel.blogspot. Internet. November 20, 2013. Their eyes looked at God. Real. Darnell Martin. Perf. Halle Berry. Harpo, 2005. DVD. Created using MLA Citation Maker at www.oslis.org.