The character Walter Mitty: Story vs. Movie

In James Thurber’s famed short story Walter Mitty is a man who spends most of his time daydreaming, he lives mostly in his own mind not fully aware of the world around him. In the movie adaptation Mitty played by ben stiller shows some of these aspects from the lack of concentration to the daydreaming that is referred in the movie as ‘zoning out’.

The similarity between the two versions are that both Walters frequently imagine and lose themselves in the fantasy dreams they live out in their minds, they are usually short and are frequently interrupted by another character or outside force. Both men seem bored and uninterested in their current state of living wishing to have more exciting adventures.

The differences are more prevalent mostly due to the length of the short story and the changes done with the adaptation. Thurber’s Mitty feels more trapped in his real life and the fantasies offer a relief from the real world, he’s a meek and seemingly mild mannered man who doesn’t like reality and prefers to live out fantastical daydreams.
Stiller’s interpretation of Mitty feels more like a man bored than trapped, he seems to enjoy his Job but would want something exciting to tell people about himself. Most of Mitty’s fantasies in the movie revolve around his interactions with others mostly the ‘douchbag boss’ and the love interest played by Kristin Wiig, his fantasies don’t just involve him living out some exciting adventure but him reacting to another character. Mitty in the story revolved his fantasies around himself; he was the captain of a navy ship, he was a world famous surgeon and he was on trial in a courtroom drama. Stiller’s Mitty goes on to have his adventure but because it’s a short story Thurber’s Mitty counties to stay with his fantasies. Thurber ends Mitty’s story with his last fantasy facing the firing squad an exciting and heroic death for a most interesting daydreamer.