Film Adaptation

by Margot Naber

I would make “My Flamboyant Grandson” into a short film. The film would be live action and I would cast Robert De Nero to play the grandfather, young Noah Scnapp to play Teddy, and Chandra Wilson to play the “citizen helper,” who would obviously be a woman in this version. The grandfather would be grumpy except when he’s with Teddy and Teddy would be happy and outgoing around his family. I would make the story set around 2015 when Hamilton was released and make that the broadway show they’re going to see. I would have narration at the beginning and it would be the grandpa’s voice playing over videos of how Teddy is treated at school (kids bullying him, the bus driver taping a note to his backpack, etc.) I wouldn’t have Teddy talk much at all in the film, but he would convey his emotions through facial expressions and the grandpa could sort of explain how Teddy feels in his narration the way he does in the story. Then, I’d add the grandpa’s narration explaining why they’re going into the city as they ride the train. I’d try to convey the chaos by having the grandfather limping down the street while holding Teddy’s hand and random people on the sidewalks shouting at each other like they do in the story. The camera would pan to the grandpa being grumpy and overwhelmed and then to Teddy smiling and excited. I would make the scene where the grandfather has to slow down because of his feet set in Times Square with skyscrapers and the advertisements playing on TVs comedic by quickly switching between all the different ads and the grandpa looking at them with a horrific look on his face. The ads described in the show seem pretty ridiculous, like the woman pouring Pepsi on her chest, so I would have that one and add even more ridiculous ads. I’d play horror movie music to make it more dramatic and then I’d have it pan to Teddy looking really sad. Another comedic scene would obviously be when the grandfather knocks the notepad out of the citizen helper’s hand. In this version, the cop would have the same personality as Chandra Wilson’s character, Miranda, on Grey’s Anatomy. She would roll her eyes when pulling out her notepad to write the ticket. When the grandpa has to come back down to pay for the ticket, I’d add some of his narration written in the story and the cop would be passive aggressive when she says she is glad about his change of heart and all that. Finally, there would be the grandpa’s narration at the end when everything is resolved and I’d have Teddy dancing and performing some of the scenes from Hamilton all dressed up. It would end with a closeup of the grandpa smiling.