The age issue was kept pretty consistent...in the book when Janie was assessing Teacake's age...she said he looked to be about 25, while she herself was nearly 40...in the film, Janie told Teackake that she was nearly 10 years older than him...which would make a 7 year age difference pretty parallel to the book's intent. The color issue was more pronounced in the book, but Oprah's adaption focused on the love story within rather than the social issue of race. The film adaption focused on Janie's evolution from a girl woman trapped in marriages of convenience and presence, into a fully developed woman unafraid to seek freedom as an independent woman during a time when women were looked upon as extensions of the male, rather than equal entities with goals and ambitions other than the childbed and marriage. In the book Janie and Teacake were married, in the film Janie insisted on enjoying her freedom and vowed never to marry again. I know the majority of the posters on this thread were caught up in the racial element of the book, but as in any form of art...perception is what the viewer sees in the particular piece. IMO...film is like art, a vehicle of expression. Oprah's was a love story...apparently a great number of viewers wanted something else. I loved the book and I continue to read it. In this age of war and the changing dynamics in human relationships...those were gentler times which provide a comforting escape along with a love story like many of us wish we could find.
The magic of Teacake in the book was captured by Ealy in the film...the skin tone issue became less important in the context of the film...the great love story between Teacake and Janie. I have to admit tho' I also felt the scenes from the Muck should have been a greater focus of the film.
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