When Your Favorite Characters Alter Their Identities: Implications of Race Swapping in Book to Screen Adaptations on Parasocial Relationships

• In Event: Research Symposium - Session V

Abstract

Hollywood is becoming more diverse, through the stories told and who is telling them.
While diverse representations are undeniably beneficial to industry, creativity, and culture,
changing the racial identity of characters in book adaptations, known as race bending, affects
fans and their relationships to those characters. Through the lens of adaptation theory and
parasocial relationship theory, this study seeks to understand the potential impact of changing the
racial diversity of characters from book to screen adaptations on audience identity. Utilizing textual analysis of three works from streaming services that have been adapted from book to
screen by adding emphasis on character’s racial identity, this study explores the potential impact
of changing diversity of characters on audience identity. By better understanding why Hollywood adds diversity story lines as they move stories from page to screen, this study can add to current adaptation theories and parasocial relationship theory in the entertainment field.

Authors

• Victoria Angelica Wright

• Danielle F Deavours, Samford University