In regards to plot, Smooth Talk maintained a highly similar storyline. It seems most every event that happened in "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" also happened in the movie. Connie 
is still a 15 year old girl who is out running around with boys and lying to her parents. However, the movie version was far less ominous and troublesome. Her encounter with Arnold the first time at the diner only lasted a mere 2 or 3 seconds and seemed fairly insignificant, while in the story, it describes this encounter for about half the page. Had I watched the movie without reading the story, I would not have even paid attention to Arnold pointing at Connie. The biggest change in plot was the ending. Connie does not fight as hard to stay at home while Arnold tries to get her to go for a ride. She actually approaches the car while in the story she stays behind the screen door. In the movie she also did not scream into the phone and have a breakdown. She only cries for a short time then makes her way over to Arnold's car, in no way distraught as Connie's character was in the story. She also returns to her house afterwards, while the story ends with Connie walking toward the car. The movie made it far less ambiguous and troublesome. She returns home and apologizes to her family and hugs and dances with her sister, indicating that she went through a life change and would change her foolish ways. In the story, Connie breaks down and is forced to go with Arnold and the story stops there. The movie basically seemed like a sugarcoated version of Oates' story.
is still a 15 year old girl who is out running around with boys and lying to her parents. However, the movie version was far less ominous and troublesome. Her encounter with Arnold the first time at the diner only lasted a mere 2 or 3 seconds and seemed fairly insignificant, while in the story, it describes this encounter for about half the page. Had I watched the movie without reading the story, I would not have even paid attention to Arnold pointing at Connie. The biggest change in plot was the ending. Connie does not fight as hard to stay at home while Arnold tries to get her to go for a ride. She actually approaches the car while in the story she stays behind the screen door. In the movie she also did not scream into the phone and have a breakdown. She only cries for a short time then makes her way over to Arnold's car, in no way distraught as Connie's character was in the story. She also returns to her house afterwards, while the story ends with Connie walking toward the car. The movie made it far less ambiguous and troublesome. She returns home and apologizes to her family and hugs and dances with her sister, indicating that she went through a life change and would change her foolish ways. In the story, Connie breaks down and is forced to go with Arnold and the story stops there. The movie basically seemed like a sugarcoated version of Oates' story.POINT OF VIEW
The point of view of the movie is fairly similar to that of the short story. There is no character directly telling the story, but the focus does remain on Connie. The major difference was that the film does not reveal the background of Connie and her relationships with her family. Those facts had to be revealed in a different approach by verbal communication between characters and witnessing how they behaved toward one another. The movie also made Connie out to be more of a victim of her family's harassment. The mother seemed more harsh in the movie than in the story, like in the beginning of the film when she says to Connie, "I look in your eyes and all I see are a bunch of trashy daydreams." There was also a point in the movie when Connie sits at the kitchen table and listens to her mom talk on the phone. When the mother sees her come in, she stares unblinkingly to Connie and speaks into the phone, "June is just wonderful. June is an angel. Not like this one here..." Connie is far more victimized and it made me feel more sympathy for her here than I did while reading the story.
CHARACTERIZATION
The characterization of the movie was similar in regards to Connie and her mother, but the father was very different. He was actually nice to Connie and seemed to be a foil of her mother. He took her for a drive and gave her a long lecture about being careful. In the story, the father said nothing to Connie and ignored her along with the rest of the family. He worked all day and only came home to eat. Having a steady father-figure diminishes my reasoning behind Connie's rebellion. In the story I assumed that a big part of Connie hanging around with boys was because of this lack of a father figure in her family. The movie provides her with a father though which makes it harder to assume the same reasoning behind Connie's acting out.
SETTING
The setting of "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" was never stated in the story; however, it could be assumed it took place in the 50's or early 60's based on clues like the transistor radios and the fact it was written in the mid 60's. The film, however, does give a more specific location of some place near San Francisco. In the opening scene Connie and her friends are at the beach and come home passing the Golden Gate Bridge. The year it takes place also seems to be different. The way they dress looks to be more 70's and 80's style clothing than 50's or 60's, but they never say exactly what year it is. Overall, I do not believe the setting had much effect on the purpose of the story and film. The change in setting of the two versions did not change how I viewed the message.
THEME
The theme of the film and the story remained relatively consistent. A foolish young girl learns that she is not fully ready to become an adult and she is unprepared for the consequences that independence brings. The only difference is that the movie creates more of an epiphany for Connie. Unlike the story, Connie is brought home after being taken away by Arnold Friend. Upon her return she embraces her family members and apologizes to them. This ties in a second theme to the movie that the story did not contain regarding the importance of family and coming back to one's roots.
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