Sadly, there's no wisecracking blue genie in this one!

In the book, 1001 Arabian Nights, there is a sultan that hates women and likes to marry one and then have her killed the next night.  After killing many women this way, he finally marries a woman named Scheherazade who tricks him into letting her live by telling him stories each night, but not finishing them.  That way he must let her live to hear the end of the story.

In the movie version, the sultan was betrayed by his first wife and is planning on killing the next, which is Scheherazade.  He has never actually had a wife killed and because she saves him from his madness, he never does.

What was the director's purpose in changing the story in this manner?


a. to create an indifferent tone
b. to focus on the irony of the situation
c. the director probably never read the original story.
d. it makes the sultan a more sympathetic character






Scroll down for the answer.














______________
a. is incorrect.  An indifferent tone means that the director doesn't care one way or the other.  Since he made the change, we can assume he cares.
b. is incorrect.  There is no irony in this situation.  Many students automatically pick the irony answer since it sounds intelligent.  Don't fall for that trick.
c. is incorrect. 
d. is correct.  If the sultan is killing women, it makes it hard to accept him as a guy who deserves to get the woman at the end of the movie.


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