Between the character differences and overall structure of Susanna Kaysen's memoir Girl, Interrupted, it's hard to find how the book is similar to the movie. Changing how Kaysen perceives and shares his story with the audience changes the meaning behind his experiences illustrated in the text. Rather than seeing the gritty details of being admitted to a mental institution as depicted in the memoir, James Mangold, the film's director, portrays a less abrasive version so as to be visually pleasing and relatable to the viewer. In Girl, Interrupted we see a clear change in the substance of Kaysen's work compared to Mangold's film. Characters are toned down or completely changed to fit the norms and restrictions of ratings and public opinion. Looking closer there are many factors to consider as to why the film differs so much from Kaysen's memoirs, such as audience, budget, and casting. It may also be needless to mention that personifying someone's life experiences as perceived in a memoir can prove difficult. Despite the many differences, it is almost impossible to imagine a better representation of the memoir as the film depicted it. The director and cast did their best to bring Susanna Kaysen's memoir to life on the big screen. In the memoir Girl, Interrupted, a troubled teenager checks herself into a mental health institution after a half-hearted suicide attempt and subsequently questions why she was put there in the first place. The memoir does not have a linear plot, so the reader follows a series of scattered tales told by Kaysen about his time at McLean Hospital. The memoir chapters give the reader bits of knowledge and…half of paper…an entire family is crazy, but since an entire family can't go to the hospital, one person is designated as crazy and if goes into it” (Kaysen, 95). Work Cited Cheever, Susan. "A designated madman." The New York Times. The New York Times, June 19, 1993. Web. April 15, 2014. “The Motion Picture Rating System (CARA).” The film rating system (CARA). MPAA and Web. April 14, 2014. Girl, Interrupted. Director James Mangold. Perf. Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie, Clea DuVall. Sony, 1999. VHS. “Girl, Interrupted (1999).” Find the best. Find the Best, nd Web. April 14, 2014. Kaysen, Susanna. Girl interrupted. New York: Turtle Bay Books, 1993. Print. Saffian, Sarah. "Donna, played Susanna Kaysen had her troubled past recreated by Winona Ryder in Girl, Interrupted By Sarah Saffian Us, February 2000 Sarah Saffian Entertainment Us, February 2000. Web. 2014.