When reading The picture of Dorian Gray, I couldn’t help but compare his character to the only other version of him which I had seen prior to reading the novel. In the movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, the character Dorian Gray makes an appearance as one of the main characters, although he is drastically different in this story. Instead of being the pleasure seeking high society socialite Wilde writes him as, Dorian takes the role of a dangerous gentleman figure in the movie, being shown instead as a capable fighter and ever confident character. The greatest similarities revolve, of course, around the painting of Dorian, which in both works serves as his both his greatest strength and weakness at the same time.
While the creators of the movie clearly wished to make use of the creative supernatural circumstances regarding Dorian Gray’s youthful secrets, they obviously chose to ignore other parts of his character as well. Even his physical appearance was altered in the movie. Instead of a youthful figure with short, well-kept blonde hair, the movie adaptation of Dorian Gray possesses a long mane of immaculately brushed and styled dark brown locks. This decision seems rather innocuous, and forces me to wonder as to why he was so changed. The physical appearance never really becomes a plot point of importance, and there are other characters with short hair throughout the movie who also show themselves as refined gentlemen in much the same way as Dorian. The only real usage of his hair, it seems, is that it stays styled even during his fight scenes- another change from Wilde’s character. While Dorian Gray certainly murders in Wilde’s story, it is not a result of a refined combat confrontation, but rather a passionate and spur of the moment stabbing, devoid of the emotionless grace the movie Dorian exhibits. Really, the only character trait seemingly retained from Wilde’s character is Dorian’s inclination to seek out beauty. In the movie, Dorian seems drawn to the fatally attractive vampire Mina Harker, making his inclination to beauty a sort of nod to the original Dorian’s pursuit of sensory bliss rather than a defining character trait. Interestingly enough, there seems to be little to no themes of homo eroticism in the movie as well, which makes the dynamics of romance almost entirely between men and women. After looking at this almost entirely reimagined character, it seems that the movie sought only to capitalize on the immortal painting aspect of Wilde’s work, not caring whether or not they stayed true to the character in the slightest- and even with the painting a few key details were altered.
Specifically, Dorian’s method of death is altered in the movie. In the novel, Dorian becomes unhappy with what the painting shows him to be, and finally attempts to destroy it. In Wilde’s depiction, Dorian’s death doesn’t appear to be intended- he attempts only to destroy the representation of himself, perhaps in the hope that no one will ever be able to see the degenerated picture again. However, he doesn’t take into account the reverse of the link to the picture, and damage to it applies to him instead, leaving him dead and decrepit. In the movie adaptation, there is no need to stab the painting. The mechanics of how it shows his consequences functions quite differently, with Dorian being unable to even gaze upon the picture without his life ending. This mechanic is the largest difference between Wilde’s painting and the movie’s reimagining, and makes no sense at all. There is no rule established which implies sight of the degeneration leads to Dorian taking its effects upon himself, and it makes no sense narratively. Even in respect to Wilde’s novel, there is no indication that the effects become reversed until the painting is destroyed. The movie could quite easily have required some sort of damage be done to the picture, as its reveal occurs during a fight scene between Dorian and Mina. Looked at in sum, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen seems to pay no heed to the character of Dorian Gray as envisioned by Oscar Wilde, and instead simply hijacks his creative supernatural element for their own usage. Nearly none of the defining traits are carried over, many of which could have made the character more engaging and interesting throughout the movie.