Diksha Sundriyal
Proms, dances, and every other reason to party has been an important theme in teen movies. Due to this, the dilemma of a partner has allowed some interesting tropes in the genre. ‘The Perfect Date’ uses this situation and creates a narrative from the perspective of a boy who decides to make a business out of it. The idea of an app that allows you to have a plus-one, without the apprehension of getting rejected, or worse, stood up by someone else, is rather appealing. But is it feasible in real-life? Could ‘The Perfect Date’ be a true story? Here’s the answer.
Is The Perfect Date based on a true story?
No, ‘The Perfect Date’ is not based on a true story. It is based on the book named The Stand-In, written by Steve Bloom. While it is not inspired by the true story of a teenager, it is based on a real experience of Bloom’s life. Once, he had been playing tennis with a friend, whose daughter had to go to prom. Because her date canceled at the last minute, she was left alone, and the man wondered if there could be a stand-in who would escort his daughter to the prom. When Brooks comes across something similar in the film, he decides to use this idea for his benefit and creates an app. When Bloom heard of it, he too decided to use it for his purpose but opted to write a story about it, instead. In a similar vein, to create the protagonist, Bloom decided to draw on his own personality and the friendships and relationships he’d had as a teenager.
For the plot, he wondered if there could be such a service, to be someone’s stand-in at the last minute. If so, then why would someone start it? What would prompt them to do it? With these questions, he jumped into the story and came out with Brooks Rattigan’s ambitious persona. Initially, he wrote the story as a screenplay and tried to get the project made for a long time. At one point, some actors were associated with it, but nothing came of it. Eventually, he decided to turn it into a book and hoped that some production house options it for a movie.
Interestingly, the day he got a publishing deal for the story he also received an offer to turn the book into a film. Luckily, he already had a script for it! If the whole thing looks like a quick work to you, it should be clarified that between writing the original script and the movie getting made, Bloom had to wait for ten years. This allowed him to explore his story with much more depth, and also gave him more freedom to make changes between the book and the new script.
The most important difference between the book and the film is its ending itself. In the movie, Brooks decides to stay at UConn. However, in the book, he and Celia go to different colleges, deciding to try long-distance. In the movie, Brooks goes on date with anyone who pays for his service. In the book, however, he mainly targets rich people. Some more similar subtle differences remain between the book and its adaptation, the overall message remains the same.
Read More: Will There be a The Perfect Date 2?
