Kim Barker knew that The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan, her funny memoir about war reporting, would look very different when adapted for the big screen. She guessed that the movie wouldn't feature Pakistan, and that her character would have a romance with a man who is just a friend in real life.That is exactly what happened. In Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, out March 4, Tina Fey stars as an alternate-reality version of Barker. The script (by Fey's frequent writing partner, Robert Carlock) made other adjustments: Movie Kim, for instance, is a producer for a cable network, while the real-life Barker wrote for the Chicago Tribune.Yet despite the Hollywood-ization, Barker likes the final product. She's even enjoying doing press for the film. "Always through this I was like, I'm a journalist first and foremost and I'm going back to my job after these couple of weeks of having my makeup done and fake eyelashes on. I'm going back to be a metro investigative reporter," Barker, who now works for The New York Times, told Refinery29. "I didn't want this to be some sort of... [in voice of disgust] 'Oh gosh, that movie.' And it's not. It's great. I like what it does for women. I like what it does for women in these reporter roles. I like what it does for Islam. It never demonizes it."Here's what else Barker had to say about watching her life get reinterpreted.“I think [Tina Fey] is hilarious. I had talked about writing a funny book for years, but it's not necessarily the most natural thing in the world… You have to get in a funny space to be able to write funny. Yeah, I would watch 30 Rock. I'd be like Liz Lemon — Liz Lemon goes to Afghanistan. It was just one of the people I envisioned as me. Because I'm very much a character in the book.”"I think it took us six months to get a contract, and then we had to wait for the end of 30 Rock, and then she's going to have a baby... [Eventually,] Robert and I started meeting pretty regularly. I introduced him to a lot of my friends from over there. Also a guy who lived here who used to be a journalist, but also used to be in the military. Then Afghans and Afghan-Americans. I threw as many people at him as I could. So people say, 'Oh, the movie's not exactly like the book.' It's pretty much a combination of a lot of things."“There are probably more laughs in the movie than there are in the book. That's one complaint about the book. People say, 'For a funny book about Afghanistan and Pakistan, it's just not that funny.' I'm like, it's pretty funny, okay? It's not like I'm making stand-up jokes. But it's situational humor. I think Tina and Robert's fans will really like it. I think they'll also be really surprised at the seriousness of it. I think Tina turned in her best performance. She's showing a serious side and also her usual comedic chops. People are like, 'What were you afraid of?' I'm like, Anchorman. Anchorman in Afghanistan. That would not be good. Because that's just not fair to the story.”