On the weekend that the latest installment of the "Twilight" series sets to come out in theaters, I thought it would be appropriate to comment on books being made into movies. First off, let me make it very, very clear that I despise the "Twilight" series for too many reasons to count but mainly because the writing is shitty, the characters are pathetic and it sets women's rights back about 100 years. But since the trailer is basically being shoved down our throats it got me thinking about how every popular book in the last I don't know how many years has been made into a movie. According to some research I did on the topic roughly 40% of movies currently out this year were based on books. That is a lot if you think about how many movies are released into theaters each year. Apparently, Hollywood has no more original ideas.
I'm torn on the topic to be quite honest. I won't lie and say that I don't get really excited when I see that one of my favorite novels is being made into a movie but I get equally nervous that the producers will ruin it beyond repair. I'm always afraid that they won't get the characters just right or that my favorite scene will not come to life the way I envisioned it in my head. There is something so wonderful about reading a book and imagining the scene in your head. We all picture if differently depending on our imagination and our life experiences and that is the beauty of books. When a movie attempts to tackle this it is really only one person's perspective of the scene. Sure, the author writes it in a way that we all have a general idea of what is occurring or where but maybe the main character is wearing a blue dress in my mind but in the next person's mind it is yellow. These are obviously very subtle differences but differences just the same and that what makes the reading experience so magical and so unique.
I have only one rule when seeing movies based on books and that is that I read the book before seeing the movie always. I never want to picture the actor instead of the character in my head while reading. Part of the fun of reading is picturing the people in your head and making them real. If someone has already picked it for you, it loses the ability of the imagination to explore. And lets be honest, sometime or I should say more often than not, the movie gets it dead wrong with a few marked exceptions. One, being the Harry Potter franchise. I think whoever was responsible for casting those movies is brilliant. 90% of the characters in the movies are exactly how I pictured them in my head. I was pleasantly surprised.
The other big problem I have with books being made into movies is that the movie is NEVER better than the book (I have one and only one exception to this but I'll get there). Obviously this is just my opinion but I believe its a true one. I think the reason for this is pretty obvious - a book can explore so much more than a movie can in just under 2 hours. A book takes days, weeks even months to read and in that time you get attached to characters - that is nearly impossible to do in the time it takes to watch a movie unless you are one of those people (me) that watches a beloved movie over and over and over.
Now onto to my only exception to the rule that books are overwhelmingly better than the movie: "The Shawshank Redemption." Beautiful movie, forgettable short story. I remember reading this Stephen King story on the beach one summer and liking it but that's where it ended. In fact, when I finally saw the movie I didn't even realize that I had already read the story. I love this movie and every time I see it it touches me in a different way. If you don't love this movie, I don't think I want to know you. I'm not sure why the movie was able to bring this story to life for me in a way that the book didn't. Maybe I'll go back to the book and re read it. I'll let you know what I think when I do.
So even though I know that movies won't surpass my experience reading these books, I am still ridiculously excited to see "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and "The Hunger Games" come to the big screen this year.
I'm torn on the topic to be quite honest. I won't lie and say that I don't get really excited when I see that one of my favorite novels is being made into a movie but I get equally nervous that the producers will ruin it beyond repair. I'm always afraid that they won't get the characters just right or that my favorite scene will not come to life the way I envisioned it in my head. There is something so wonderful about reading a book and imagining the scene in your head. We all picture if differently depending on our imagination and our life experiences and that is the beauty of books. When a movie attempts to tackle this it is really only one person's perspective of the scene. Sure, the author writes it in a way that we all have a general idea of what is occurring or where but maybe the main character is wearing a blue dress in my mind but in the next person's mind it is yellow. These are obviously very subtle differences but differences just the same and that what makes the reading experience so magical and so unique.
I have only one rule when seeing movies based on books and that is that I read the book before seeing the movie always. I never want to picture the actor instead of the character in my head while reading. Part of the fun of reading is picturing the people in your head and making them real. If someone has already picked it for you, it loses the ability of the imagination to explore. And lets be honest, sometime or I should say more often than not, the movie gets it dead wrong with a few marked exceptions. One, being the Harry Potter franchise. I think whoever was responsible for casting those movies is brilliant. 90% of the characters in the movies are exactly how I pictured them in my head. I was pleasantly surprised.
The other big problem I have with books being made into movies is that the movie is NEVER better than the book (I have one and only one exception to this but I'll get there). Obviously this is just my opinion but I believe its a true one. I think the reason for this is pretty obvious - a book can explore so much more than a movie can in just under 2 hours. A book takes days, weeks even months to read and in that time you get attached to characters - that is nearly impossible to do in the time it takes to watch a movie unless you are one of those people (me) that watches a beloved movie over and over and over.
Now onto to my only exception to the rule that books are overwhelmingly better than the movie: "The Shawshank Redemption." Beautiful movie, forgettable short story. I remember reading this Stephen King story on the beach one summer and liking it but that's where it ended. In fact, when I finally saw the movie I didn't even realize that I had already read the story. I love this movie and every time I see it it touches me in a different way. If you don't love this movie, I don't think I want to know you. I'm not sure why the movie was able to bring this story to life for me in a way that the book didn't. Maybe I'll go back to the book and re read it. I'll let you know what I think when I do.
So even though I know that movies won't surpass my experience reading these books, I am still ridiculously excited to see "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and "The Hunger Games" come to the big screen this year.
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