You are at the edge of your seat as you wait for the movie to begin. Ever since you read the book, you could not wait to see it make the journey from book to screen. Now that you are sitting here, you excitedly, and somewhat anxiously, start to wonder: Will they include your favorite scene from the book? Will the actors do your favorite characters justice? What scenes will be cut?
These are the all-too-real thoughts a fan will have when they learn the book they love is going to be adapted into a movie, especially if they are big fans of the book, leading to the question: Is it a good idea to make movie adaptations from books?
“It is a good idea for people to make movie adaptations out of books because there are a lot of people out there who do not like to read,” sophomore Jamie Nemec said. “Those people can still get a cool story out of it.”
Many book-to-movie adaptations will be coming out this year including: the second installment of The Hunger Games trilogy Catching Fire; The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, based on the popular novel by Cassandra Clare; and a film adaptation of The Great Gatsby, based off of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic American novel. Other adaptations will include The Sea of Monsters, the second book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card and World War Z, a post-apocalyptic horror novel by Max Brooks.
With many books this coming year being turned into movies, people sound off on different opinions. Is it better or more rewarding to read the book first versus just seeing the movie? Is it better not to see adaptations at all?
“I always like to read a book before the movie because I feel like the author spent all that time on it,” senior Abigail Waite said. “I almost feel like it is respectful to read the book and read the entire thing before you see the movie.”
Sophomore Jasmine Burnette thinks it is perfectly okay just to see the movie.
“I will read books outside of school sometimes if I like them, but when it comes to seeing the movie, I think just seeing the movie is enough. I do not need all those extra details to explain the story to me.”
When a book gets ready to be made into a movie, lots of elements come into play with the fans. A large part of this revolves around trying to cast characters each reader has their own image of.
“Most of the time if I read a book that I really love and they make a film out of it, I will not go to see the film,” English teacher Pat Thornhill said. “For example, I love a book called Cold Mountain, desperately. Not only did I not go see the movie, but what I saw of it enraged me; the casting was really bad, so it upset me a lot.”
Other people share different opinions on the casting of movies they like.
“When I saw Safe Haven, I thought they did an excellent job with casting,” senior Caroline Best said. “All the actors did a great job with their parts and they really brought the book that I loved to life on screen. That is always an amazing thing when someone can take something you have read and can bring it to life right in front of you. It makes it seem so much more real.”
While some fans dislike movie adaptations of the book, others do not always share this opinion. Many fans are happy with the fact the movie gives them another opportunity to experience a book they enjoy.
“I feel like some details can be better in movies, but movies are crammed into two hours, so you cannot get every detail in,” junior Katie Goodrich said. “As long as it is a faithful adaptation of the book, the movie will be good.”
– By Meredith Norman