Krista Sanford is a senior creative writing major and writes ‘Copy That’ for the Daily News. Her views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper. Write to Krista at klsanford@bsu.edu.
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I’d bought a ticket to the first viewing of the movie, ready to see one of my favorite books come to life. My friends and I had been counting down to the premiere day all summer, and now it was here. But when I walked out of the theater two hours later, all I could think was, “What did I just watch?”
Unfortunately, that scenario has happened a lot, which is why I’m very hesitant when I hear that a book I read will become a movie or TV show.
I’m not saying all movie adaptations are bad. There have been a few recently — like “The Maze Runner” and “The Fault in Our Stars” — that I thought really matched the book well. Most of the time, though, I don’t see a great resemblance.
When I first found out “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones” was being made into a movie, I was so excited. I had read all the books in the series and I couldn’t wait to see what the movie did for the book. But I left the theater disappointed and angry.
I could understand taking out a few settings, but the movie took parts of the book and completely rearranged them. It’s not surprising that directors have to take out some details in order to fit the story into the time frame that they have, but sometimes directors take out key storylines.
I’m not asking for every single detail to be in the movie, but directors could try a little harder to stick to the main idea. Keep the same characters — don’t add or subtract. Make the story flow the way it does in the book, and don’t mix up the way that events happen.
It’s not just movies that take the idea of a book — the characters’ names and the title — and then just do whatever. TV shows do the same thing. I just finished reading “The 100” by Kass Morgan, and I was excited to start watching the TV series based on the book. I had actually watched the first few episodes during the summer, but then stopped when I decided to read the book first.
It wouldn’t have mattered if I’d finished the series and then started the book, because the entire book was basically summed up in the first episode, they added characters that weren’t in the book and even took out characters that were in the book. They cut an entire storyline and added a completely random one in its place.
While the TV series was great and I can’t wait to watch season two when it comes out on Netflix, I wanted to see the book version come to life. Instead, I saw a glimpse into the book I loved, but mostly I just saw the screenwriters making up what they thought would be interesting.
Even if the TV show warned viewers that it was nothing like the book, I probably still would have watched it. I didn’t need that connection to a book to find it interesting.
I’ve learned my lesson in trusting Hollywood to give me something based on a book I read. Before I get excited about a new movie/TV series coming out, I do my research. I try to figure out just how close to the book a movie or TV series is going to be.
I understand that movies and TV series can’t put every little detail from the book in. I even understand that sometimes producers like an idea but not the exact storyline. What I don’t understand is why, if the movie or TV series is not going to follow the book, it still has the same name as the book. I would rather be warned that the adaptation isn’t going to be the book, instead of finding that out on my own.
If you’re like me and hate the way book adaptations portray a book, be cautious when watching the movie or TV show. Unfortunately, I think accurate book adaptations will still be pretty rare, but maybe with websites like Twitter, fans will be able to communicate with the producers more and create something that portrays the book the way fans want it portrayed.
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