While we can all agree that leaving out key details or changing the plot entirely is blasphemous (I’m looking at you Percy Jackson), there always seems to be an aspect of book-to-film movies that let you down.

I had an ironic experience with this phenomenon when watching "Paper Towns." I read the book before college, and it was my favorite novel for such a long time because I found it so relatable. I’m an acting major now, but I remember at the time trying to contact John Green to ask if there would ever be open auditions because I wanted to audition for Margo. I fell in love with the idea of the character (and the film), which is the exact kind of unfair pressure put on Margo and other MPDGs (Manic Pixie Dream Girls) that Green was looking to criticize. Come Summer 2015, I had built up this manifestation far beyond that on which any fair expectation should be built. Needless to say, while the film did a beautiful job of capturing the feeling of the novel, and even of my hometown experience, it did not live up to my hype. Furthermore, because of the success of "TFioS," similar reactions are heard across the general population. This reaction, however, is an unjust fallacy.

When you read a book, you have interpretive gaps to fill in. You fill them with what you know, automatically making it more personal. Whether you realize it or not, you invest an intimate aspect of yourself and the life you know in the characters and their lives. So, inevitably, this appropriation will lead to disappointment. This unfortunate disillusion is what causes us book fans to be so critical of an interpretation that doesn’t match up with the version in our heads or memories. Every actor, director, and fan will project themselves onto the story – it’s up to the film team to create a coherent translation that does justice to the words. That being said, it is next to impossible to do justice to everyone's individual experience, as it will be different from every artist that has the responsibility of creating the film.

I have been so much more at peace with book-to-film movies since I took a different perspective on them: try to abstain from apprehension and appreciate the cinematic project as a stand-alone piece. The movie is one rendition and (while it may seem like it) is by no means the only interpretation. It is not necessarily the “definitive” version, and your version is no less valid, or more tainted, because of the film’s existence.

So I would like to say congrats to the cast and crew of "Paper Towns" for a job well done. The film's meta-theme reminded me to not make a person more than a person, or a film more than a film.