I love movies. I also love books. But sometimes putting the two together can make a disaster.
There are many things I appreciate in my life, and one of those things is entertainment. I love being entertained by others and I love immersing myself into a new world because, to be completely honest, there are many times, especially recently, where the world is just a sad and terrible place. So, in order to get myself away from all of that, I tend to gravitate towards books and movies, as they are my safe haven from the world.
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So, it only seems logical that combining those two things would prove to be the perfect antidote to cure any unhappiness that I may have.
But, sadly, that is not the case.
I have read many books in my life, and I have watched many movies in my life, and I try to pick ones that I will actually enjoy. And, thankfully, I have succeeded in this task on many occasions, but of course, there will always be the failures. While thinking about some of these failures, I have come to the conclusion that some of the worst offenses have been book-to-movie adaptations, particularly in the young adult genre.
Now, I can only account for the films that I have watched and the books that I have read, but, from what I have seen and from what I have heard, there is a very limited amount of young adult book-to-movie adaptions that have had critical success. Book series that I enjoyed in the past like the Percy Jackson series and the Divergent trilogy and The Mortal Instruments series were utterly destroyed critically for their film counterparts. With this, it makes me cringe every time that I hear the news of a new book-to-movie adaptation of a book that I love and cherish.
Now, it is never a good idea to jump to conclusions that a film is going to bomb before a trailer has even come out, but it still does not help that so many of the films in this genre seem to only be made for the money, which is not something that I appreciate.
But then there are some adaptations where the film is fantastic, or, on the rare occasion, even better than the books.
And these films seem to always be books aimed towards adults.
Some of the best books I have read, like The Silence of the Lambs, Gone Girl, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, have been made into spectacular films that have been nominated for many awards. In fact, Gone With the Wind, Forrest Gump, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Godfather, and the aforementioned Silence of the Lambs are just some the few that have won the coveted Best Picture Academy Award.
So, why is the young adult genre struggling to make a great film based on the book?
While I don’t have an exact answer, I may have an idea: they do it for the love of the money.
If a young adult book appears to be doing very well on The New York Times Bestseller list, then it almost always seems to be the next book that’s announced to become a movie. And, since there is already such a big fanbase, then there’s a large possibility that the film will do well at the box office.
While I do get slightly excited that there is a chance for one of my favorites in the young adult genre to be made into a movie, I also get very worried because of the reoccurring trend that these films are not translated to the big screen properly. It almost seems as if the screenwriters briefly glanced at the book, threw it away, then decided to make a film based on what they might have skimmed, which is a shame. These books didn’t deserve that type of disrespect, and yet, it happens all the time.
The book-to-movie adaptations that I have seen that have succeeded all have one thing in common: respect of their book counterparts.
The Silence of the Lambs, one of my favorite books and one of my favorite films, was translated beautifully onto the big screen and offered a great picture on the relationship between the two main characters.
Gone Girl was written by the author herself (and, in my opinion, snubbed of an Oscar), and was amazing and thrilling both in watching it and in reading it.
Like Gone Girl, the film, The Princess Bride, was written by the author of the book, William Goldman, and, although there are many differences between the book and the movie, are both great forms of entertainment.
It almost seems obvious to have to consult the author or to take great care of the translation, but, for young adult novels, it is almost a foreign idea.
Yes, there are plenty of great film adaptations that were not exactly approved by the author (see: Stephen King with The Shining), but that doesn’t mean that the studio should at least keep in contact with the author. This was the problem with both The Lightning Thief and The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones: the authors were not included in the discussion.
It shouldn’t be that hard to make a film that is similar to the book, but lately, it seems as if it is impossible. I understand if some changes need to be made for budget’s sake or for clarity or for time or for something technical, but it would be nice if there were more film adaptations that would actually follow the book’s content.
A solution to this large problem can be discussed for hours on end, but if there’s one thing that I can ask, it’s this: please respect the books. To the screenwriters, specifically: read the books.
I will always love movies, and I will always love books. Hopefully, combining the two will not always be a harrowing experience.
