Entertainment
Lost in adaptation
Many avid readers agree that movies don’t do justice to the books they are adapted from.Many avid readers agree that movies don’t do justice to the books they are adapted from. Fitting 500 pages of words—with in depth content and myriad characters and plots—into a two to three hour-long feature is never a good idea. The movie can never remain truly loyal to book that it was made from. At any given point, it is way too simplified and a watered down version of the book. Of all the movies that have been adapted from literature in the past, it wouldn’t be outrageous to say that only very few have managed to do justice to the true essence of its book.
Many teenagers are aware of and have perhaps read the Twilight Saga, a series of four vampire—themed fantasy romance novels. Personally, I loved the books, but watching the movie of the same series was an odd experience. I couldn’t appreciate them at all. Unfortunately, the disappointment applied for other good books such as Cecilia Ahern, The Seeker, The Scarlet Letter, and All the Kingsmen, among others. These movies have failed their books.
Every time I watch the Hollywood version of my favourite book, I’m either mesmerised by how the movie succeeds at staying true to the book or I am massively disappointed at how the book has been butchered. Mostly though, I just stare at the screen, alarmed at how such a beautiful piece of work was turned into something so meaningless. So many directors omit key scenes and replace them with crass tangents instead. While it is understandable that the directors don’t have enough time to explore all the plots and characters; what’s not palatable is how they turn the story upside down.
Reading is so much better than watching a movie. While you can use your imagination to the fullest when reading; movies tend to spoon—feed you. When you read, your brain meticulously brings alive the characters, costumes, and backgrounds, inside your head. There is no right or wrong, there is no limit to your imagination, and, most importantly, there is no disappointment. You see what you wish to see. But, when a book is turned into a movie, it’s just the opposite. Thousands of readers have thousands of interpretations and imageries in their head. And when the movie doesn’t live up to the expectation, bitter disappointment surely follows.
However, there are some selective movies that have made the book more effective and charming. The Godfather, Apollo, A Beautiful Mind, The Help, Forrest Gump, The Lord of the Rings, The Shawshank Redemption, and Harry Potter are among those. If you were to ask me (and I am no expert), probably only 10 percent of novels are turned into tolerable movies.
Movies are not necessarily worse than their books, but good books are rarely made into good movies. Once you have read a book that gives you the power to be and embrace the characters in it, once you have cried and laughed through the pages, as if it were not a story, but your life, you can’t quite be satisfied with somebody else’s interpretations and exhibition of the same. And while movies may be able to bring a succinct version of the story to those who might not otherwise be inclined to read, for the bibliophiles there is nothing quite like a great book!
- Nabin Shrestha
Shrestha recently graduated +2 from St Xavier’s College