Why Don't Movies Live Up To Their Books?

By Tanisha F. 

Film adaptations. A lot of times when I hear books are being turned into movies, I just cringe. Never have I thought a movie did a book justice, including movies like Harry Potter, Twilight, and recently The Perks of Being a Wallflower. After that, it hit me, why don't movies satisfy me like books do?  I mean, it's the same book but in visual form right?

Well, yes and no. Books are written by Authors, while movies are written by Screenwriters. Sometimes the screenwriters are the actual author, but most of the time it's not.

So these are the few reasons that I've came up with on why I'm never as pleased with the movie. 

1. My interpretation. When I read a book, I see things in a certain way. Directors, Producers and Screenwriters can't possibly know how I imagined the character to act, speak or behave. You can say a boy with a ball, and I'll think of a little rockstar kid, with purple hair and big blue eyes. But someone else may think of something different. 

2. The MPAA, or Motion Picture Association of America. A lot of times movies have to be watered down so that the intended audience can still view them. For example, Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1. According to Digital Spy, "The British Board of Film Classification advised producers to edit the 'graphic sight of Edward thrusting while he lies on top of Bella' to avoid the film being given a 15 certificate." Meaning, instead of being PG-13, they were going to give the movie a rating of R. The producers had no choice but to change the story, because the books were meant for the young adult audiences. 

3. The time lapse. If the producers kept every detail of the book in the movie, we'd be in the movies all day. Most filmmakers have a budget they must stick to, and the more they shoot, the more they pay. True fans of a book knows exactly what part is missing from the movie and will point it out. I know I did in Harry Potter. I remember once I screamed out, "that's not how it happened in the book!" 

4. Discouragement. Once people find out that book is turning into a movie, they tend to not want to actually read the book. As you can tell, I am a reader. And as a reader, it truly disappoints me when someone young says, "why read it when I can just see the movie?" 

I'm not too excited to see that E.L. Jame's Fifty Shades of Grey or Colleen Hoover's Slammed series will be turned into a movie. But I guess if you really support an author, you should go check out the adaptations. 

It may be possible to create a good movie from the book, and when it happens, I'll be happy.