Book to Movie Adaptations | Teen Ink

Book to Movie Adaptations

August 19, 2016
By Jtatsu PLATINUM, East Brunswick, New Jersey
Jtatsu PLATINUM, East Brunswick, New Jersey
26 articles 0 photos 77 comments

Alright, imagine this. You have a certain favorite book that is dear to you. It can be old, recent, written for children, adults, etc. You have been rather attached to this book for a long time, so you are completely stoked when you hear a movie adaptation is coming out.
         

As more and more information becomes revealed about the movie, you get more and more excited. A promising trailer? Wonderful. It’s being directed by a director you personally like? Absolutely fantastic. A great cast, a great soundtrack artist, great graphics…. Everything is awesome, and you are hyped and nearly giddy from anticipation.
         

This movie is all you’re talking about. It hasn’t even come out yet, but you claim you know everything about it. You’ve read the book, and now you’re trying to get everyone to read the book. You talk about it so often, a couple of your friends get irritated and say they don’t want to be your friends anymore if you’re going to keep up your annoying nerdy shtick. You bid them adieu and continue to talk about the movie.
         

The movie is in theatres, and you get there on the very first day it premieres. (Unfortunately, you couldn’t go to the midnight showing because your parents wouldn’t let you). You have somehow managed to convince a couple of people to come and watch the movie with you, and you can barely sit down, so your companions have to tell you to calm down. You quiet down, but your movie viewing buddy takes away your soda, just in case. You watch through the trailers, the advertisements, and then, finally, the movie starts.
         

The movie is horrendous. You just sit there in the chair, completely wide eyed, in what your friends assume to be wonder, but is actually slack jawed horror. How could this have happened? The movie isn’t like what you envisioned at all!


You can only watch helplessly as Hollywood takes your beloved story and crams it into a grinder, taking out everything you liked and adding anything they see fit. Did you like the characters? Well, too bad! They’re being replaced with cardboard cutouts, and we’re adding in a completely unnecessary, convoluted love triangle for good measure! Did you like the book for its original plot? Well, we’re going to stuff it full of overdone clichés and cram it down your throat with our award winning actors. And you know what else? We’re going to take this book and stretch it out into multiple movies, so that we can reap more profit out of it!
         

And you know what the best part is? Everyone loves it. You can shout about how wrong it all is, but no one is going to care. You know why? Because it’s Hollywood. Hollywood couldn’t care less about your opinion. They’re too busy exploiting other teens like you to come and watch more and more remakes of the exact same movie, over and over again.
         

… And this, my friend, is why no one invites me to watch book to movie adaptations anymore.


The author's comments:

The following is a rant about book to movie adaptations and how amazingly inaccurate they tend to get. Certain parts are wildly exaggerated for comedic effect. Enjoy! 


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This article has 5 comments.


on Oct. 17 2017 at 6:53 pm
Realjay41 DIAMOND, Culpeper , Virginia
81 articles 1 photo 91 comments
Well, I have to burst your bubble! I personally prefer movies over books. Don't get mad at me. It's just how I am. My favorite celebrities were found by these movies. If I hadn't wanted the movie versions, I wouldn't have known my favorite celebrities. So, ha ha!

on Aug. 22 2017 at 4:51 am
Realjay41 DIAMOND, Culpeper , Virginia
81 articles 1 photo 91 comments
Next year, I'll be in the movie theater with my popcorn and I'll be watching Death Cure! I'll be excited to see it. I prefer movies over books!

on Apr. 14 2017 at 5:10 pm
wolvesandwilderness GOLD, Lakeland, Florida
10 articles 47 photos 39 comments

Favorite Quote:
&ldquo;Funny how a single word can change everything in your life.&quot;<br /> &quot;It is not funny at all. Steel is power. Money is power. But of all the things in all the worlds, words are power.&rdquo;<br /> <br /> Darrow au Andromedus and Nero au Augustus in Red Rising.

My friends and I call them the "Peter Johnson" movies because they're not worthy of being Percy Jackson. I can't even say how many times this has happened, though: Percy Jackson, Eragon, The Giver (THEY WERE NEVER A COUPLE!), I Am Number Four, Divergent (even if the books were bad), and both of the adaptations for The Mortal Instruments (even if those were only eh as books). While some adaptations do just fine, like you mentioned, I hate how happy I get waiting for these to come out just to watch them crash and burn. I really hope they don't ruin the movies for Red Rising or Chaos Walking. Red Rising honestly should be rated R, but if they cut stuff out of it to be PG-13, I'm going to be ticked. And Chaos Walking, I have hope for. It's by the same author that wrote A Monster Calls, and the movie for that turned out pretty good.

on Oct. 14 2016 at 6:15 pm
Jtatsu PLATINUM, East Brunswick, New Jersey
26 articles 0 photos 77 comments
Thank you for your feedback!

on Oct. 14 2016 at 10:56 am
NymeriaWaters PLATINUM, Holland, Michigan
20 articles 0 photos 22 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;We are all Worms, but I do believe I&#039;m a glow worm&quot;- Winston Churchill

I love it. It really catches the truth of what happens. I like your use of second person, it really adds to the piece. I like the humorous line at the end, The only thing I would do is add more side notes just to the audience, as it helps establish a sense of intimacy.

on Sep. 25 2016 at 6:39 pm
Jtatsu PLATINUM, East Brunswick, New Jersey
26 articles 0 photos 77 comments
Percy Jackson, by far is the worst movie adaptation I've ever seen. Everything for a good movie was there but the movie industry ended up completely butchering the story and tried to cover up with extra fancy graphics and fight scenes. And they had the audacity to adapt a second movie?! It's no wonder Rick Riordan decided not to hand over rights to any of his other books for movie adaptations anymore! Nowadays, I barely give any book to movie adaptation a chance. I watch the trailer once, see a dozen cliches and deviations from the plot, and then I stop. It's sad really; I enjoy books and I enjoy movies, but when they collide, they just ... don't work. Of course, there are exceptions (Harry Potter, The Little Prince, The Book Thief and several others), but those are few and far between. Thanks for reading!

on Sep. 25 2016 at 5:38 pm
CNBono17 SILVER, Rural, South Carolina
5 articles 0 photos 248 comments

Favorite Quote:
Lego ergo sum (Latin&mdash;I read, therefore, I am)<br /> The pen is mightier than the sword&mdash;unknown<br /> Don&#039;t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity&mdash;1 Timothy 4:12

Out of curiosity, which one did you have in mind writing this? I totally agree, this happens FAR too often in modern movies, and I can think of probably a dozen examples, but I'm curious; what recent movie, in your opinion, has wronged its book the most?