Recently, I had a
conversation in my British Literature class that really ticked me off. We were
talking about book to movie adaptations. If I were talking to these people
five, maybe six years ago I would have vehemently agreed with them that movies
desperately need to stick to the books and there is no room for interpretation.
It should be the book in movie form and nothing else.
Here’s where I disagree as my twenty-three-year-old self.
I enjoy movies. A LOT. Films are made for entertainment. When I go to a movie,
based off a book or not, I ask myself, “did I enjoy this movie?” If the answer
is yes, then I say the producers succeeded in a job well done. For instance,
superhero movies are a BIG thing right now. I’m not a huge fan because it seems
like many of them are just constant streams of battle. (This isn’t true for all
superhero movies, because Wonder Woman
was lit and I will stick with that opinion until I die. I might even post a
love letter to it). The point is, not all popular movies are enjoyable to me.
Now, you might be asking yourself, why was Lauren so ticked off in British literature?
What made her feel so passionately that she had to sit down at her computer and
write up a blog post that no one may ever read?
THE FREAKING HOBBIT MOVIES.
As I stated earlier, I wasn’t upset
because the people were talking about how good the movies were like most would
assume. No, I was irritated because everyone hated them with a passion I didn’t know existed. I’m just gonna
come out and say it. English literature majors are snobs. I’m two years away
from getting my literature degree, I WOULD KNOW. People are entitled to their
opinions and I support that wholeheartedly. You can hate The Hobbit movies, that’s
fine. I happen to love them. Just give me valid arguments as to why you hate them. All my fellow
classmates could come up with was that they didn’t follow the book as closely
as they should have. That’s not a good enough reason.
I could seriously write an entire post that would
probably end up being five or six pages in standard MLA 8 format on why The Hobbit movies are great (I still
might), but this isn’t what this post is about. Take a movie for what it is—a form
of entertainment. How was the characterization? How did you feel about the
acting? Was the movie split up well enough into action, comedy, and emotional
response? How did you feel after it
was over?
I’m not saying that all movies based off of books should be more than just how accurately they portray that book, but other aspects need to be taken into account. For example, I find The Hobbit movies forgivable because the book literally had no characterization whatsoever and there was no real suspense. The movies added that. Then you look at Eragon which could have easily stayed in line with all the plot twists of the books, but instead the movie took an entirely new
I still think that movies should follow the books, but if
the book itself is seriously lacking in characterization, action, and even the
basic adventure structure, then I feel like it’s alright if aspects are added
here and there. I enjoy movies. I enjoy books. I enjoy movies based off of
books. I just feel like I’ve become more relaxed when it comes to movie
adaptations because if they are enjoyable, who am I to judge? I can still read
the book if I’m not satisfied in the end.
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adjö,
Lauren
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