top of page
Search

The Book Was Better...

Writer's picture: MorningstarMorningstar

Updated: Apr 23, 2021

We have all been there. A favorite book is going to be turned into a movie or a television show! We are elated, as finally we will see our favorite characters come to life! But then...doubt creeps into our minds and steals the joy. How are they going to fit so much plot into two hours? How are they going to find actors that mirror the exact images of the characters we made up in our head? Will they be able to convey the nuances of the book without making it cheesy or too obvious? Is the author even involved with the screenplay? Whoa. Stop. They shouldn't being doing this.


So often when a book is turned into or movie or a television show, we are disappointed. I can think of a few that just totally missed the mark. For instance, A Wrinkle in Time was one of my favorite books as a kid. When I saw that they were making a movie, and with a cast of fantastic actors, I was over the moon! But it was terrible. Really bad. And look what they did to Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising! Part of a phenomenal series of books (if you haven't read them, you should, JKR obviously did), it was absolutely butchered when brought to film in The Seeker: The Dark is Rising. And don't get me started on The Dark Tower. How could two of my faves, McConaughey and Elba, even consent to be in that mockery of landmark book series?


In all fairness, though, several movies have done well by their source material, and on rare occasion, surpassed it. To Kill a Mockingbird was a wonderful adaptation. I met Gregory Peck when I was a child and told him this. He thanked me and complimented my manners. True story! Then there's The Silence of the Lambs, which like The Godfather, became an iconic film that made people forget they even came from books. Oh, and pretty much anything adapted by Merchant Ivory Productions. Or Ang Lee. And we can't forget the greatest adaptation of all time: Adaptation (based on the book The Orchid Thief) with Nick Cage!


What books to movies did you hate? Which ones did you like?








4 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All
2023

2023

Bugs

Bugs

Comentarios


Subscribe Form

Thanks for submitting!

©2021 by Elisabeth Morningstar Books. Proudly created with Wix.com

bottom of page