Monday 20 April 2015

Guest Post: When People 'Love' the Film but Haven't Read the Book


First of all, hi! I’m Rose from Lovely Paranormal, and I’m doing a guest post on my personal biggest pet peeve as a blogger and reader. Enjoy!

Reader: “Do you like the hunger games?”
Non-reader (who has watched the movies): “Yeah, they’re so cool. (Goes on about everything in the movies, not relating to the book at all)”

I really hate this type of situation. People who have never bothered to read the book, yet watch the movie and think they can say they “love” the movie, but not the book.

In my eyes, readers are much more respective and they have more bad opinions about book adaptation movies, but the movie watchers don’t have anything to relate to, so they just go on about how everything is “perfect”. A great example is Percy Jackson.

Yes, anyone who has read the books knows the movies aren’t that good at all. In fact, they’re completely different from the books. Yet, anyone who has just watched the movies can say that the movies are great, just because they look good. Not because the storyline followed the book.

In real life, I come across this situation too many times, and it really frustrates me. In fact, sometimes it ruins my day. I believe the cinemas should only admit people to go see book adaptation movies if they can pass a quiz about the book.

So, that’s just me. Thanks!

6 comments :

  1. When hearing friends talk about a movie based on a book, I am the one who always chimes in with, "Did you read the book?" And then proceeds to say they must, it was different or something similar. That said, I love movies almost as much as I love books and I don't mind differences or changes as long as the movie is well done. There are movies I have seen and haven't read the book--nor do I necessarily plan to. Not so much vice versa, but ocassionally I read a book and have no interest in seeing the movie version. Great topic!

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    1. There a plenty of books that I've read that I haven't and probably won't see the film of. Normally that's because either the film doesn't look good or I didn't like the book. :/

      I agree that as long as the film is good, then I don't mind if it doesn't completely follow the book.

      Thanks for commenting. :)

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    2. Thanks! ☺ I almost always watch book to movie adaptations, and I enjoy them most of the time. I haven't come across many I've Disliked!

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  2. Sometimes I have tried to read the book, but didn't consider it worth the time. Books are always more of a time investment than movies. It's also true that if the book starts slow or contains info dumps, the movie will always be better. Movies are always faster paced, and always need to find ways to convey information economically in a way that will be visually appealing. When I think the author consistently needs editing that hasn't been done because publishers think that bestselling authors need no editing, I will always wait to see the movie and never read the book.

    Since the mediums are different, the movie can never be the same as the book. Expecting them to be the same sets you up for disappointment. I appreciate movies and books for different things. So it doesn't bother me that the movie is not the same. There are a couple of exceptions. When the movie turns a favorite character of mine into a villain, there will be steam coming out of my ears after I emerge from the movie. (But I won't mention the second LOTR movie by name.) That is not the type of change that needs to be made in order to translate the book to film. That's just an egregious liberty being taken for no good reason.

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    1. I agree, the books can never really be the same as the film, which I think is a good thing sometimes, e.g. when a book isn't particularly good. Films are always easier to watch than books are to read. Like you said, films are shorter and watching them is mostly passive so even if you aren't enjoying it, no real effort has to be put into finishing it, unlike a book.

      On the other hand, sometimes I appreciate the amount of detail that you will find in a book and sometimes, reading the book before hand make's the film more enjoyable as they can offer some back story on the characters.

      Thanks for stopping by, Lettora

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    2. I love movies and books equally. It's true that movies are almost always fast paced, but some books aren't. Although I haven't come across a slow book with a movie companion Yet ☺

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