The Thing with Book to Movie Adaptations

Let’s talk about Book to Movie(and TV show) adaptations today.

Imagine this. You read a great book and it is now one of your favourites. Once you’re done with it, you looked it up. You find that there’s a movie(or TV show, just assume I said TV show even if I don’t say it explicitly here on out) based on it and excitedly you clear your schedule and decide to watch it. Things can only go two ways from here.

The first scenario is this: You watch the movie, it rocks your world and it was the best thing ever to see what was, till now, in your imagination come alive. It was exactly as you imagined and you were crying-laughing after. You recommend it to everyone you know and thank whoever you believe in for its existence.

The second scenario is this: You watch the movie and it is such a travesty to watch what you love and cherish so much be tarnished this badly. It is devastating and you swear off the movie and let everyone who will hear you know that the movie does not count.

And in case you’re wondering, there is no middle ground. If you’re passionate enough about a book, you’re either obsessed with the movie or hate it, there is no in-between. The polarizing nature of the subject that is Book to Movie/TV adaptations is what makes them a bit of a controversial topic. It is also why we’ll discuss both the case for and the case against Book to Movie adaptations today and maybe if all goes well, you’ll at least have an understanding of the other point of view. Let’s begin with the case for Book to Movie adaptations and talk about why they such are a great thing.

The case for them is easy to get. You have a story, which is already written, already loved, already structured and broken down and already has a fanbase. All you have to do is adapt it to your medium. Not everyone likes to read or can read in the language of the original book, but movies and TV shows are a universal medium and subtitles can solve all those problems. If done well, it brings new fans to the books and brings a resurgence and major growth to the fanbase of the series. It allows for sequels and if you put in the effort, the people making it can earn a lot of money and fame and the fans can find a lot of gratification and joy, so everyone’s happy. If you make a great adaptation, the fans will keep the movies alive, elevate them to ‘cult’ status and make them a part of the ‘pop culture.’

I think the best example of a book to movie adaptation that has achieved this is the Harry Potter movies, which are not perfect but made people realise how lucrative this could be and paved the way for many future book adaptations. Other great movie adaptations are The Hunger Games movies, the Maze Runner movies, The Chronicles of Narnia and in a bit of an unpopular opinion, the Twilight movies. (I think they were great adaptations, I just don’t think they were that great books, Sorry Stephenie) The best TV adaptation that I have to mention is of the Song of Ice and Fire books,i.e Game of Thrones. (but only the initial seasons when they were actually adapting from the books, not what happened after)

The case against might either be very obvious to you or not obvious at all. (Depending on what adaptation you have watched, oops.) Adapting a story for celluloid or for a TV show is hard. You might have to modify structuring, add scenes or delete scenes and it is effort. There is also quite a lot of pressure because the books already have fans and those fans have certain expectations. If you do it wrong, those fans will let you know. it will be rejected, will tank and will earn hate and notoriety. It might even drive away fans; the movie might be so bad that people develop the wrong opinion that the books too, are not good and might end up missing out on what was a perfectly good book. Also as a reader, you develop a very personal relationship with a book and sometimes there’s a bit of possessiveness in that. You don’t want the book to become a ‘mainstream’ fanbase because it is yours and almost too sacred to be touched so you don’t want it to be adapted.

I think the prime example of a book to movie adaptation that has proved this is the movie adaptation of the Percy Jackson books, which was an utter and complete tragedy and only ever gave us Logan Lerman. (Thank god, they’re making a new TV show for the books now because the movies were just disrespectful) Other such movie adaptations are the Divergent books and the Mortal Instruments books. (I’ve heard the show is better but I’ve outgrown the series honestly, so haven’t watched it myself) The best (or rather actually worst) TV adaptation that I can think of is Thirteen Reasons Why. It was a thought-provoking, decent book which spoke of mental health and it ended up as a very dramatic social issue exposé which was just traumatising and attention-seeking.

So, by now, either you’ve picked a side or found more material to fuel your already set opinion, or hopefully, just understood both sides better. The bottom line with adaptations is this; if you do it well, a Book to Movie adaptation is a great, amazing thing but if you do it badly, it is disrespectful and sad. It’s all about finding the balance and bringing great stories to more people because stories are important and wonderful and in the words of Joan Didion, “We tell ourselves stories in order to live”.

THIS POST’S QUESTION: Are you for or against Book to Movie/TV show adaptations? Comment below with what you think about it,I’d love to hear from you!

Why Do I Write?

Lets talk about why I write today.

In my previous post I  talked about my school’s camp and a ‘Personality Pageant’ I participated in there. For better insight into today’s post you can check that post out here.

In the question-answer round of the Personality Pageant, I was asked several questions whilst on stage. Most had to do with this blog, writing and reading. One of them, which completely shook me up for a minute there was such a seemingly obvious, easy yet such a profound ,delving-into-my-very soul kind of question. That very simple question asked by one of the judges was, “Why do you write?”

Now, why do I write? It’s not like it’s as essential to me as breathing or I have a message to deliver to the world. Nor do I have that interesting a life nor extraordinary experiences to talk about.I’m as normal as it gets and my life is very usual and perfectly ordinary. Then , the question again is, why do I write?

The first thing that came in my head when I heard that question was a glimpse from my childhood, when I was 9-10 years old and the biggest tragedy  for me was my best friend revealing my very very confidential ‘secret’ to someone else. I remembered how when tragedy struck,  I had, feeling utter betrayal, after tearing up in front of my mother, grabbed a sheet of paper, a pencil and wrote about the incident, how I felt, the sadness and the trauma I was feeling. And, I remember feeling so so much better. Then, It became a practise, good days I wrote about in my journal, bad days I let out my emotions on a sheet of paper, crumpled it up and threw it away. Writing was and remains my therapy, words my solace and pen and paper my best friends.

I wrote because it made me happy, it made me feel better and it made me, as a person, better. I have always been quite a chatterbox and my friends honestly(Not without proof) believe that I can talk about anything and everything for hours. Writing gave me a medium to express all my thoughts and opinions in another manner, like dancing, singing (To myself), drawing and other things have been for me always. It was fuel and motivation for the creativity in me, which in all honesty, is one of the things I value in others and myself the most. Put creativity, imagination and  crazy ideas all together and you’re already my best friend.

I  realised I write because I find expressing myself as essential as breathing and wish to leave a message for the world, something which I learn over my lifetime and leave for the future generations.I wish to have a life interesting enough to write about and have extraordinary experiences. I write because I wish to be something beyond the usual ,something more than perfectly ordinary.

With all this running in my head in a fraction of seconds, I heard myself saying,” I write to, in simple words, express myself. I consider myself a creative person with a lot of thoughts, opinions and emotions, expressing which is imperative for me. Therefore, writing for me, is one of my favourite mediums to speak my heart out, express my creativity and offer a little piece of myself to the world.”