Monday, September 12, 2011

"The Book Was Better"

When speaking about movies, I frequently hear people say "the book was so much better than the movie". Although this may be true in most cases, I think it is usually a fair assumption that the book is always better than the movie so it doesn't really need to be said. In other words "No Doy!"

I've heard people say this about The Davinci Code, Angels and Demons, Harry Potter, Inkheart, and The Sum of All Fears just to name just a few. I'm sure I will also hear this when The Hunger Games and Atlas Shrugged are released.

If you find yourself ready to tell someone that a movie was not as good as the book, you may want to hold your tongue. Making such cruel and reckless statements not only hurts the feelings of everyone who was involved in the making of the film, but it also shows that you have a superiority complex since you think the way you imagined it in your mind is much better than how the director and movie producers were able to.

I am usually able to avoid this situation altogether because I don't read books for entertainment. I am ashamed to admit that the last book I read for entertainment was probably The Grapes of Wrath back in high school. By the way, Henry Fonda was great, but Steinbeck's book was better than the movie. See how that makes me come across so snooty?

Please stop saying this. It is not fair to compare books to movies. It also makes me sad when I hear this statement since it reminds me of yet another book I was too lazy to read. By the way, if you can recall any movies that you think were actually better than the book, I'd be interested to know which ones they were.

1 comment:

Charlotte said...

I saw the movie Stardust and LOVED it, so a few friends and I thought it would be fun to all read the book. I read it and absolutely hated it. Still love the movie though!

 
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