Moviemakers murder beloved books
"Oh, Harry Potter I had no idea you were in the kitchen, (cough, cough) but since you are would you mind zipping up my dress, because I am a bad, bad girl."
"Yeah, Ginny I would love to, because for some reason I suddenly find you very attractive. Plus I owe you for tying my shoelaces."
Have you ever been excited for a movie based on your favorite book to come out, only to be disappointed? Well, join the club.
Thousands of teens all over the world are frustrated with how their beloved books are being mangled by the movie industry. Movies like "Ella Enchanted," "Dear John," "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief," "Eragon" and the two most debated series -- "Harry Potter" and "Twilight" -- have upset many book fans.
Some say movies can't be created just like the books because there is not enough time. Book lovers agree, and most of them think it is OK that movies take out the unimportant sections of the book; it is when they take out important information and put in scenes that never happened that they get annoyed. It's like taking the rich, creamy filling out of an éclair, then replacing it with cheap, Twinkie-style whipped paste.
Take, for example, "Ella Enchanted." The book, by Gail Carson Levine, is an adorable, and full-of-adventure romance, with a good plot. However, when Miramax Films got their hands on it they thought, "Who needs a plot, we can just throw in some Queen songs and everything will be OK." Not only did they change the central storyline of the book, they also added in tacky twists like glitter bursting out of Anne Hathaway's body whenever someone gave her an order. One would think that someone would notice a girl shooting out a pint of glitter anytime she was told to do something. In the end, the only things Miramax stayed true to was the title and the characters' names.
Comparatively, the new "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" was quite good and perhaps as close as it could be to the original book. Nonetheless, some viewers felt confused and frustrated, due to the fifth and sixth movies leaving out the most important information included in the book series. Instead the filmmakers added awkward romance scenes that involve shoelaces or zippers and burning down the Weasley's burrow.
The "Twilight" series seems to have caused the biggest stir among the book lovers. Most teens recall those days only a few years ago when every single girl had a copy of "Twilight" and Edward talk could be heard everywhere. However, now the story has changed to a battlefield. Some avid "Twilight" readers changed their tune when Summit Entertainment chose the actors for the film. Then the movie and book lost more fans when the actual movie came out. Not only was the acting terrible and corny, but the romance, which was so great in the book, was just disturbing. Furthermore, Edward, who seemed like the perfect guy, turned into a control freak on film.
When movie directors take a book and change it to fit their ideas of how it should be, they mess it up. This doesn't mean they should stop trying to make books into movies, but perhaps they should stop trying to add things that never happened. We don't need awkward make-out scenes and drama (those who have seen "The Deathly Hallows" know what scenes I'm talking about). Directors should stop changing the plots of good books -- they can stand on their own two imaginary feet, thank you very much.
We all know that movie makers will keep butchering books so long as books are published, so the only thing left to say is PLEASE DON'T TOUCH "The Hunger Games."
Madison Ostberg is a sophomore at Bonneville High School. E-mail her at jdojdobob@msn.com.
Comments