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I guess this printable is kind of ‘out of series’ for me. It certainly isn’t a “Wellbeing Wednesday”-type post, but it’s a printable I really felt compelled to make and share because, let’s be honest, the book was better.
What book was better? Virtually all of them.
Almost every time I watch a movie or TV adaptation of a book I’m frustrated and confused by all the changes. Some changes I am totally okay with because I understand that the screen is different from a book and you can put a lot more into a book than a movie. For example, I know a lot of people were upset that Tom Bombadil wasn’t in the Lord of the Rings movies. Yes, he’s a cool character and I like the scenes in the book, but I can see why including him in the movie would have just lengthened it (even more!). Other changes, like placing Eowyn at Helm’s Deep, irked me a little more. (I get that they wanted to have more female screen time, but I think her staying at Edoras and keeping everything in perfect running order while the men were away better demonstrates her awesomeness. Oh well). But I’m getting off topic a bit – this post isn’t about LotR! It’s about screen adaptations in general.
With very little exception, the book was better. Off the top of my head, I can only think of two exceptions. I think The Princess Bride movie is more enjoyable than the book. Additionally, whoever read the early Dexter books and then created the TV show was a genius because I found the first book (all I could manage to read) pretty horrible. Oh, and add a third one – although there are plenty of changes to the show that a die-hard fan could be irritated with, I think the True Blood books are pretty poorly written. {{In the case of both TV shows, I can only say that the first few seasons are better than the books – I’ve never “finished” either one.}} This doesn’t mean that all screen adaptations are poor – I love the LotR movies and the Harry Potter movies, for example, I just usually still think the book was at least a little bit better. 😉
If you’re a book lover, too, you can grab this “the book was better” printable free from Google Drive right here! Print it out, post it up, and let everyone know how you feel.
What do you think? Was the book better? What’s your biggest screen adaptation pet peeve? Are there any shows or movies that you liked better than their book version?
I agree. When I read a book I imagine all the main characters in great detail. Therefore, the actors cast for the roles in the movie are usually disappointing to me 😉
Yes, it’s always a let down when the actor picked doesn’t match what you imagined!
I pretty much always come away thinking that to be honest. The film is always such a let down 🙂