By Bella Sarbora, Staff Writer
I still remember the first time I watched “Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief” when I was 11 years old. I had just finished reading the entire book series, a Rick Riordan binge. I expected things to be exactly how I pictured in my head; Annabeth would have blonde hair, Grover would look like my childhood best friend and Chiron wouldn’t actually be half centaur.
Little me was not ready for a dark brunette, an unfamiliar face and a strange CGI being. This ruined the entire experience for me. I couldn’t even bring myself to watch the other movies and, when I reread the series, my perfect imagery was shattered.
In every franchise I’ve ever obsessed over, I have been sorely disappointed by their movie versions.
While watching “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” I thought I had fallen asleep and missed chunks of the movie. There were so many details and scenes that the directors decided to not include, but were key to the story in the book. My biggest complaint is that Dobby, one of my favorite characters, is hardly mentioned or featured in the movies after his initial introduction in the second movie. In the books, he is an icon.
When I saw “The Fault in Our Stars,” I found myself cringing and rolling my eyes at parts the eloquent book had me in tears over.
Even my favorite book of all time, “Everything Everything,” seemed insincere and shallow on screen.
The sweet and touching romances in the books come off as cringey and tacky when acted out. This is through no fault of the actors, it is just another reason why not every book can become a movie. Books allow you to create your own scenario in your mind, one where you don’t have to watch Ansel Egort (Augustus Waters in “The Fault in Our Stars”) trauma dump onto anyone who will listen.
There are varying reasons as to why film adaptations are so lacking. It could be that the actors are bad, or the authors forfeited their rights to the franchise and got no say in the script. And, some stories just aren’t meant to be seen on the silver screen. The ideas don’t translate; they look better in the reader’s imagination.
I will never recover from the disappointment I feel as I see the differences between what I imagine and what I am watching. The characters’ voices in my head, the way they look, the motion of each scene. My brain takes the information given and runs with it – it’s not something I can control. Sometimes, I go as far as ignoring a few details written in the book because I have created my own idea and I don’t want to go against that. Seeing the contrasts between my mind and the movie always ruins everything for me.
I always have been and forever will be a book person. I love being able to make my own world, where I can change whatever I want. I love getting lost in a book and realizing I’ve read 200 pages in an hour. With movies, you get what you get. It’s not personal. Books are better and that’s that.
Senior Bella Sarbora can be reached at [email protected].
