Books Vs. Movies

Ever since the discovery of cinematography in 1887 and television in 1927, movies have been the highlight of entertainment for the modern age. But before movies, cameras, and videos, books were the stage of the imagination. Thanks to the advancement of technology, movies have now been made from the books that people read then and today. However, this has become a widespread controversy over the quality and accuracy of the very movie that portrays the book's plot and characters. Many of the movies that we view today are based partially or completely from the plot line found in the novel.

There are several examples which have become the most outspoken and well-heard of in this conflict. The biggest and most recent of these examples is the Twilight movie saga. Although many of the theaters and box offices have had no problem selling tickets to this series of books, at least a dozen people will leave the movie arguing about how inaccurate the movie was to the book. Even online critic reviews can be found describing how New Moon was somewhat inaccurate, or lacked emotion behind the overall story (Yahoo! Reviews).

However good reviews can be found that describe how well the movies grab its audience, and the decent quality of the movies compared to the books. Based on various, self-conducted interviews, I found that those who read the books first were a little displeased with the different scenes, but were understanding of the shortened details. Most agreed that because of the time constraints, the movie would have to lose some less than irrelevant information in order to focus more on the broader, significant scenes. Yet, one interviewee said, "Some scenes (those found in the first film of the Twilight saga) were short of the dramatic emphasis that the book seemed to capture my attention with." Even though Twilight has had its fair share displeased reviews because of its failure to follow the books properly, other movies have been praised for its differences to the book it reflects.

Atonement is an excellent example of how a movie is commended for its changes in script. A second interviewee stated, "In the movie, the scene of the field with the dead childrens' bodies was more emotional intense than the book describing random body parts scattered across the field." Most reviews admired the passion and faithfulness displayed in the movie relating to the plot in the book. However, one critic found the movie to be less than satisfying. Scott, from the NY Times stated, "Atonement is, instead, an almost classic example of how pointless, how diminishing, the transmutation of literature into film can be." This seemed to be one of the few critics that did not take pleasure in the quality or accuracy of the movie.

In the end, this controversy is more of a he-said she-said point of view. One person might like the books because it allows them the opportunity to have that personal connection. Then, most likely that person is not going to enjoy the book being made into a movie. A person who takes pleasure in a shared experience is going to like the movie equally or better than the book. I have always been in the middle of this decision. Some movies, such as Twilight and Pride and Prejudice, were movies that were better than the books. On the other hand, movies like Atonement and the Harry Potter series were better as books than as movies. The overall decision of whether a book into a movie is a good idea is an individual choice. One person or a dozen peoples' perspective on a book to a movie is a controversy that will continue until books are ceased from being made into movies.