A Question of Genre

Currently I’m watching The Holiday and eating candy cigarettes. I love this movie, it’s adorable, and Kate Winslet’s character is too sweet. I want to give her like 5 millions hugs. This then makes me think of The Reader. Not that I’ve watched the movie, but I saw the commercials with Kate Winslet, and I read the book. Completely different character. I’d be a bit interested in seeing Kate Winslet like that, but having read the book, I don’t feel the need to watch the movie. Mostly because I didn’t really love the book. It’s weird how that works.

Really, the whole book versus movie thing is a loaded question. I think this is something neeks will debate til the end of time. Nor is this only restrained to “books” and “movies,” the same thing happens when you adapt a comic or when you’re turning a book into a tv show instead of a movie.

I used to think I always preferred the book version. Which makes sense, considering how much I love reading. And in a lot of cases this is still absolutely true, like with Memoirs of a Geisha, The Other Boleyn Girl, and Interview with a Vampire.

My new theory though is that I prefer whichever version I encounter first. I saw Chocolat several times before reading the book, and I didn’t like the book much at all. Same with Stardust, and Perfume. Now typically the reason I like the book more is that you get so much more background information, and I like having that knowledge. Yet especially with Stardust and Perfume, I didn’t feel like I needed that background to enjoy the movie. Perfume for instance is so visually compelling, the characters and plot are almost secondary to my enjoyment. Thus when I read the book and that’s all I had to work with, I found I really wasn’t drawn into the story at all.

This isn’t true for everyone, obviously. In fact most of these examples my friend has read/watched as well, and it’s about 50/50 when we agree on which versions we prefer.

And yet there are still even more adaptations that defy my theory. They really fit into a whole class of their own. These are the adaptations where I like both the original and the movie version equally.

Keep in mind, this doesn’t mean these are the adaptions that stick the closest to the original version. I think the key problem with adaptions is when people don’t understand that rule. An adaption doesn’t have to be exact, it just has to capture the feel of the original.

For instance I love all of the Lord of the Rings equally. Sure, things were changed all around. In fact I get a bit annoyed when Faramir drags Frodo back with him, but overall I think they did a wonderful job envisioning the world Tolkien had created. Same with The Hunger Games. I absolutely adored the first book. Probably that would still be my first choice over the movie, but it’s very close. All of the changes were appropriate to the large difference in how the information is being presented. The book, being first person, lets you know exactly what Katniss is thinking, and that’s all you know. The movie took advantage of seeing other areas when Katniss wasn’t around, and I loved it. And who isn’t loving Game of Thrones?? I mean really.

Hottest Vampire EVER

This next one is a little controversial for fans, but I’m going to say it anyways. I also like both the book and the movie for Queen of the Damned. This is an adaptation that went wwwwwwwweeeeeeeeellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll away from the original version. Basically the only thing that’s the same is the names of characters. Yet I love it. I wouldn’t go so far to say that it’s a good adaptation. But nonetheless I find something hauntingly beautiful about the movie.

You know really, there are even more examples that ruin my theory. Take Speed Racer. I did not like the cartoon as a child. I watched it, but it got on my nerves. I’m not even sure this was the cartoon’s fault. The only time I watched it was late at night, what nowadays is the time for Adult Swim on Cartoon Network. I frequently stayed over at my friend Bri’s house, and she had a tv in her room that she left on all night. I didn’t like changing the channel because I was in a top bunk, didn’t want to move (there were monsters under the bed), didn’t have a remote, and couldn’t sleep because I found it difficult to fall asleep until late at night. Thus, I was stuck with Speed Racer.

However, the minute I saw previews for the movie I was uber excited. It looked amazing. I dragged friends to see it for my birthday, and I LOVED it. Speed Racer is now one of my absolute favorite movies. And while all the references to the show cracked me up, I still would not want to watch the original cartoon.

I could go on and on with more examples. I’m sure you could provide tons too. It’s fun to consider the differences in version and which you prefer, because I think in the end it says a lot about your personality when you figure out why you prefer one version over another.

Not nearly as good as it looks.

And maybe there’s some secret formula for creating the perfect adaptation. If there is, we should certainly spend our time figuring it out. That way when you hear your favorite book is being turned into a movie, you don’t have to have that moment of blind panic where you wonder if they’re going to completely screw it up. Like X-Men 3.