Unpopular Opinion: Books Are Better than Movies

 Unpopular Opinion: Books Are Better

By Meghan Smith

            In my opinion, sitting down and reading a good book will ALWAYS be better than sitting down and watching a movie OR its movie adaptation. Sure movies are fun, fast-paced, and exciting, but books have all of that and more. There's something about the tangibility of a book that makes you feel like your closer to the story... like you know the characters better, you can feel for them root for them because you feel like they are in the palm of your hand, not on a screen an unknown amount of feet away from you.

            Also, in books the stories are always better told, the characters are always better developed and the imagery is always clearer than what it is in the movie. It's probably because the production team will take this long book with description and character analysis and feelings and try to squish it into a 2-hour block of time. This can never do the book justice. Also, casting can make or break a movie because it will be different than when you imagined it, for example when I read, I read the lines of each character in a different voice in my head, and when that voice is different on screen than the voice in my head, especially when lines are said with a different tone in the movie than that of what they had in the book I get very angry. 

(that might just be me being super nerdy though so)

            We all imagine the setting in a bit of a different way, but when the production team takes the setting and pretty much changes it from everything that the description said it would be, it can be really angering. When the directors make little changes to the characters whether it's in appearance or personality, the character can lose their value and significance. The first example that comes to mind here is Percy Jackson, a book series that I hold close to my heart. After reading the books the movies a huge letdown; the directors changed the plot, aged up the characters, and changed specific defining features that made the movie not worth watching. (yes I am talking about Annabeth's hair)

Also when directors chose to change lines in certain scenes, whether it has to do with romance or determination or really anything, it can change the whole mood of the scene and can warp, the movie only fans' perception of the characters. A prime example of this is in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire when Dumbledore asks Harry if he put his name in the goblet of fire. In the book, Dumbledore is gentle and kind and concerned but in the movie, Dumbledore is angry and aggressive towards Harry:

To sum up: Adapting a book into a movie is a difficult process and it's clear that no 300-page work of art is going to fit into a 90-120 minute time frame without some changes. But those changes should never have to be to the plot, character descriptions, and personalities, and should never have to sacrifice the feeling that the book provides its readers. I love movie adaptations, but I think they would do way better and gain a bigger audience for the franchise if they were able to stay true to the book that they are adapting from.