Day Eleven: Words into Vision

Yes - Day Eleven and still going! At some point I need to do this a little earlier so I don't fall asleep mid-sentence. Thankfully, you can't see the drool on the keyboard, so all is well.

I was thinking more about the book to movie adaptations that failed. One in particular comes to mind (because I really worried that The Hunger Games make the same mistake) - The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials) - 


The books were cleverly written and definitely on the dark side. The movie was a farce and "prettied" up for audiences. To be fair to the filmmakers, certainly put a lot of work into creating Lyra's world, but the true sense of the novel was completely missing. Although it's been a while, the one big change that didn't seem to make sense from the books to film - why change the name of the armoured bears to ice bears?

Okay, if I'm going to point out these changes - Why on earth did the name get changed from Northern Lights to The Golden Compass, anyway? There's a good explanation, I'm sure, but I figure it's because deep down, the UK feels Americans are just too dense to get some of the subtleties of British words (see Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone). 


I guess I just don't like change...

That really started as a child - even younger than the Freaky Friday incident. I could blame more directors, screenwriters, or even Hollywood or the audiences - but really, it's all of these things that just boil down to one thing in particular - money.

I mean, I get there are people out there making these decisions - but seriously - I wish directors/producers/screenwriters and actors would stop one minute to consider the integrity of the novel - it doesn't have to be bigger and grander - you've got the audience built up - especially on the bigger selling novels.

So this whole thing came about because I really hoped The Hunger Games film would meet or even exceed my expectations after having read the book. I will be buying the movie when it's out - with pleasure.

So, in writing this, I find the movie Avatar running through my head, but I will leave that conversation for another day.