By Nadine Rodriguez / Contributing Writer
It seems that ever since the Harry Potter saga and the Twilight saga were first released as films back in 2001 and 2008, Hollywood has made a habit of turning cherished and loved novels into blockbuster films, disregarding the fan’s opinions on the action. 15 films, all based on novels, are scheduled to be released in 2015 alone. These include the steamy Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James, the mysterious Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, and the classic horror novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.
Although the big screen gives the words of a novel life and its characters a face for readers to familiarize, the switch over to a different type of media leaves irreversible damage at times. For example, the original X-Men movie saga series before X-Men: First Class left an unforgettable and bitter taste in comic book fans everywhere for throwing away character development and most importantly, plot.
Yet, there are instances where turning a novel into a film results in euphoria for the fans. A perfect example would be the previously mentioned Harry Potter saga. Fans of the scarred, glasses wearing young wizard rejoiced every time a film was released, resulting in the incredible worldwide revenue of $7,709,205,984 for all eight movies, dating back from 2001 all the way to 2011.
Interested in the opinions of fellow Florida International University students such as myself, I took to social media to question three students on their opinions in regards to the issue.
Andres Lopez, a Political Science major, said, “Recently most of the movies coming out are book to film adaptations. This is not a bad thing but it is also not a good thing. On one side it allows us to have a moment of nirvana remembering our childhood and past; however the new film adaptations may not be up to par and live up to our expectations.”
Emily Wong, a Sustainability major, states that “I think a lot of them are trying too hard. Most of them are just ruining the books by changing things that don’t even need to be changed. I think if you’re not going to do it right then leave it alone.”
Finally, Ashley Llanes, a Journalism major, passionately explained that “I feel like they’re taking everything that was ever successful as a book and trying to target it to a young audience using attractive celebrities and popular bands for soundtracks just to make money and they are ruining what maybe could’ve been a good movie and what definitely was a good book. For example, The Giver.”
Whether or not this surge will be pleasant or disappointing is up for discussion, all fellow book readers awaiting movie theater screens in 2015 to finally decide.
–life@fiusm.com
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