Tuesday, March 20, 2012

To Film or Not to Film…That is the Question

harry potterRecently, my son and I bonded. Quite by accident…well, that’s not exactly right. We bonded via  required reading, detention and a grounding.

Here’s the story. Every weekday when my son comes home from school I make him read and write a paragraph on it—or else I would have no proof that he actually read the book. Well, after I tired of reading twenty paragraphs on Ben-10 and Bakugan, I told him to read Harry Potter. After grumbling *cough! whining!* he grudgingly started reading The Sorcerer’s Stone. Not long afterward, he cut up at school and received detention. And after all the amenities were stripped from his room, all he had was the Harry Potter books! So the next time I asked him about the books, he’d finished The Sorcerer’s Stone, The Chamber of Secrets and was well into The Prisoner of Azkaban! And more importantly, was enjoying them!

Soon he and I are having conversations about the books. And to celebrate—after he received his TV viewing privileges back—we watched the Harry Potter movies. Which set off a new set of dialogue. He noticed right off the bat things that were in the books but not included in the movies. Or something that happened in the movie but wasn’t fully addressed like it’d been in the books. It was really awesome! Okay, so that may not seem like much, but when a mother can communicate in more than monosyllables with her twelve-year-old son…

And yet the whole bonding thing isn’t what this blog is about. It’s about what he discovered that I found out a long time ago: The book is almost always better than the movie. Although the Harry Potter people did do a great job. So did the Lord of the Rings folks. And—don’t tease me!—the Twilight people did, too!

I know it’s impossible to include everything from the books in the movies, but with some, all they have in common with the book is the title! It makes me kinda nervous when I hear that plans are in the works for novels I love. For instance, I heard that there may be films based on Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter series. Those novels are so wonderful, and I’ve had years to picture what they all look like—especially Acheron! *drool*—that I so desperately don’t want to be disappointed! Another series I would be nervous about seeing onthe black dagger brotherhood the big screen is J.R. Ward’s The Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Now I don’t know if there are plans to film it but, in my humble opinion, it is one of the absolute best series to hit the shelves! Could the PTB pull the actors, create the special effects, atmosphere and emotion that make those novels so special and fantastic? I don’t know! I just don’t know…

Sometimes I want to rail *fist shake*, leave well enough alone! Aren’t some things sacred? But, on the other hand, I love to see my favorite characters come to life! I’m so wishy-washy…

So what books do you hope they bring to the silver screen? Or hope they leave alone? Do you agree with my picks?

9 comments:

Wynter said...

How wonderful that your son devoured the HP series - mine did too! I'm not a fantasy reader, but there are certainly books I've loved that I want to see on the big screen - the one I am looking forward to now - The Hunger Games. Awesome series!

Naima Simone said...

Hi, Wynter!
A friend of my sister's said the same thing! I hadn't heard of the series, but she recommended we read it--said we would love it. So I was actually going to buy the first one and give it a try. Yay! Now that you said it too, I'm definitely going to pick it up! From the previews, the movie looks pretty cool!

Wynter said...

It's like literary heroin! You'll be mainlining it moments after you open the book;-)

Michelle Polaris said...

I also loved Hunger Games. I'm worried the movie will not live up to it, but I'm flexible about that stuff. My life will not be ruined. The books are still intact.

Naima Simone said...

Two votes for Hunger Games! Literary heroin! LOL! Can I steal that?? LOL!

Dalton Diaz said...

I'm a huge BDB fan. Can't wait for the new one!
I can't imagine how hard it is for the author to let someone else chop up their vision. God willing, I'll someday find out, but it would be hard.

Casey Crow said...

My kids and I watch the Harry Potter movies together too. What a great way to bond over movies, and it all began with a book!

Naima Simone said...

Dalton, I'm also willing to to find out someday...snicker...but I agree. What if they decide to just leave something out that you, as the author, consider pivotal? Inside you're going, Noooooo! It's why I can't watch the Nora Roberts' Lifetime movies. Just can't... The books are phenomenal! The movies...umm...less phenomenal...

Naima Simone said...

Hi, Casey!
Isn't it great? My son and I don't do video games together--I suck--or cartoons--Smurfs rule over Bakugan any day!--but Harry Potter? We are on one accord!