Hollywood loves turning
books into movies.
Over 2/3 of the
Academy Awards for Best
Picture have gone to films
that were adapted from books.
Filmmakers have a
choice in how faithful
their adaptation should
be to their sources.
I don't know how to adapt this.
I mean, I should just
stick with my own stuff.
I don't know why I thought
I could write this.
Some films literally
go by the book.
Wingardium leviosa.
While others follow
the basic plot but
modify other thematic elements
such as setting, language,
and era.
If the book is always
better than the movie,
why would a director ever want
to mess with the original?
Here are some
reasons to consider.
Loose adaptations often
place a classic text
in a modern-day setting, making
the story more relatable.
Mother, I do not need a
blind date, particularly
not with some verbally
incontinent spinster who
smokes like a chimney,
drinks like a fish,
and dresses like her mother.
Audiences can more easily
empathize with Emma
when she's talking on a
flip phone just like them.
Mr. Hall was way harsh.
He gave me a C-minus.
Well, he gave me a C, which
drags down my entire average.
Hey, Clueless came
out in the '90s.
They also can frame a literary
work in a youthful lens,
appealing to a younger crowd.
You're not as mean as you
think you are, you know that?
And you're not as badass
as you think you are.
Oh, someone still has
her panties in a twist.
Don't, for one minute, think
that you had any effect
whatsoever on my panties.
Then what did I
have an effect on?
Other than my upchuck
reflex, nothing.
1999's Cruel
Intentions transformed
the sexual escapades
of 18th century
French aristocrats
into the makeout games
of teenagers Sarah Michelle
Gellar and Reese Witherspoon.
Other filmmakers take
the original work
into a completely disparate
area, using the source material
to understand
contemporary issues.
Two.
We want our men alive, we
want our babies to thrive?
We gon' have to organize.
I mean, you really
think something
like that could bring peace?
Y'all know the power we have
over them withholding just
a day.
A week?
Imagine a month.
In a reimagined setting,
a wide range of actors
can take on the performance
of a literary character.
Be not afraid of greatness.
Some are born great.
Some achieve greatness.
And some have greatness
thrust upon them.
They certainly don't have to
be an acclaimed Shakespearean
specialist, although Lemmy
did a pretty good job with it
in Tromeo and
Juliet, a movie that
veered from the original
Shakespeare in almost
every other way.
Two households, different
as dried plums and pears
in fair Manhattan,
where we lay our scene.
Finally, in a more
direct film adaptation,
even a small
character change or a
dropped scene has been known
to upset a die-hard book fan.
But these indirect
versions have more freedom
to make pronounced changes
in gender, identity, genre,
and tone.
Adapting a book
in this way allows
filmmakers more autonomy
to create movies
that are their own
distinct entity,
but also make use of
the strong foundations
from their original sources.
The times and
setting may change,
but the themes related to
human nature are universal.
So when you're
checking out the latest
Hollywood adaptation
this year, consider
that there might be a good
reason the director has
taken a few liberties.
