A reflection on book to screen
Last Wednesday night, I sat curled up on my couch with my favorite blanket, a Diet Coke and a smile plastered to my face as I pressed play on the movie “The Love Hypothesis.”I had been waiting for this adaptation for months after a drought of book-to-screen adaptations following the release of “Off Campus” in late spring. Between this and the “Sunrise on the Reaping” movie releasing in two months, I am consumed with anticipation. I watched the movie, smiled, giggled and cringed a little before going to bed, thinking about the contrasts between the book I had read in high school and the movie I watched years later.
Growing up as a prolific reader, I was always excited to see the newest (or previously existing) adaptations of the books that I enjoyed. I wanted to see the book come to life as I had read and envisioned it. It never mattered what the degree of my fandom was, however, as I would always utter the words “while in the book, it was like…”
Understandably, this habit has surely made me an annoying person to be around at times. And, as my conversation with my roommate after watching “The Love Hypothesis” proves, I am still the person to tell you every major and minor change that the filmmakers made to adapt the book into a visual story. But the reason behind these observations has changed. Judging how faithful an adaptation is has become an analysis of storytelling rather than a blatant statement about which version is better.
Younger me would hold grudges against the fact that the book I read was not acted out scene-for-scene. I rationally knew that a 10-plus-hour movie for one book was not possible because of the costs, time and the actual watchability of that kind of adaptation. As nice as it seems in theory, when faced with the reality of watching a movie adaptation that takes up almost half of a day, it seems…like a lot.
The restrictions of adapting a written work into a television show or movie have only become more obvious as I’ve grown up and watched more adaptations. More recent examples, like the shows “Heated Rivalry” and “Off Campus,” or the adaptation of “Daisy Jones & the Six,” prove that sometimes the adaptation improves upon the material and story laid out in the original work. They also show that changes are inevitable and that different media forms require an altered version of a parallel story.
Where I used to get hung up on the cut scene or the adjustment of a sequence, I grew to recognize that some things do not translate to the screen in the same way as they can be portrayed in a written work. It’s harder to tell what Olive is thinking in “The Love Hypothesis” on screen, as we do not have a direct window into her every thought like in the book. Although I will forever miss the presence of Holden Rodriguez, some things require cutting to streamline the story for the screen. And as much as I wanted to see Adam throw Tom up against a wall, a domino effect of changes must occur to round out an altered retelling of the story.
A more specific gripe among readers on the internet is casting. Although these changes do not bother me, some corners of the internet are obsessed with letting the casting of a character that does not look like “their [insert character name here]” become a problem. Often, these uproars are caused by a small sect of the population and are rooted in bigotry. Whether Allie from “Off Campus” isn’t blond, Annabeth from Percy Jackson is black, or the male main character in a romance isn’t quite tall enough, the gut reaction from some is to denounce the adaptation.
After release? Allie is a fan favorite and everyone is obsessing over the previously questioned male main character. The gut reaction did not hold true and a slight difference did not make the adaptation bad. There certainly can be bad adaptations, but they are not solely caused by a slight casting adjustment or cut scene. The rush to stake your claim on a certain side of the fence on the large plain of public opinion removes the opportunity to pause, wait and consider.
When I watched the “Harry Potter” movies growing up, although they are near and dear to me, I believed I shouldn’t like them because they weren’t exactly accurate to the books. Watching “The Love Hypothesis,” I had renewed expectations. Part of it was certainly growing from previous naivety, but also appreciating the elements of the book and core themes represented while thinking about the purposes the changes served.
No adaptation was going to live up to the experience I created in my head when reading the words on the page, and my internal picture likely does not match the visual other readers created. Part of the experience of having read the book (which I still believe you should do before watching the movie) is the additional context you have in your head and the ability you have to critically compare the media forms that should, when done right, maintain the essence of the story, regardless of how they were changed to be adapted.