| ENI | Action Figures | Comics | Games | Horror | Marvel | Star Wars | Transformers |  |
|
| Animation | Anime | ARCADE | Classifieds | Entertainment | Television | Podcasts |
 |
|
|
|
Why I Will Not Go See Twilight: New Moon
Reported by Kara - 02:02 PM 2009.11.19
 I’m a huge fan of the Twilight saga. I first picked up Twilight in the airport. My sister swore I would love it, and she was right. My suitcase home was much heavier – I had Twilight and New Moon packed and Eclipse in my hands for the return flight. My husband said I spoke in monosyllables for most of the vacation. Even now, he rolls his eyes when he sees me with one of the books again. Honestly, I may have read the series twenty times already. So it seems natural that I would be in the theater opening night for New Moon. But I won’t. I am an avid book reader, but I absolutely cannot watch movies made from books that I love. Reading is a full sensory experience for me. As I read, I hear the characters voices, see the story setting, and feel the joy, anger, frustration, despair, and anxiety that fills my new world. The book is real. So what’s the problem with a movie? Movies offer sight and sound to complement the story, a real immersive experience. A well-made movie can lift you out of reality and pull you into the lives of the characters onscreen. Unfortunately, an onscreen adaptation of a favorite book may jar the carefully constructed world that I share with the author. As real as the onscreen version of the movie may be, it is different. I know the cadence and tone of each word in the story. I can hear the inflection in the dialogue. I can see Edward’s reaction to Bella in science class, picture the meadow where he decides he is strong enough to resist the temptation of her blood, hear Alice’s trilling laugh, and experience the frustration, anger, and fear of Jasper’s reaction to Bella’s blood. What if the actor gets it wrong? What if their interpretation of the words is not mine? What if the picture I’ve built in my head does not match the picture I see on the screen? When this happens, I am invariably disappointed and the story loses some of its luster. Even when the actor does a wonderful job portraying the characters, the next time I read the story I will see the actor instead of the character. The intrusion of the movie experience inevitably alters my reality until the faces and voices I see and hear match those on the big screen. Bella, Edward, Jacob, Charlie, Alice, Jane, and more live in my head now. We are comfortable with each other. Kristen, Robert, Taylor, Billy, Alice, and Dakota are talented and capable actors – we just don’t want them messing with our perceptions. And don’t get me started on the editing process. Books are a subtle and multi-faceting communication device. Each scene layers over the last to create a world rich in details and drama. Unfortunately, a 700-page book simply cannot fit into a 2-hour movie without some rewriting and significant editing. So scenes will be dropped or altered to convey the important parts of the story. I’m cursed with an excellent memory when it comes to my precious books. I will mourn the missing scene or funny one-liner when viewing the movie. (I also annoy my fellow movie-viewers as I share what’s missing. My husband has threatened to gag me.) Suddenly, the story we see on the screen isn’t exactly the same one we lived in the book. It may still be a good story – just not the same one. Other books that have fallen prey to this evil are the later books in the Harry Potter Series, My Sister’s Keeper, and Where the Heart Lives. Does this mean that movies made from books are worthless? Absolutely not! Books and comic books are the primary source for screenplays, and I’ve seen excellent movies made from books that I enjoyed. Sometimes, I’ve even preferred the movie. Since marrying my husband (movie-hound that he is), I see 12-15 movies a year in the theater plus many more at home. Where I draw the line is with books that I love. Some may even say they are the books I obsess over – the ones where I can bore you with character descriptions and plot analyses at the dinner table. For those books, I avoid the theater and protect my imagination and the world it has created from the written word. I am a huge fan of the Twilight saga. So, unlike many other fans, I will be avoiding the theater on Friday.
MORE editorials NEWS
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| ENI |
About
Get the scoop on all the popular comics, figures, games, movies, and tv every day! Entertainment News International is the fastest growing POP culture network for millions of fans every month. |
Sites
Anime Newsi -
Comic Newsi -
ENewsi -
ENI Arcade -
Game Newsi -
Jedi Insider -
Marvelous News -
TFieds -
TFormers -
Toy Newsi
|
Links
|
Support
|
| This site and content are copyright © 2012 Entertainment News International - All other rights revert to their lawful owners This website is provided for the general public as an information and entertainment resource. If you feel this site has infringed on your legal rights, please contact us |
||||