when i was a freshman in high school the movie "A Walk to Remember" came out. a story detailing an unexpected romance between Mandy Moore and the dreamy Shane West, it pretty much summed up the kind of stuff that i, as a teenage girl, lived for. i can very clearly remember sitting silently in my ceramics class and listening to all the older sixteen and seventeen year old girls talk about going to see it the weekend it came out and i was sooooooo jealous. being only fourteen, i was two years and a drivers license away from having the freedom to see movies whenever i wanted. i'm not sure what the circumstances were, most likely there was another more important comic book movie or something that came out, but my parents made it pretty clear that seeing "A Walk to Remember" opening weekend was not high on their list of priorities. devastated, i settled for what i thought would be the next best thing, buying the book and reading it. one chapter in and i was hooked, undoubtedly five or so hours later, i emerged from my room tearful, and holding the completed book in my hand. "A Walk to Remember" by Nicholas Sparks is a GREAT book, most definitely one of my all time favorites. the downside of finishing the book only made me want to see the movie even more. finally i was able to convince my mom to take my sister and i to see the movie the following weekend, and i absolutely HATED it. they ruined it. they took an amazing book, got rid of everything meaningful, changed characters, and tried to pawn it off under the same name. the next couple of weeks or so i argued with other girls about the quality of the movie, everyone else loved it. reason: they didn't read the book.
being an avid reader, i am completely aware of the saying, "the book is always better than the movie." and i completely agree, in most cases it is. it was at this point in my life that i created the rule that from then on i have very strictly followed:
if it's possible, always see the movie first, THEN read the book. that way you will not only enjoy the movie (having no preconceived expectations) but also love the book when you read it and find out how much more detailed and lovely it is. in my experience this always works. there is no doubt in my mind that if i have already read the book, i am going to hate the movie, and in all the situations where i have seen the movie first, i have loved both. the most recent example would be "Twilight." everyone insisted i read the books, but i waited until after the movie, and therefore i am still a fan of both. the dilemma is now, having read all the books, i probably won't like any of the other installments in the movie series. oh well.
the one possible exception in my past has always been Harry Potter. i started those books way before they were even expected to do a movie, so i couldn't help the order. but in most cases they have done a great job converting the books into the movies. it was probably this precise fact that caused me to go against all that i believe in and break my own rule.
i started rereading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, (mistake number 1) two days before the midnight showing (mistake number 2). WHAT WAS I THINKING? sadly i cannot answer that myself, i have no idea! (i nod my head in shame) the book was just sitting on my shelf, and clearly i have a problem rereading books, i just couldn't help myself. anyway with the book fresh in my mind, i went and saw the midnight showing (mistake number 3). needless to say i was the girl up in the front violently shaking her head, and making ridiculously angry over exaggerated facial expressions and body movements. thank god it was dark and most of the theatre was behind me. in that late hour, i felt like the movie had failed me.
but now i have calmed down, spoken to my sister (my official guide to all things harry potter) and have decided that i need to see the movie again. i have accepted my bad choices and am going to have to live with my mistakes. but i hope that with the book out of mind, and a couple week hiatus, i'll be able to fully enjoy the humor and bad ass scenes that so many other people loved. and if not, then i'll really know i hated it.
moral of the story: always read the book after seeing the movie.
No comments:
Post a Comment