An ongoing debate: books turning into movies

By Emma Harkavy

There has been an ongoing debate on whether movies made from books are better or worse than the actual book itself.  Most recently, Disney remade the classic novel A Wrinkle in Time for modern audiences, and the junior class went to see it. Read more to find out what they thought about the movie!

While reading a book, a reader is able to use her imagination to picture the characters and setting, but when watching a movie, the director uses their own creative license to portray a story. Some people may like watching movies more than books, because the characters and setting are portrayed for them, while others would rather read a book and use their own imagination to create the story. In other cases, people like a little of both: reading books and imagining what is going on or watching a movie and seeing the director’s imagination come to life. On their service day last week, which they won by raising the most money for the big community fund fundraiser, the juniors spent the day serving four organizations across the Mid South. To accompany their afternoon of service, the juniors had the opportunity to see A Wrinkle in Time, which is a movie adapted from a famous book. This activity came with mixed reviews about whether the movie or the book was a better take on the story, and which form of expression is better in general.
Most girls believe that books being made into movies can either be terrible or amazing. Emily Richards (11) says, “It's hard to perfectly encapsulate a novel into a movie, but when a director does it, it's amazing to see the magic come to life.” Catie also agrees with Emily and says, “I feel that if a movie is done well and really pulls from the book and the story the author was trying to tell, it can be a beautiful and wonderful to continue to bring the book to life. On the other hand though, I feel that if they aren’t made well, I often dislike them because it can ruin a cherished story.”

After watching the movie version of A Wrinkle in Time, there are mixed reviews on whether or not those who have read the book preferred the book or the movie. Emmaline Rogers (11) says, “I liked the movie a lot, but I did not like the book very much. The effects in the movie were good which made it a visually pleasing movie, and it was different from the book because the plot was different, along with several bits of character development.” On the other hand, Catie Lockhart (11) says, “I can’t say I really liked it. I used to love the book growing up and the movie just skipped over full sections, including some of my favorite parts, and even left out two of the kids. If you think of the movie separately from the original story it was fine, but I just didn’t feel it did A Wrinkle in Time the justice it deserved or even matched the old movie.”

Along with A Wrinkle in Time, there are many other books that St. Mary’s students read and have the opportunity to see on screen. Fan favorites such as The Great Gatsby and Beowulf have both started out as books, but throughout time have been made into movies where directors use their own creative licenses to tell a story . Ms. Bielskis who teaches The Great Gatsby says, “the movie was shining and beautiful, but I like the book more because you have your own picture in your head of what it looks like. Bielskis also says, “I try to separate the two in my head because it is difficult to compare them.” Taylor Ann Wilson (11) said, “In the case of both Gatsby and Beowulf, I had already read the books before watching the movies, so when I watched the movie, it was very different than how I imagined it to me, which was frustrating because I loved both books.” Stella McCain (11) says, “In the movie The Great Gatsby, they changed the meaning of the book and left out details that made the book so amazing, so the movie was not as good as the book in my opinion, and I feel this way about many books turned into movies.”

For those who enjoy reading books over movies, there are new books being written every day, but for those who like watching movies made into books or just want a good movie to watch during their free time, there are many books being made into movies within the next year. See for yourself here.