Chapter 1

by: Angie Hendrix

Because of the increase in technology today many books are turned into movies for added revenue. I personally don’t like to read for enjoyment so I like watching the movies. Many of the movies are written and filmed with the assistance of the author for accuracy. On the internet you will find hundreds of movies that have been based on books. Some of the books were a series and some are single novels. Many of them I didn’t even know were based on a book. In elementary school through high school we would often read a book and then watch the movie. I learned early on in my school career that if you didn’t want to read the required book there was a good chance you could go to the library and check it out on VHS or DVD.

In the last year the most popular book created into a movie was Twilight. Edward swept the country with his perfection and charisma. I swore for months that I would never read the books and laughed at all the crazy people who wanted to read about a lovey-dovey vampire. I cracked jokes and mocked it constantly. I finally promised my best friend that when the movie came out I would watch it with her. Realizing that the books always have more detail than the movies and needing an excuse not to hang out with my family on vacation I began to read it. Who knew that it was SO amazing!?! Ok, well, everyone… but I’m stubborn and tend to catch on slower than others. Opening night we went to the midnight showing of the movie and I was kind of confused. I didn’t feel like it followed the story very good because I had only finished the first book. When I finished book two I went and watched it again and loved it. It was definitely a low budget film, but that just gave me more to laugh at.

Another very popular series that has been turned into movies is Harry Potter. I think these books have probably made more money than almost any other. People are still waiting in line for the first showing, and what is it now, movie 5? My family all love the Harry Potter series. So, to please them I listened to the first six books on CD. I couldn’t bring myself to read them on my own and I lost interest before number 7 came out. So who knows how it ends? Not me. I thought that the first couple of movies were really good until they had to change the character for Dumbledore and then it jut went downhill. There also became too much information in the books to be able to portray in the movies. The next movie comes out soon and I can’t wait to see people lined up the street dressed as “he who can’t be named”.

It’s so interesting to me that some people just love to read and others don’t. It seems to me that the people who read are much more devoted fans or criticizers of the movies. They know all the fine points and analyze every detail. I feel like if you really want to enjoy the movie you shouldn’t read the book. First of all, you won’t know what happens already and secondly, you won’t expect it to be displayed in a certain way. You can just take it at face value and get what you want out of it. I think I’ll continue to enjoy the movies, and therefore, not read the book.