The world of literature is rather enormous and diverse, spanning from the ordinary novel, to plays and short stories, to poetry and comics, and many other forms. Some may argue all of those things do not qualify as literature, but I like to consider them all as part of a larger entity, just as a great deal of music and movies qualify as art.
This brings me to a form of media that, as far as I know, is more popular than ever. Film adaptations. Novels and stories turned into cinema. Film teams forced to buy the rights to a novel so they do not get sued–IE: I Robot. Those kinds of things. While the Long River Review has little relevance to film adaptations, I think this is a form of media all inspiring writers should keep in mind, as, unlike the great majority of literature, movies actually sell because it requires less work to watch a movie than to read a book. In other words, people are lazy, and becoming lazier, but that’s another topic deserving of a sprawling rant.
When I think of books turned into film, whether television series or movies, I try to think of the good before the bad. As I am a fan of fantasy first and foremost, Lord of the Rings comes to mind. While the book was rather tiresome and long-winded, the movies are excellent and adapted superbly. Then there are the myriad of Steven King adaptations, most of which are better left not watched. There’s a few exceptions like “Apt Pupil,” “Stand By Me,” “Shawshank Redemption,” “The Green Mile,” and The Shining, but most of those are shorter works and better suited for cinema. By the way, I am by no means a movie buff, or really even a movie watcher. I usually just watch movies I am already familiar with, hence that many are adaptations of some form of literature. The first “Jurassic Park,” written by Brian’s favorite author, Michael Crichton, was also a decent movie from a good idea but not a good book. Fight Club, as many know, also has a place in my heart, both the literature and film.
As many of us know, book sales are not exactly the most booming thing in the world right now. With all these gadgets and gismos, the Ipods and touchphones and Iphones and touchpods and iphonetouchpods and poddleriautomatic-tubluarnano-touchspheres, literature has falling into the consuming shadows of death and agony. Pessimistic, I know, but I like to be pessimistic because it grabs people’s attention and terrifies them into belief. While literature is being overshadowed by other forms of media-VIDEO GAMES ESPECIALLY BUT THAT’S SOMEWHAT OKAY BECAUSE I’M AN ADDICT SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME–it is almost ironic that so many pieces of literature have become film, even in the past year.
I’m sure the list is quite extensive, but a few recent adaptations that come to mind include things like “Twilight”…ugh…the “Eragon” books….uggggggh….”Wanted,” which, like many recent movies, is based loosely off a comic book. “The Watchman” will be coming out soon, furthering the insane amount of comic books and graphic novels turned into movies, then there’s the Harry Potter series, the Golden Compass…Narnia series…The Wheel of Time series will be turned into movie…The Seeker of Truth series has already been butchered in something called a television show. Even “Where the Wild Things Are” will soon be a movie. I know most of this is genre fiction, but that’s mostly what I read and pay attention to, so yeah, I’m missing tons of adaptations. Oh yes, The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, but it’s hard to call two page chapters, each which ends on a cliff-hanger, literature.
All these adaptations give me a sense of hope, that maybe you will not get filthy rich and successful from book sales, but sell enough and chances are your book will become a movie. Or a video game. I cannot forget about that. It seems like every well selling book becomes a video game, and although most of them are pretty awful, there are a few gems, and money is money.
What it comes down to is that different forms of media are now interconnected more than ever. That could be due to the surplus of genre writing and people wanting to immerse themselves in a world that does not exist, but whatever the case, there’s some good to it. I’m sure we have all seen some of our favorite literature destroyed on the television and movie screen, but I think that’s less important than the fact that the movies are actually being made. While many authors do involve themselves with adaptations of their work, it’s clear by now that most authors cannot write screen plays and have little sense on their work coming alive on screen. Maybe that’s why Steven King stays far away from movies adapted from his books.
On a final note, if you want to see a horrible, brain-numbing film adaptation written by an excellent author, check out Johnny Mnemonic. The short story is written by William Gibson, a fantastic author who then tried to write a screen play. I stress the word “tried.” It’s staring Keanu Reeves. Need I say more?
Michael Schrage.