Gone Girl premiered on October 3rd to raving reviews praising its cast, lead by Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike and directed by one of my personal favorites, David Fincher. I’d been reading about Gone Girl for about two weeks prior to its release and the anxiety keeps building and building until I’ll let it go for some time because it’s not coming anytime soon to Venezuela.
Buuuuuut… it got me thinking. Gone Girl is one of those strange movies where the author of the book is also the person who penned the screenplay (and apparently she had to fight for it). Since the book was such an immense success there was a lot of pressure regarding how good the adaptation is going to be, whether everything that’s important will be put in the movie, if all the characters will make it to the film, is the director going to maintain the essence of the book, and so on. And I am writing this today to tell the world that it needs to stop.
I love to read books. I love to see movies that are adaptations of my favorite books. I could see them over and over and over again until I know the dialogue by heart and reaffirm which character is my favorite. However, what I don’t love is the constant scrutiny that these movies go through because they don’t fit the audience’s mind of what a good movie should be. Or because they want EVERYTHING to be put into the film, and that doesn’t make sense! And it doesn’t make a really good movie either.
I was an active part of the Harry Potter craze and I remember spending hours of my life dissecting the movies that it came to a point where it didn’t matter anymore. I am here to tell you something today. This is my new mantra and it has helped me enjoy movies that are adaptations from books. Here goes. Breathe in before you go see a movie about a book you love and say: “The movie will always be different from the book.” Repeat for as long as you need convincing and it will make you feel better, I promise.
Hollywood is going through a rough patch where all its ideas seem to be blockbusters where everything explodes, superhero movies; Nicholas Sparks love stories and young adult franchises that will split the book not because they want to capture the entire book, but because it’s profitable to make eight movies instead of seven or four movies instead of three. Note: that doesn’t mean that I am not ecstatic with tears of joy for the last two Hunger Games movies. I am so excited it’s not even funny and I cannot wait for November 22nd.
Enjoy the movies as they come to you. As movies. It’s not possible to have your favorite book exactly like you have it in your head. It doesn’t matter who plays Christian Grey or Edward Cullen because after you see the movie you’re going to love them anyway. See the movie as a movie without constantly comparing it to the book and your life will be happier. Enjoy the movie as a movie and appreciate that somebody decided to share with you their vision of the book. You will be surprised.