Is the Book Better than the Movie?

A constant argument is whether the book or the movie is better. When a book is made into a movie, readers and fans are curious to see how the film turns out. Did the director stay true to the story? Did the actors and actresses do the book justice? Was the book better? Does the movie measure up at all?

I, personally, am a fan of Tom Clancy, especially the Jack Ryan movie series. I liked watching Harrison Ford in "Patriot Games" and "Clear and Present Danger". I would liked to have seen him in "Debt of Honor" where he puts his private sector know-how to work to avoid a Wall Street meltdown. Stop me if you've heard of Wall Street collapsing before. I was disappointed in "Sum of All Fears". I blame the writers and directors for that one. If you've read the book, don't watch the movie.

Readers of this blog know about The Oppressed and her infatuation with books, especially mythology and Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson" series. Riordan has taken a creative spin on Greek mythology and makes it something modern children can relate to.

I asked my daughter if she had ever heard of something being "Mickey Moused" and knew what it meant. She's aware of what it means now.

The combination of Riordan's works and my daughter's curiosity have made it fascinating for The Oppressed to learn about the Greek gods. She loves learning the legends of Olympus and the relationships between the immortals and the mortals. Wife and I are constantly being updated on the plot twists of the book being read at the present time. Wife listens to the audiobooks in the car with our daughter. The Oppressed has read further along than my wife, so I am sworn to secrecy regarding certain happenings that Wife has yet to be aware of.

Recently, my daughter did not hide her displeasure or disappointment when watching Walt Disney's "Hercules". The plot of the story was so outrageous to my amateur mythology master and the characters and storytelling were beyond disappointing, words could not express the disdain she had for the movie. I asked my daughter if she had ever heard of something being "Mickey Moused" and knew what it meant. She's aware of what it means now. While she is venting about Disney missing the mark with Hercules, I warn her not to watch "Pocahontas". My daughter, like me, is a history buff, and she may have a tidbit or two of information to share with Walt Disney Pictures if she ever comes across the love story between Pocahontas and John Smith.

I tried to talk to my daughter about this. I tried to explain to her how movie studios don't always follow the book religiously. There is such a thing as "creative liberties" and Hollywood does that time and time again when it comes to adapting books into movies. Sometimes it's interesting to see someone else's interpretation of a story. That's fine with my daughter, as long as they remain true to the story. In her opinion, they didn't do that with "Pocahontas" and they definitely didn't do that with "Hercules".

The Oppressed grew up on Disney movies and fully participated in the "Frozen" frenzy that captured the imaginations of little girls everywhere who just wanted to "Let it Go". I asked her if she wanted to read "The Snow Queen" to get a feel for what really happened in the story. Does she want to know what happened to the prince in the real fairy tale of "Rapunzel" after enjoying "Tangled". What about "The Little Mermaid"? I could go on.

Walt Disney Princesses were very much a part of my daughter's growing up. She isn't sure she wants to know what really happened in those stories. She isn't sure she wanted to know about that Walt Disney did to the legend of Hercules, but that's done now. When it comes to legends, people, especially in performing arts, like to put a different spin on things. It may not be true to the original story, but it does give the audience something new to see and something else to think about. Traditionalists like The Oppressed think the original is fine just the way it is. No creative license is necessary.