So ultimately who's the main problem

Eh, depends on what the adaptation is going for. I will admit that I am biased, I watch movies far more than I read. In my opinion, an adaptation should only be judged on its faithfulness to its source material if the filmmakers strive to have the two as equals. I can think of instances where this has happened and worked, and where this has happened and failed. What causes me to have a pet peeve over that saying, though, is that it can apply to literally any adaptation. Listen, I get it. If you love a good story, it's only natural that you're going to stay loyal to the version of that story that you enjoy. But, when it comes to the medium of film adaptations, people usually see them as visual companion pieces to the literature. In a way, not wrong, but for that to be your full understanding of all an adaptation is is a gross misunderstanding of the disparities between the two mediums. To anyone who has an interest in film, this should be obvious, but it warrants being pointed out: film is a visual medium. Books live in your head. Even books with illustrations require you to use your imagination. The expectation is that you read the book for as long as you want to. Books can go up to thousands of pages full of vivid words that spark the imagination. Films can techincally extend past three hours, but the expectation coming in is that you are going to watch everything in one sitting. Who has the time to sit down and watch the same movie, uninterrupted, for twelve hours? And, since film can only use the wide array of those vivid words to a limited extent, you are never going to be able to fully immerse yourself in the mind of the characters like you would with a book. An adaptation, then, is not a trivial task. Sometimes, what's in the text can be deemed unfilmable. Don't get me wrong, I'm aware changes can be made to bolster advertising and appeal where it doesn't belong, but consider for a moment that assuming that all changes from the text can be linked to this one cause is just as shallow as the changes that get criticized.

So, yes, "the book is better", but that doesn't mean anything. A better way to phrase it would be "I prefer the book", but I guess that just isn't as catchy.

/r/SelfAwarewolves Thread Parent Link - i.redd.it