A Teenager’s Take on Movies Made from Books

Lately, it seems as though EVERY new movie coming out is based off a book. Mainly young adult novels, but also a fair share of adult books as well. Mega box office hits include the Harry Potter series, Twilight, and the more recent Hunger Games movie, just to name a few. Then you have progressively more and more Nicholas Sparks books-to-movies, The Lucky One just having come out. Then there's another recent blockbuster and Academy Award winning book-to-movie, The Help.

Personally, and I know that this may not be the norm for the majority of teenagers, but I always say books > movies. I’m an avid reader, and I will always read the book first before seeing the movie. Books just provide so much more detail, insight into the characters and the world that a movie could never provide. I like envisioning how the characters look in my own head, as well as just the entire world state.

Harry Potter and The Hunger Games are definitely some of the best made to movies that I’ve seen. But there’s still something lacking, this intangible quality that one can only find in print. I understand that “based on” means it’s an interpretation, but I can never love a movie as much as I love the big. 

My inner dialogue is very contradicting when it comes to other teens’ reactions to book made into movies. They become almost obsessed, but not necessarily obsessed with the story, but with the actors and picking which side of the love triangle you fall on. It was seen back when Twilight opened with “Team Edward” and “Team Jacob” and lately it’s either “Team Peeta” or “Team Gale” with The Hunger Games. People get obsessive, and I just want to be like well, I read them before the question of a movie even existed.

But then I realized that if it gets teenagers reading, it doesn’t matter. Movies are effectively turning teenagers back to books. I’ve seen countless copies of The Hunger Games being carried around school. And maybe, by reading this one book, it will act as a gateway to even more books. Teen reading has skyrocketed with this generation, and when looking at why, one cannot overlook the movie aspect. I’ve been reading for as long as I can remember, starting with good old Dr. Seuss, but I’d be hypocritical if I said that my love of reading didn’t skyrocket because of a movie. Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. I saw it when I was seven, and started reading the series myself when I was in second grade. Today I read like it’s my job…

Why can’t someone get paid for this?

But in the end, I am pro-movie. While I will faithfully read the book before seeing the movie, it’s obvious that it tends to have the opposite effect, sending kids from the movie back to the book. And as long as kids are reading at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how or why.