Why Books Should Never Be Made Into Movies...

I am a little hesitant to make this post because of the usual public excitement over popular books being made into movies. But I just have to vent out my frustration somewhere and unfortunately, this is the most convenient place since Sudapop is tired of hearing my complaints. So be forewarned!

Don't get me wrong. I love watching a good movie. I just have a problem when someone else in the filming hierarchy decides how a character or scene from a book is supposed to look like or act like. When I read a book, there are images of characters and events that I imagine in my head that are my own that are somehow robbed by the film industry when they make a film from my book.

Take for instance, Harry Potter: one of my favorite books of all time. Of course, I didn't watch the movie but now everytime I read it, who pops into my head as Ron? Rupert Grint! And Rubert does not even look like Ron in my head but now my imaginary Ron has been replaced by Rupert! And what about LOTR? Do I want to forever have Elijah Wood cemented in my mind as Frodo? And now with a popular book being turned into a movie, I am worried I will have my perfect image of my hero and heroine replaced by two actors that hold my interest for about 2 seconds before I grimace in pain.

Look: I can understand the excitement from the fans and from the authors of these books. I once asked Eoin Colfer why he was making Artemis Fowl into a movie. His reply was, "Who doesn't want to watch a story that you wrote with your sons and have them think 'my dad is cool'?" So I totally get it. I just get really bummed out that my imaginary characters and images are being x-ed out or controlled by someone else. Unfortunately, my brain is not wired to lock those images in place....Maybe I should just go get some surge....Tally?