The book was better

Why movie adaptations never measure up

Student+disposes+of+the+Percy+Jackson%3A+The+Sea+of+Monsters+movie.+Fans+of+the+popular+series+by+Rick+Riordan+were+very+disappointed+in+the+movie.

Photo: Miriam Brown

Student disposes of the “Percy Jackson: The Sea of Monsters” movie. Fans of the popular series by Rick Riordan were very disappointed in the movie.

Ever hear the phrase, “the book is always better than the movie?” Well, that statement is true because books offer so much more than movies. In a movie, you just sit and watch, and then it is over in just two hours. You may cry, laugh or cringe at the basic teenager with basic problems, but you only feel those emotions for a small amount of time. Books make you feel more, experience more and learn more than movies ever could.

With a book, you can take all the time you need to recover from the everlasting amount of “feels” you get when your fictional one true pair, or OTP, finally come together. You also have time to set the book down, or gently throw it across your room, when a tumultuous scene occurs that makes every fiber in your being burn. So no worries, you can just throw that book across your room and give yourself some time to recoup, eat a nice gallon of ice cream, and cry over why you cannot be with your fictional crush.

Books also give you a newfound sense of imagination; they let you use your own imagination to create the scenes, the emotions, the characters themselves and more in your mind and in your own way. In a sense, you have some control in the book. Reading the book gives you room to imagine what the characters look like, what the characters are really thinking and more. For instance, if you imagine the main character as the always-attractive Evan Peters, or even Theo James, then you might be disappointed with the casting selection when the movie comes out.

As opposed to watching the movie, books let you put everything together. While you are reading from chapter to chapter, you are slowly figuring out the mysterious murder of what’s-her-name or figuring out who started the scandal. Books allow the reader to connect the ideas and to visualize the tension or the plot, while the movie almost always over does the visuals.

Not to mention, books also offer a deeper emotional connection. Once you finish the book, you have cried your soul in two and almost torn it to pieces for giving you too many “feels.” Those emotional connections and feelings you have experienced while reading that book will forever stay with you.

While movies certainly give you a spectacular visualization of the book, and possibly a semi-attractive and talented cast, the book will still offer so much more. The making of your all-time favorite book into a movie can be an exciting thing because you can now see the book as other people see it. But, it also might contradict with your vision. The movie will likely, and certainly does in most cases, leave you power-walking out of that theater in pure anger after you watched in horror as so many important scenes, and possibly characters, were taken out.

In some cases, some directors or actors do not even read the book before committing to being a part of the film, such as in “Percy Jackson.” After seeing the movie, you will often be walking out of that theater either in rage or in tears. And if in tears, it is probably because you were thinking, “Why couldn’t they have cast Ian Somerhalder as the lead?”

So why are books always better? Well, in the most generic sense, they simply just are. And if you are a bibliophile like me, then you will understand my general reasoning. But if you do not understand this reasoning, then I strongly encourage you to find a book, cuddle up in your snuggie with tissues and ice cream and read.