Adaptations & The Originals
How TV and Film both add to and remove from the source material
Anyone with a pair of eyes over the last twenty years has seen a large number of adaptations come to both TV and the Silver Screen. The Fault in Our Stars, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, A Song of Ice and Fire, The Chronicles of Shannara have all been tweaked to fit the confines of a medium not intended for the vast stories within. When this happens the fans inevitably divide into the purists, who think the book was better, the casual fans, who think the movie was better, and the accepters, who accept the movie as an interpretation and keep the book in perspective.
Or that's my take on things, at least.
Most recently, I've been catching up on the Sixth Season of Game of Thrones on HBO. As a reader of the books, it is quiet clear to me that the show has taken several liberties with the source material, cutting out entire characters and subplots and merging others together. People die who are still alive in the books, and some people live that are dead. Some things happen out of order, and with the show now having overcome where the books left off, no one knows what will happen. Is this good or bad?
Personally, I find the entire thing intriguing. When I was first introduced to the books, right before the show aired for the first time, I tore through them as fast as I could. I read 'A Game of Thrones', 'A Clash of Kings', 'A Storm of Swords', 'A Feast for Crows', and (most) of 'A Dance with Dragons' and have been anxiously awaiting 'The Winds of Winter'. Once I began watching the show, several seasons behind, the stories were parallel. And then somewhere around Seasons 3 and 4, things started to deviate, and the show became more interesting.
"But why? You knew what was going to happen." For a while, yes, I did know but as things changed, roles swapped, events played out differently, I found myself wanting to watch more. I started to wonder what was happening, who would make the next move. And now as Episode 9 of Game of Thrones approaches, I'm more anxious than ever. And when the final books are finished, I look forward to reading them and seeing Martin's vision be completed, with all the subplots and characters were he intended them.
For a TV show, that's how things have to work. The Walking Dead is doing the same thing. Now I do not pretend to know anything about the original comics, but just from the reactions online I know the show has taken its liberties as well, though with far more source material to catch up to than Martin left for his show. The medium of TV require the deviations from the expected because they are meant to unfold over time, and the producers of these shows cannot afford to become predictable, or the fans will just binge on the source material and ignore the show.
With film, the deviations have to be more subtle. Fans of books like The Fault in Our Stars and The Lord of the Rings expect certain things in their films. And while some things are trimmed, usually the main plot and subplots are left intact. In some film adaptations, too much is removed, and what is left is unsatisfying for almost all fans, and the project is a failure. Sometimes though, such as in The Hobbit films by Peter Jackson, the director decides to expand upon the source material. In The Hobbit, Jackson took information given in The Lord of the Rings (written after The Hobbit) to expand upon the story. In this case, it was a matter of adding too much. I personally enjoy the movies, though the three movies could have better served the source material as two.
I look at each adaptation according to how well it serves the material it is based on. With so many things being adapted into movies and TV shows these days, it's hard to tell what is original and what isn't. (A hint: Nothing is original anymore.) Japanese Anime is being adapted into movies. Video games are being adapted into movies. Older TV shows, comic book heroes, old movies, all being adapted, either again or for the first time. Ultimately, these adaptions can lead us to the source material. I might never have read The Lord of the Rings if my mother had not heard about the movie and given me the books. I only read The Fault in Our Stars for that same reason.
Not sure I had a point in writing this, today, besides wanting to share some thoughts after binging 3 seasons of Game of Thrones. I'm very excited to see where the adaptation of the books leads, and equally excited to read the books when they're finished. So enjoy your favorite originals, and your favorite adaptations. And maybe, some day, I'll write to you about my own original, and its adaptation. Until then, Best wishes.
Look for more of my thoughts on writing, films, and more soon. I'm not giving up on this blog. :)
