The Only Movie that was Better than the Book
Why I Read it
I
don’t remember exactly when I read Bridge
to Terabithia. It was probably during one of the book droughts that
occurred towards the end of the school year and over the summer, when I had
read all the schoolbooks and my parents couldn’t buy me any more. At this point
in my life, I still judged books by their covers. This cover was swamp green
with two kids lazing about a giant tree. To younger-than-twelve me that was
unappealing. But desperate times call for desperate measures. Plus, my mom
might have twisted my arm and said something like, “Why do you want more books
when you don’t read the ones we have? Why don’t you read Bridge to Terabithia?”
My Original Reaction
At
the promise of more books, I might have finally attempted to read it. Given my
low expectations and the fact it was an obstacle to books I actually wanted to
read, it probably will not surprise you that I couldn’t stand the book. You
know how it feels when it’s super humid out and you’re walking outside and it
isn’t bad enough to be super hot, but definitely not cold and you feel like you
can’t breathe? That was this book. For a book that was supposedly about a
magical land of escapism, Katherine Paterson, the author, never described it.
Sure she described Leslie and Jess escaping to it and what they said, but they
never dwelled in it.
The Movie
When
my mom bought the movie, I wasn’t thrilled. The credits rolled and my dad asked
me, “You read Bridge to Terabithia right?
Was it as good as the book?” His eyes smiled as he expected me to say, “Of
course not!” like I had with the Little House on the Prairie series, one of my
favorite book series growing up, but one of my least favorite tv shows. But I
said, “Actually I hated that book. The movie wasn’t that bad though.” As I
mentioned before, I didn’t like the book because Paterson hardly spent any time
describing Terabithia.
On
the other hand, this left the Disney animators free to imagine whatever they
wanted. They could animate Terabithia into existence with trolls made out of
trees with vines for hair and small golden fairy-like guardians. It was well
received by critics, getting an 7.2/10 average rating on Rotten Tomatoes (1).
However, most people I know didn’t enjoy the movie, even though 70% of
audiences overall liked it (1). The most common complaint I found was that the
trailers promised more adventure than the movie delivered on. One person
commented on the youtube trailer, “This winter, when you go looking for
adventure. Be prepared for no adventure at all, but rather lots of drama. Talk
about deceiving marketing. Great film, though,” (2). This gives you an idea how
much adventure was in the book, if I thought the film did a better job
delivering on thrills.
Fresh Eyes
Truth
be told, as I was preparing for this post, I couldn’t remember much of the book
or the movie. So I revisited both. Reading the book with fresh eyes and a
different perspective, I could see more nuance and depth in the characters that
I had missed the first time around. Since I wasn’t under the misconception that
Bridge to Terabithia is an adventure
fantasy book, I was able to better appreciate it for what it is, a short novel
about a boy dealing with his emotionally-distant dad meeting a relatively rich
girl from the city. It is a well-written book with deep themes and many
excellent references to other great literature. It still isn’t my favorite
book, but I will say that a significant portion of the characters’ depth and
struggles was lost in the transition to film. While I still think the movie
does a better job at showing Terabithia than the book, I am no longer entirely
convinced the movie is completely better than the book.
How about you?
Have
you ever found a movie to be better than the book? What are your favorite, or
least favorite, book to movie adaptations? Also, out of curiosity, have you
ever heard of a book being based off of a movie? I couldn’t think of any myself
and thought that it would be an interesting post topic for the future. Let me
know!
Sources:
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