I happened to be talking to a good friend of mine and we discussed television shows. There was a certain drool worthy actor on a particular show and she asked me (since I haven’t seen that particular set of episodes), why are books that are made into movies have more sex? The books are best sellers - garnered thousands of fans ..and yet...it's not good enough and they have more sex than the books... why?
I’m not sure if I want to mention the particular show we were talking about. I don’t want to prejudice anyone or really piss anyone off. I like my shows to be sexy. The hotter the better. But she makes a good point. If the book is hot, I mean HAWT, then isn’t that enough to go by? Or better yet, if the show/movie is based on the book, why add to it?
I see the point of the television show has more time to show what’s going on and can show things the book can’t. For example. In 13 episodes of a show, we can see more bits and pieces of the lives of say the secondary characters whereas in a book, we want to focus on the central characters. I get that.
But do the words ‘based on’ mean ‘deviate here please because the audience is made up of hornballs?’ Doesn’t to me. I’m a hornball. I’ll admit it. President of the club, actually. But I want a story in my sex. If they are having all-out, hotter than hottest sex and it’s JUST because they are hornballs...my interest wanes. I can watch porn if I want that. I want to see them being in love and caring about each other WHILE going at it like a couple of rabbits. And if the book does just that, then why wreck something good?
Because it has to be fantastic? Because it has to be over-thought? Because we as a culture NEED to see anatomy? I’m not sure.
Then again, we have the other stand point. The person getting credit for the screenwriting in many cases isn’t the author. Its someone else brought in to ‘enhance’ the script. Okay, if that’s the case, then that person needs paid and credit given. If the author doesn’t want the script to deviate from the book, then you’d think he/she should do the screenwriting. Maybe she doesn’t want to because she’s writing. Maybe he likes the changes the screenwriters and whoever else have made to it. Who knows. Or maybe still, the changes are like edits the editor might make—one person’s opinion on how to make it better. Just a thought.
I have this theory and while it could be wrong, it’s mine. Someone wrote the book. Someone else who had to edit it, must’ve loved it enough to contract it. Along the way, the book/story/whatever went through changes. It’s not the first draft as the author saw it—in almost all cases, it’s better. So how is the screenwriter/director/producer suggesting changes any different?
Because the fans like continuity. We like the commitment to what we read. Are we right? Are we wrong? You decide. I’d love to know what you think. And yes, Joe, there was the man in question. OOOh he is so yummy!
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