As an avid reader, I almost always get excited when one of my favorite books is set to hit the big screen. What better way to keep in touch with a story than seeing my favorite characters come to life? But much to my disappointment, way too often do I leave the movie theater thinking, “That was not how I pictured it.”

One of the major flaws of book-to-movie adaptations is the fact that we are forced to see the story through another person’s eyes. Books are read by thousands of people, meaning there are a thousand different versions of the characters and settings that are extremely different than the filmmakers. A good example of this is “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief,” and it’s equally dissatisfying sequel “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters.” The book series begins when Percy Jackson is 12 years old, and while actor Logan Lerman fit the physical appearance of the character, he was 18 years old when the movie was filmed. Not to mention the actress portraying Annabeth Chase, a character famously known for her blonde hair and grey eyes, was a brunette with blue eyes. It is safe to say I get disappointed when a character is far from their book description.

As Stephen King once said, “Books and movies are like apples and oranges. They are both fruit, but taste completely different.” When reading a book, people are involved in the story and you get clear insight into the characters’ thoughts and feelings. There’s also no limit to a book’s length, which leaves more room for deeper meaning and it can be easy to feel as though you are escaping reality. If movies are supposed to help visualize what we see in our imaginations while reading a story, then why do so many of them fail to follow through with storylines?

Nowadays it is getting more and more popular to make a TV series based on long book series. Personally, I think this provides more opportunity for the director to put as much detail as they can in order to capture the books true greatness. Every chapter could be an episode and every book could be a season. This method would lead to more detailed shows that can be loved by both readers and non-readers.

Although directors, producers, screenwriters, costume designers and many more people behind the scenes work hard to make great films, it isn’t always hard to deny that book-to-movie adaptations are stellar.