Survival Guide to “Based on” Movies

Some of 2012's Upcoming Movies that are based on a book or other type of work (click the image to enlarge).

So you intend to watch a movie that is based on somebody else’s work or experience? Maybe your favorite series or author has landed the opportunity to become a blockbuster hit and you are already waiting in line for tickets. Such an endeavor can be an excruciating experience, especially to the more hardcore fan base of the adapted work. And let’s be honest, now-a-days half the movies that are being produced are based on either a bestselling book, a graphic novel, a video game, somebody’s life experience, or my personal favorite (sarcasm intended) a remake of a classic (some of them are not even old enough to be considered classics; Hello Spiderman, Yes! I’m talking to you!).

As an avid reader myself I have become cautious whenever I hear or read that one of my beloved stories will soon be gracing a Big Screen near me or even my TV. I have reread books just before going to a cinema so that I have a fresher memory of the events detailed on the story, just to exit the movie theater arguing while having to explain to my boyfriend (he is not a book lover) all the inconsistencies in the plot line and why it was such a letdown. Which is why –noting the continuous influx of this type of material being produced– I have decided to put together a list of tips or advices to help you survive the tumultuous journey that is watching a “based on” type of movie.

DISCLAIMER: This list is by no means comprehensive, it is not a set of rules or laws that have to be obeyed; it is nothing more than a mere recollection of what I have learned while going through this particular experience several times before.

Tips & Advices:

First of all, and it is extremely important that you understand this crucial factor; movies are meant for entertainment, they are supposed to reach and touch those fibers that make up your feelings and emotions; it is not meant to be accurate, it is not going to be a word by word translation of the actions described by the author of the original scripture. It is but an interpretation of said events or stories imagined by those who direct it and produce it and the rest of the cast and crew.

1. If you haven’t read the book yet, do not, I repeat DO NOT read the work on which the movie is based prior to watching it. For example, if you are going to see The Hunger Games this month but haven’t read the books yet, don’t do it. Reading the book before watching the movie, solely because you are going to watch it, will automatically put you on a defensive stance the moment the movie starts rolling. 

Dreaming with Places

When people think about their Favorite Place on Earth usually the first set of images that passes through their minds involves fantastical, exotic, far way places with robust, intriguing cultures that can evoke many different feelings in a person. However, if we introspect long enough we might discover that our favorite place tends not to be a remote slice of paradise, but an area that holds a deeper, more sentimental meaning to us. I have to admit that when I first thought about “my favorite place on earth or the one I longed for” I immediately started mentally creating a list of all the places I would love to visit; one of these places – siting at the top of the list – being my beloved Puerto Rico. From the second place onwards the list included all the countries I fancy globetrotting. Places like the United Kingdom, Spain, Greece, Rome, France, Russia, China, Japan, India, and Africa are all listed there in no particular order. There is something about their traditions and different cultures that have always fascinated me.

Regardless, the only places I have ever been to are, my home Puerto Rico and Florida, USA. Ironically, of the places I have visited – all few of them – the one that holds the title of My Favorite Place on Earth it is not Disney Land, or Miami, or Fort Lauderdale; it isn’t El Yunque, Culebras, or Gilligan’s Island. Oh no, my favorite place on Earth is a small patch of forest crisscrossed by a river right behind my childhood home. The river is called Cibuco and it crosses my whole town beginning at the Cuchilla neighborhood, picking up smaller streams going in a northbound journey until it joins the Atlantic Ocean at the North of the Vega Baja municipality.

I was 6 when my parents move out from our first home into what became my childhood house; giving me the opportunity to discover this other world. Since the moment I arrived, that river and all its surroundings became my favorite place ever. Regardless of the amount of houses in the area, the river feels like an oasis that is not quite from this planet. It can be seen from my old bedroom window with its many big slabs of rocks, its trees shadowing a knee deep water level that becomes extremely enticing around summer season.

Tears

This is a short poem i wrote after an argument. I originally posted it to my facebook account as a Note and this is what i wrote on that note:

WARNING: I have never claimed to be a poet, not once, and i'm sure not going to start now.

Since i'm feeling a little depressed, here is a little something i just came up with. It's simple and by all means below amateur. But i guess i just want to share it all the same.

Tears

Small and salty
Crystalline cold
Out of two little windows
They come unexpected
Rushing out of the heart
In an uncontrollable rhythm
Packing all our feelings,
They reveal our emotions 

All the while liberating us
From inner explosion.

-- Jan 20, 2010

I'm always open to criticism so lets hear your thoughts on the comments.