An Open Letter to Hollywood: Why are you systematically killing all of my childhood memories?
So! I was watching television the other night (some late night program that I don't care enough about to elaborate on) and a trailer for a new movie comes on. From the first clip I felt dread consume me as I waited in breathless anticipation for the movie's title and release date to be revealed but I already knew what the movie was. "The Seeker: The Dark is Rising", a film adaptation of Susan Cooper's novel by (nearly) the same name.
The Harry Potter films popularity has certainly kick-started the kids-fantasy-novel movie adaptation trend. "Eragon", "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", "The Golden Compass" and now "The Dark is Rising". Sadly, none of these works have truly lived up to the brilliance of the books but now I really worried. The entire "Dark is Rising" sequence is steeped in welsh mythology and imagery and hope this isn't done away with in the American adaptation. It also really bothers me that the main character, Will, has been changed so much. Where he's 11 and British in the books he's 13 and American in the movies. Reading up on the movie the scriptwriter explains that he chose the age of 13 because it's a transitory age and made Will American to play up his "alienation" but these aren't really issues in the novel so why should they be in the movie?
I might go see the movie, if only to have my opinions based on first-hand experience but I'm not expecting much. Considering the popularity of this genre I suppose we can expect to see Alanna (The Lioness Quartet, Tamora Pierce) as a leggy blond and Diane (The Immortals Series, Tamora Pierce) at the good-and-completely legal age of 18 strutting across the screen soon.
The Harry Potter films popularity has certainly kick-started the kids-fantasy-novel movie adaptation trend. "Eragon", "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", "The Golden Compass" and now "The Dark is Rising". Sadly, none of these works have truly lived up to the brilliance of the books but now I really worried. The entire "Dark is Rising" sequence is steeped in welsh mythology and imagery and hope this isn't done away with in the American adaptation. It also really bothers me that the main character, Will, has been changed so much. Where he's 11 and British in the books he's 13 and American in the movies. Reading up on the movie the scriptwriter explains that he chose the age of 13 because it's a transitory age and made Will American to play up his "alienation" but these aren't really issues in the novel so why should they be in the movie?
I might go see the movie, if only to have my opinions based on first-hand experience but I'm not expecting much. Considering the popularity of this genre I suppose we can expect to see Alanna (The Lioness Quartet, Tamora Pierce) as a leggy blond and Diane (The Immortals Series, Tamora Pierce) at the good-and-completely legal age of 18 strutting across the screen soon.