23 National Nightmares We’ve Already Overcome

Courtesy: Universal Pictures

#22: Inexplicable Movie Adaptations

I am not one of those people who boycotts books-turned-movies, or who even finds it particularly valuable to compare one medium to the other. “The book was better than the movie” is one of my least favorite phrases in the English language. That is, it was, until I started hearing things like, “The Angry Birds Movie, out this weekend!” and “What To Expect When You’re Expecting makes millions at the box office” and “Hungry Hungry Hippos movie coming soon!” As a creative professional, an avid consumer of pop culture, and a human lady with eyes and ears, I just need to know why. Why can we not be trusted to produce original media? Why can’t we just allow writers to come up with new and interesting stories and then put those stories onto film? Why must we, instead, look at a gray, fold-y cube of plastic with tiny red and white pegs poking out and think, “THERE’S THE TICKET! **puffs on cigar** I’M GONNA MAKE YOU A STAR, BATTLESHIP THE BOARDGAME!!!!”

It’s so easy to just ask, “Why are we like this, America?” But we must not lose hope! I know pop culture can often seem like a barren wasteland, governed and sustained by solely the kinds of things 11-year-old boys find fascinating, but we’ve got to be strong. We’ve got to remember that for every Trolls, there can also be a Clue. We will rebuild. Probably with the 10 Lego movie sequels that are likely in the works.