{"id":41,"date":"2014-04-25T17:41:45","date_gmt":"2014-04-25T17:41:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biz141.inmotionhosting.com\/~akweko6\/sacollins.com\/wp\/?p=41"},"modified":"2014-04-25T19:09:26","modified_gmt":"2014-04-25T19:09:26","slug":"books-and-movie-options","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sacollins.com\/blog-wp\/?p=41","title":{"rendered":"Books and Movie Options"},"content":{"rendered":"

Author’s Note<\/strong>: \u00a0This is a converted blog entry. It was originally published on 04.19.14 @ 11:16pm, US Pacific.<\/p>\n

\n

Okay, so I just finished watching \u2018The Geography Club\u2019 which is based on the novel of the same name by out-gay author Brent Hartinger.<\/p>\n

\"GeographyClubBook\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The ‘Geography Club’ book cover as it was originally published.<\/em><\/p>\n

First off, I love the books (even if one of them in the series was not my particular favorite – the plot seemed a bit contrived or too messagey for my tastes). Russell Middlebrook is a great GYA (no, I didn\u2019t misspell that ) – gay young adult, character. The series virtually has no sexual scenes in it. It is more about Russell\u2019s evolving ownership of who he is and what that means to him and to those he surrounds himself with.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve reread the books several times. I love the tapestry that Mr. Hartinger brings to the table with his characters (both large and small) within this creative and entertaining world. Brent is a great storyteller with a fine and distinctive voice. It\u2019s no wonder why the book(s) were optioned. It\u2019s a great story to tell and in this modern age where we are taking up the no bully call, it\u2019s a very timely message to get out there. When I heard they were making the movie of the first book I was thrilled.<\/p>\n

Then I started to hear about the \u2018creative choices\u2019 that Hollyweird was beginning to make regarding the work.<\/p>\n

So here\u2019s the dealio with this – My daughter graduated Magna Cum Laude from SFSU film school. So you can best believe I was in the thick of it with her required movie shoots, her film projects (hell, I assisted in the editing process financially, physically and emotionally). I have well over forty years of being in theatre. I\u2019ve worked on various film projects throughout those years as well. So when Hollywood (even an independent movie company) makes \u2018creative choices\u2019 that deviate from the core essence of the film as a reader and an audience member in that theater i feel nothing but disappointment with a light dusting of rage.<\/p>\n

The production of Geography Club as a movie unit was cohesive and professional all the way. There was nothing amateurish about the project or the final product. The cast was great (even if they barely were passable as teens in high school – (why do casting directors insist on casting like 5 to 20 years beyond the actual age of where the characters are supposed to be??) I liked the cast as a whole – even if Alex Newell\u2019s character didn\u2019t really gel in this new \u2018creative choice\u2019 version of the Hartinger story. I knew it was a name the youngsters would recognize from his stint in Glee. I get that. Not that I agree with it, but I get it.<\/p>\n

\"geographyclubposter350\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sidebar casting note on the film:<\/b><\/span> There was absolutely NO way that I was ever going to believe\u00a0 Alex\u2019s character was even remotely 80\/20. That actor only seems to have one note when it comes to acting (thus far) and it was rather tiring on Glee. To foist his girlish mannerisms and try to get the audience to accept that he remotely thinks of himself as 80\/20 (straight\/gay) would\u2019ve worked better with an actor that could play the straighter part a bit more deftly.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

In the books the sport was baseball. Why the producers went with football was beyond me. It just didn\u2019t make any sense creatively. There\u2019s nothing wrong with the macho image of baseball – so why the change up? Was one of the producers a fucking football fan? Great – keep it out of the movies you produce and go watch your fucking games on TV or in the stadium like the rest of us. The actor playing Kevin btw, couldn\u2019t even respond like a quarterback would in a game. Did no one think to coach him? My hubby used to play for Clemson back in the day. And before that it was at Massillon back in Ohio – arguably the birthplace of modern football as we know it today. So while I am not the football fanatic fan here, the hubby is. When Justin Deely\u2019s Kevin had the ball my hubby just rolled his eyes. Now for the other eye roll moment of the film? When the geeky bullied Bryan character – played beautifully by Teo Olivares, was soothing his battered soul by playing the cello in the band room while crying, the hubby rolled his eyes again (why? well, only because he used to study piano under Szell and his father was the assistant conductor and head of the brass section for Szell\u2019s orchestra). We both have a grumble about how badly Hollywood misses the mark when an actor has to \u2018play\u2019 an instrument. Teo obviously was left to his own devices when figuring out how to play the scene. The only issue was he didn\u2019t have the greatest coaching while doing it. That lack of direction broke the great drama going on with what was supposed to be conveyed in that scene.<\/p>\n

But I am getting ahead of myself a bit. You see, when books get optioned into films the first thing the studios often tell an author is – \u2018well, books aren\u2019t movies, so there\u2019ll be some creative choices we\u2019ll have to make along the way.\u2019 To which, if it were me, I\u2019d say fine – either I am in and have to approve any changes to my world or deals off. And yes, I\u2019d walk away from any money or implied prestige (and let\u2019s be honest here, even if a book gets optioned there\u2019s no guarantee it\u2019ll be a hit) of having my work produced for film.<\/p>\n

Way I figure it, you came to me because of the world I created. Because of the way I told a particular story. Therefore, let\u2019s discuss this whole thing but keep it buried in the back of your little skull that it is my story – different medium I\u2019ll grant you – but no different in its execution. That part is a lie. It is the greatest lie that Hollywood pushes to novelists who are caught up that \u2018Hollywood\u2019 called and wants to make a movie of your work. They are banking on the fact that a novelist knows nothing about movie industry. And they play upon that misconception to their advantage. Suddenly the screenwriter swoops in with the producers and begin with their machete\u2019s whacking away at the world they \u2018supposedly fell in love with.\u2019<\/p>\n

Not that I think that my stuff will get turned into a film – unless of course, my daughter decides to do something with one of my books and is successful in raising the cash to do so. Then we\u2019ll talk. But then again, I\u2019ve got the Daddy card to play as well.<\/p>\n

In the end my feelings about Geography Club were mixed. I was happy that it was made. But the screenplay was TERRIBLE. OMG, it was fucking flat as all fuck. The actors did the best with what they were given but the screenplay carried none of the weight in the light humor or the darker pathos. It was just flatlined right out of the gate. I watched it with my granddaughter. In the end she said it was an okay movie but was more interested in what I told her the books were about and how they panned out and where the movie deviate and went horribly wrong. So at least she\u2019s interested in reading Hartinger\u2019s series, so that\u2019s a plus. But I was saddened that it never made it\u2019s money back so they\u2019ll be no other Middlebrook movies down the road. The series was a brilliant one to choose in this time of the anti-bully movement that is solidly taking root in America. Because of the mismanagement and seriously misaligned creative choices (really, that term alone should equate \u2018cancer\u2019 to a novelist\u2019s world – I am telling you know.) And don\u2019t think that audience members don\u2019t already know this. I have NEVER heard a viewer say – \u2018gee, that was BETTER than the book…\u2019 You never really hear that… But the reverse is often true.<\/p>\n

And don\u2019t get me started on the Harry Potter series – or I\u2019ll be writing about that travesty until the cows literally<\/i> come home.<\/p>\n

I am beyond sad that the Middlebrook blew it\u2019s wad on this production. The \u2018creative choices\u2019 just flat out sucked. It\u2019s not even my world, but dammit, it was a world I loved nonetheless. I hold the director and producers completely accountable for the product that arrived flatlined before it even had a chance to take its first breath.<\/p>\n

So grab a fucking clue Hollyweird<\/i><\/span>. If you can\u2019t write the good shit, then stop crapping on those that do actually write them. Do them justice rather than try to come in at the last minute and trash up some novelists world just cause you think you can. (**cough**<\/i> \u201cMortal Instruments, much? **cough**<\/i>)<\/p>\n

Another gay series has been optioned for production. Jay Bell\u2019s brilliant Season\u2019s series. If I love Hartingers books, I fucking am obsessed with Bell\u2019s series. Now the worry sets in. The film site is up – Something Like Summer .\u00a0 And if Hartinger\u2019s work was any indication, I am seriously worried about Bell\u2019s foray into film. The site looks good. The word from Bell is encouraging. I just hope they do the author and his world justice this time around.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll see, though, don\u2019t expect me to hold my breath about it (even if I do cross my fingers and toes on it<\/i>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Author’s Note: \u00a0This is a converted blog entry. It was originally published on 04.19.14 @ 11:16pm, US Pacific. Okay, so I just finished watching \u2018The Geography Club\u2019 which is based on the novel of the same name by out-gay author Brent Hartinger. The ‘Geography Club’ book cover as it was originally published. First off, I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[9,12,11,8,10],"class_list":["post-41","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-my-what-the-fuck-on-the-media","tag-books-to-film","tag-creative-choices","tag-just-plain-wrong","tag-movie-options","tag-wtf"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p75tPU-F","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":64,"url":"http:\/\/www.sacollins.com\/blog-wp\/?p=64","url_meta":{"origin":41,"position":0},"title":"It’s all about the characters…with a little bit of craziness thrown in.","author":"S A Collins","date":"April 25, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Author's Note: \u00a0This is a converted blog post. 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