When Adaptations Go Wrong

Thought Attempts

When an organism adapts to a new environment, it’s about making changes that better allow it to survive and thrive. With media, that’s probably the goal (even if unstated), but it doesn’t always work out very well.

(Case in point, this previous post.)

The most visible adaptations (though this may be the availability heuristic talking) are making movies, or tv-shows, out of books, comics, or video games. I’m sure we can all think of examples of this being a hit-or-miss affair.

It’s been said that there are two reasons adaptations fail: Not enough respect for the source material (i.e. too many changes, so existing fans don’t recognise it, so losing any value from having a known property); and Too much respect for the source material (e.g. including every little detail from the book, making the movie long, slow, and boring). While there’s some truth to this, I…

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