I have this thing about books. I love them. No, I know you love them too, but I LOVE them. REALLY, REALLY love them. I have approximately 3000 books in my house. I NEVER give a book away unless it's mass market pulp fiction AND it sucks. (I'm looking at YOU, Rose Madder.)
Anyway, one of my HUGEST pet-peeves is when someone says, "The Great Gatsby? I LOVED that movie." (substitute any book for Gatsby)
I have this uncontrollable reflex where I grab them by the collar, shake them like a bobble head and yell, "IT'S A BOOK, YOU MORON."
This abruptly ended a couple of match.com dates for me back in the day.
Luckily, since I've become a parent I've become MUCH more patient.
Today my 8yo son asked me, "Mom, can we please see Romeo and Juliet?"
"Sure!" I said, excited that he shares my love for literature.
"It looks like a great movie." he added.
"It's a PLAY!" I said, frustrated.
"No, mom," he explained, "I didn't say Romeo and Juliet. I said GNOMEO and Juliet."
I had to walk away.
I love books but more than books I love STORIES - which is nice because it frees me up to enjoy them across mediums. I've been in the play Romeo and Juliet and read it several times, but I love Baz Luhrman's Romeo + Juliet. Gnomeo and Juliet looks really cute and funny. I could apply this to comic books and comic book movies too, but I think Kitt would reach through the internet, through my screen and... it wouldn't be pretty.
Posted by: Matt Shields | January 31, 2011 at 12:53 PM
This made me laugh out loud!
Posted by: Tara | January 31, 2011 at 01:13 PM
Just had this exact conversation with my 7 1/2 year old!!
Posted by: kim | January 31, 2011 at 01:57 PM
Agreed. HOWEVER, I really need to know if you literally have 3000 books in your house?! Because... DAMN. Forget the library, story time at your place. I'll bring the wine.
Posted by: Leah | January 31, 2011 at 06:38 PM
I fell asleep reading The Great Gatsby out loud my junior year in high school. I didn't enjoy that particular book. However, I LOVE to read. ANYTHING! Rose Madder...well, I didn't really enjoy that book but scenes from it replay in my head all of the time. Why do certain stories do that? Facebook has interrupted my reading time.
Posted by: Tracy | January 31, 2011 at 08:47 PM
Yeah. . and I think this movie is probably only the beginning. And gnomes kind of freak me out. They are SO 80's!
Posted by: Paula/adhocmom | February 01, 2011 at 09:08 AM
Sigh. I guess we just have to look for the silver lining. At least our kids will know the basics of the storyline when they have to study it in high school.
I'm just not sure how they are going to portray the ending in Gnomeo and Juliet, because, frankly, the whole suicide/tragic love thing doesn't exactly seem very child-friendly.
Posted by: Opto-Mom | February 02, 2011 at 01:50 AM
I'm sorry, but Gnomeo & Juliet? What the hell? I'm gonna take a stab in the dark and guess it's some kids related thing. Is it a Gnome & Juliet?
On a side note, you're so right about the whole "books before movies" thing. Did you SEE what they did to My Sisters Keeper??? My sister & I stormed out of the theatre. That was so wrong.
I get that you sometimes need to adjust the timeline/scenes a little for movies, but change the entire ending and the meaning of the story? Freaking crack whores is the only explanation I can come up with.
Posted by: Sally | February 02, 2011 at 01:18 PM