If you tell someone that one of their favorite books is going to be turned into a movie, you might think they would be excited - not necessarily. While some might, you'll most likely get the “trying to not get my hopes up” reaction.

If any book you love has been turned into a movie, you know exactly what I’m talking about. And odds are, it has happened to you, considering how popular these types of movies are. But despite the popularity, people often complain that even when done well, the book is always better than the movie.

As someone who loves books and is trying to write one as well, it’s not surprising that that tends to be my opinion as well, but I’m trying to look at things a little differently.

Think about why we tend to prefer the book to the movie. There can be several reasons, but there are some big ones that tend to be the issue. One of those is simply that books and movies are two completely different types of entertainment. In other words, it’s not just not easy to do, it’s actually impossible.

For example, “The Hunger Games” book has 374 pages. Could you imagine the length of a movie that included every single thing that happened in those 374 pages?

“But I love the book so much, I’d sit through a 10-hour movie if it was exactly like the book!” some might say, but that doesn’t solve the problem. Although there may be plenty of die-hard fans willing to sit through a movie that ridiculously long, movies have budgets, and I really doubt that many (or any) are willing to spend the amount necessary for films of that length.

Another reason people tend to have a problem with the movie is because it doesn’t match with the way they imagined it when they read it. This is closely related to films and books being two different mediums. Although I love both, one of the things I love about books is the amount of power readers have. Sure, the author creates the world, story, characters, etc., but only so much can be described with words on paper.

And I don’t mean that in a bad way. Books allow readers to see the world that the author created the way they want to. Authors can try to get a certain image or message across, but at the end of the day, once the book is written and in the hands of someone else, it’s up to them to make the book come alive in their mind and to interpret it how they want.

This is probably what messes with us the most. We read a book, imagine the characters and the world a certain way, and then the people who make the movie interpret it entirely differently. This includes the overall message and tone of the book as well.

So how should we view movies based on books in order to enjoy them more? Well, for starters, we should take note of how that’s worded: “based off of,” not an exact copy. In other words, we need to lower our expectations to be realistic.

Don’t get me wrong, there can be movies that are just not good, even when not compared to the book. But that’s the thing, although it is expected for fans of the book to see the movie, movie makers also want those who haven’t to be interested as well. That means that instead of viewing them as being made solely for the fans, we should view it as movie makers who found a book with a story good enough to try and put in movie form.

This means accepting that the movie won’t be exactly as you imagine it when you read it. It means realizing that parts will be left out due to budget, time and other logical reasons.

All of that being said, this doesn’t mean it’s impossible to make a good movie based on a book. There are plenty of awesome ones. When the filmmakers make a genuine effort to stay true to the book's message and all of the other aspects of making a movie are done well, they can be some of the best.

So the next time you go see a movie based on a book you love, try to keep an open mind. You just might be happily surprised.