Filmmaking and bias

After reading The Way We Live Now, I heard about a lauded BBC version that was made recently. After putting it on hold at the library, I went to Charity's Place to see if there was anything objectionable. After reading her review, though, I was struck by her take on the movie. After reading the book, I did not find it depressing at all, and liked several of the characters (though they are all flawed, which may depress some), but Charity felt the opposite. Since I aspire to be a film director, I wanted to know if there was a reason that the characters didn't translate from the book to the movie. Even though I have not watched the movie, I have a relatively simple idea: filmmakers are biased. The fact is that, if you are making a film adaptation, it is almost certain that you love and are very familiar with the book. Which makes you one of the least fit to adapt a movie for audiences who have never read the book. Unfortunately, being familiar with the book, while it will help you make a movie pleasing to fans of the book, will not help you appeal to a wider audience. There have been several movies I have watched with friends, where they asked questions where the answers should have been made clear. Often these questions can be answered by watching the acting or directing closely, but if you are completely unfamiliar with the story, you are unlikely to do so. Peter Jackson once said about his LOTR trilogy that he would like to be hypnotized and made so that he would forget everything Tolkien, and then watch his movies to see if they worked for non-fans. One of the joys of Trollope's writing is his portrayals of characters and their mental struggles. Especially The Way We Live Now. I can easily see how it is possible to not feel for the characters when you cannot see their struggles. Good acting might portray that, but if it is too subtle, unfamiliar audiences will get lost.