Hey -You’re on the Wrong Side of the Pond.

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As all avid readers know, the movie is never as good as the book. Except for…just kidding. No exceptions. Watching a movie based on a book, whether the book was mildly entertaining or downright inspirational, is always an adventure in indignance. The music is all wrong for the tone of the book. Her hair should be red, not blonde. Why did they change the main character’s name? It’s something we readers put ourselves through constantly. We don’t exactly know why, but we do.

Maybe we want to relive a story we loved while relaxing with on the couch with a bowl of popcorn in a cool two hour period rather than over the duration of ten bathtimes as the kids splash the poor innocent book into oblivion. Seems like a good theory to me.

But a new trend has really thrown me for a loop. The movies P.S. I Love You and Confessions of a Shopaholic both had severe setting transplants. From Dublin and London respectively, they were shipped to New York City. And frankly, I don’t get it.

Is it because film makers think that American movie audiences are afraid of a foreign, unfamiliar locale? Well, let me tell you, New York and London are on equal footing for me. Both are cities I have visited, enjoyed very much, but wouldn’t want to live in. I think most of the ladies that watch these sort of movies probably have a similar sentiment. We like to think we’re hip city girls at heart, but we’re mostly suburban moms with a fear of muggers, and an addiction to shopping malls with sprawling parking lots.

The reason is definitely not that they got All-American actors for the lead roles. While the movies got moved to New York, the male leads in both retained the original nationality. That was really a brilliant move. There is nothing that gets a rom-com loving lady’s panties in a twist more than a hot guy with a hotter accent. Yum.

And then we have dear Isla Fisher. I’m not even sure where to say she is from. I thought she was British, but IMDB’d her to be sure. I was wrong. She was born in Oman to Scottish parents, raised in Australia, and calls Britain home apparently. I think life would have been much easier for Isla if Becky Bloomwood could have remained British! I love Isla Fisher. Her hair alone gives me a total girl crush on her, but her American accent needs some work. It reminded me a lot of Nicole Kidman’s American accent, which makes sense.

So all of this chatter and no closer to a reason why film makers yanked these stories from their beautiful homes. As I read the books, it gave me a certain thrill to get familiar with life in foreign cities. When I heard the movies were coming out, I got excited about seeing them played out on the streets of Dublin or London. Imagine Sex and the City being transplanted to Milwaukee. Same thing. New York is the fifth character on Sex and the City (as they’ve said repeatedly.) Why were these settings treated so brutally?

I’m sure the reason is not artistic at all. I’m sure it has to do with red tape or cost or legality or something equally unimportant to me, the viewer. I’m just wondering…will Shopaholic Takes Manhattan turn into Shopaholic Takes London?