By Kyra-lin Hom

The Maze Runner (2014) is the newest YA (young adult) book-to-screen adaptation to try for the big leagues. This first movie, just opened in theaters, is based on the first book of James Dashner's trilogy+prequel bearing the same name. It's a dystopian, post-apocalyptic, Lord of the Flies-style adventure story wherein memory-wiped teenage boys are dropped in the center of a massive Lovecraftian maze with no explanation and have to survive.

Unlike my approach to the Harry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games, Divergent, Percy Jackson, etc. franchises, I accidentally stumbled across this one and know almost nothing about the books. Coming in blind has given me a fresh perspective.

Frustrations with the movie first. The days of the stand-alone film adaptation are gone. Though I did enjoy the film despite some epically bad dialogue, the in-movie realization that this was but part one of (at least) three was frustrating. The end was vaguely unsatisfying for movie goers and obviously in place to tease those who knew the books.

The whole film screamed of 'book-based' moments – those instances when you can feel missing information or when plot elements seem to just happen for the heck of it with no in-film motivation. On one hand, I was so intrigued yet dissatisfied that I immediately went home and bought the trilogy so win for the franchise. On the other, I know there is an art and science to film adaptation. I studied it in college. Movies are supposed to stand apart as adaptations not be visual companion guides to the written word. So tell me, why have professional screenwriters decided to say screw the whole process and rely on their audiences already knowing the material? It's just so lazy.

That said, the source material (i.e. the book) is downright cool. YA stories as of late have been all about the romance. Exploring the nuances of platonic and same-gender friendships (as opposed to just stating their existence) has taken a back seat. To their detriment, in my opinion. Watching an entire YA film without one romantically charged 'significant glance' was refreshing.

Yes, romance is a huge part of being a teenager, but so is friendship. When I remember being 15, the big splashes of drama that first come to mind aren't the crushes I had but the blow-ups between my best friends. Teenage boys, especially, get short-changed these interactions in modern media. Having 30+ boys living and surviving together forced writers to treat these characters and relationships as real and complex.

A girlfriend of mine once said that boys simply don't form the same tight friendships with each other that girls do. That it is against their nature to be emotionally close with one another. It wasn't that she was gender isolated – she has brothers, a father, male friends, etc. – but this is what she and her family had been raised to believe. I couldn't disagree more.

As Emma Watson said to great acclaim in her recent UN speech, “Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong.” Better yet, the two should not be mutually exclusive.

I have no idea what the rest of The Maze Runner series has in store, but I do hope that this sentiment holds true throughout.