Shannon-- I'm with you on your stance on book covers vs. movie posters. So much marketing is involved in the movie poster design process, which I'm sure is frustrating to designers trying to actually communicate something about the film, and it leaves little to be said about the film other than how hot Dude McActor looks with his shirt off. I get that there is a purpose behind it, but after taking this class it makes it frustrating, as you said, ha ha. I also get this isn't always the case and there are some really beautiful movie posters out there and there are just as many poorly designed book covers, giving way to their troupe categories.
What I thought was even more frustrating is books being re-sold with movie poster covers once their film adaptation is released. I always cringe when I see this in the stores, proudly displayed on shelves in Target. It ruins the experience for the reader! I think getting to imagine the characters and settings within the book is part of the experience and having the actors splashed across the cover ruins that part of the reading experience. I get it is a marketing machine, but...well, blah.
Here's a Buzz Feed-esque article on the topic,
15 Movie Tie-In Book Covers that Make us Sad.
Here is one terrible example that I pulled:
