Books, the inspiration for a lot of movies, was a class topic on Monday. Books have been around way longer than movies have. In fact, books started to become mass-produced in the 1400s, long before movies were even thought of. Some might argue that television and movies contributies to illiteracy. This is probably true. If people never read, and just watch there never going to learn essential reading skills. Thankfully, schools still make students read.
I found a couple interesting articles about books versus movies. This first one found from Time.com talks about the age-old belief that the book will always be better than the movie (unless of course one hasn't read the book...:)) In their judgment, Memiors of Geisha the movie won. The movie was better than the book. Almost every other movie/book listed in the article, the book won, though.
Are there any books you found were better than the movie or vice versa?
Why is the book usually better? Here's what I think. If you've read the book, chances are you created the book. You created a movie version of it in your head. You had your own viewpoints of what the characters and setting looked like. When someone else contradicts what your imagination created, it doesn't seem so good. In fact, it seems upsetting. That once fantasy world you slipped into everytime you opened the book was now destroyed by the movie. Do you agree with this?
Martha Brockenbrough explains it like this, "As anyone who's ever bitten into a muffin with meat chunks in it (and I have) can tell you, this is a risky proposition. Just as meaty muffins rudely shock someone expecting raspberries, a bad movie adaptation can sicken people who truly loved a book."
On the contrary, have you ever read one of those books in which the author spent so much time describing every little detail that you ended up getting lost and not really creating your own viewpoint. That might be a case where the movie is better than the book. Click here to read Brockenbrough's thoughts on what makes a movie better than a book.
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I can't tell you how many times I've said, "The book was better than the movie."
ReplyDeleteSome of the worst book-to-movie adaptions I've seen is Eragon and Twilight. They were both visually stunning, but the content made me laugh. (Anyone remember the "Hang on tight, Spidermonkey" line from Twilight?" Pretty sure that wasn't in the book.)
And in Eragon, the main character literally said this right before the big battle, "Into the sky! To win! Or die!"
As I said before, movies can bring parts of the book to life for you that you had trouble visualizing. The Dumbledore/Voldemort fight in Harry Potter 5 was one scene that comes to mind for me.
I liked your muffin analogy :)
I think that we as a society have become all too comfortable with movies/TV and have forgotten about books and reading! I know personally I can take some blame for this. I don’t read anymore, except for required materials in college. I used to read a lot when I was younger and in high school. I really enjoyed it and found great pleasure in stories that really captured my imagination. With movies I don’t get the feeling that I did when I read (for personal enjoyment). I can remember never wanting to put my book down and sometimes I would stay up for hours because I wanted to see what the next chapter held! After reading your blog I think I will shut my TV off and sit down with a good book!
ReplyDeleteMovies vs. books is a tough topic! I think that books are better, but I also enjoy movies. The one problem I have is if I read the book, it drives me insane to go watch the movie even if I enjoyed the book; because the movie does not have all the details and everything in it like the book did. The same goes for watching the movie before reading the book, becuase then I already know what is going to happen and that is just no fun to me.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a good topic. I enjoy both reading and watching movies. But when it comes to movies based on books, I have to say I enjoy both! I like to read a book before I see the movie and pick out the differences between the too!( I know that's probably a little nerdy) I also like to watch how another person or the director, interpreted the book in order to bring the book to life.
ReplyDeleteI can't watch "Lord of the Rings." I have in my mind what Hobbits look like, as well as Gandalf and the rest of the crew. I don't want the movie to ruin it! But yes, usually the book is much better.(except in the case of the Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood--the movie wins, hands down. Okay, and the Harry Potter movies, while still good, started out as good as the books, but now, for the sake of time, are cutting out too much from the movies, IMHO.
ReplyDeleteMovies always ruin the book for me! One of the movies I was disappointed in was Sisterhood of the traveling pants. So much was left out of the movie that was in the book. And, then the second one came out and they incorporated the second, third, and fourth book into one movie! Another one that wasn't as good as the book was The Other Boleyn Girl. I read the book and could not put it down. And then I watched the movie and the whole time I was wondering where certain points from the book were! They never put them in there! Books are definately more interesting, more detailed, and allow you to make your own perceptions of what you think it should look like. It lets your imagination run.
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