I have been a book nerd from the earliest time I can
remember. Whenever I would go to a bookstore I would search for the fattest
book I could find and read it. Reading
is relaxing for me – I can escape into the book and forget about my problems
for a little while. I can get lost in the character’s world and the problems
they face; in other words, I use my imagination while reading. These days, I
feel like movies have taken over the role of books. On top of that, books are
being remade into movies.
While reading from General/Kress/Hayles, it got me thinking
on how media affects our imagination when movie makers base movies off of
books. I believe taking a book and turning it into a movie has a couple of
disadvantages. Many times, the director’s make the movie from
their perspective and what they imagine it to be. This can skew the author’s
original message that he/she was intending to make. People who have read the
book and watched the remake of the movie are commonly disappointed with the
movie. This is because no movie can make up for an individual’s imagination and
how they pictured the book in their head. An example would be the Harry Potter
series. By movies being created off of books, it allows the younger generation
to watch the movie rather than sitting down and reading the book. It starts to remove
the ability of a child to imagining things for their own but rather starts to
have their imagination based off of what the director and movie makers produce.
Do you think having books made into movies has more gains
than losses or vice versa? Comment below!
There are losses because they have to cater to the tastes of American entertainment tastes. So an original story will almost always look similar in plot because of the amount of processing that goes through when it finally gets filmed.
ReplyDeleteFor this reason people who read the book and have high expectations feel distant whenever there are discrepancies.
"It is not how the book says it."
Do you feel this way?
It does make me sad to meet people who don't read the books the movies are based off of, but I really enjoy those kinds of movies that are made. Some movies have made me want to go and read certain books like Bridget Jones's Diary and A Walk to Remember. I've also met lots of people who read and got hooked to the Harry Potter series after seeing the movies. I think that those movies are there to supplement reading, and don't get in the way of it as much as technology does.
ReplyDeleteVeena,
ReplyDeleteI really like your take on this topic, I agree with you! I am a book nerd like you and so many movies have ruined the effect of the book for me and my personal take on the book. It is kind of a catch 22; I want to see the movie so that I can see the book come to life on screen, however I don't want the movie to disappoint me and make me think I interpreted the book wrong. Just the selection of the cast can make me alter my view of a character.
I could not agree more that kids, adults, anyone really are losing the effect and stretching their imagination by just seeing the movie and not even reading the book. What is the fun in that? I don't feel you can truly connect with the characters that way. It's kind of like "cheating" to me.
I think movies being made based off of a book or series of book has both is disadvantages and advantages. I love reading as well and too am disappointed when my high expectations are crushed into nothing after leaving the movie theater. I feel like reading the book first you will almost always be disappointed with the movie because the person doesn't look the same or the plot is tweaked here and there, but at least you still have the books to go back and read. If I enjoy a movie based on a book and I have yet to read the book I'll go back and read the book, I'm currently doing this with The Hobbit. I feel that the younger generation is simply just watching the movies and not paying any attention to the book at all, and that I see as negative because they will miss out on the world of amazing novels and creativity. I feel with our generation though we tend to go back and read the book and in a case that can be a positive thing because I know I've gained a wonderful new novel collection just because of a movie I saw. I see it swinging both ways.
ReplyDeleteThere is definitely something about reading a book and having your immagination activated that is unfortunately lacking in movies. It seems that people who read become far more independent thinkers, whereas, people who watch movies experience more of an unfounded emotion. While books offer a framework for the reader to fill, movies require their viewers to forgo certain aspects of creation and thought.
ReplyDelete