This post is inspired by a friend on Facebook. He happens to be the theater director at the college I work at. He posted:
"The Rotten Tomatoes" web site is a good sourse for getting a variety of movie reviews. But I wish there was a way to filter out the reviews by the people who read the book"
"Why would you read the book when they'll just make a movie out of it?" This question comes out of my son's mouth at least once a month. He's not alone. I know several adults who feel the same way. I think they're missing something though. Movies show us someone's point of view about a story. It's their ideas of what the characters look like, how they act, how they think, how they handle situations, and even how they sound and move. A book on the other hand gives you so much more room for finding your own creativity. That's right, I said your creativity. I know a book is written by someone else with their own ideas and descriptions but we all interrupt things differently. It doesn't matter that the author describes a character or a room down to the very last detail we still have the freedom for our minds to shape the story. Even if an author describes a curved cherry side board down to the brass lion head hardware, our minds still pick the shade of the cherry lacquer, the exact location and depth of the curve, the exact tone of the lion's mane, even the length and width of the spindly legs that jut up from the floor. Now what I see and what you see will no doubt be two incredibly different images in our heads and truth be known, we could never convey that exact image out to anyone else. Those little details shape a story in our minds. Each word adds to the mental imagery that paints its way across our minds as the story progresses. That's what makes great fantasy stories great and what makes historical fiction so real. Our minds create things that couldn't possibly be reproduced in as great detail in the actual realm. At least not as we see them in our mind's eye. 
So does this mean I don't like movies? No, not at all. I love movies. I do have difficulty watching a movie AFTER I've read the book. I will read a book that I've already seen the movie but once I've read the words and then try to watch the movie I tend to pick the previous apart. It's not the movies fault, nor the director's, nor the actors', nor even the art department's fault. It's my mind's fault. My mind has set up a system to interrupt words based on what I've read before, the things I've experienced in life, and my own creative juices. How on earth could some entertainment organization possibly know what is in my head? That's why when we read a book and then see the movie we cut it a part. How many times have you seen a movie that you had previously read the book to and said to yourself (or everyone else) "That's not at all how I pictured that character?" Nearly every time I'm sure. We've all done that. That's simply because we did not see on that screen what our mind produced as we were reading the words. As humans, we don't like to be wrong. If we've invested hours pouring through the pages of a book, investing our time, mind, and heart into characters and places our mind has created for us visually only to step into a theater and find something totally off from what we imagined we get defensive and say they did it all wrong. But did they really? Or did we? I'm sure authors often think people have totally misread their characters because we assume they will be what we envision in our heads. The author may have envisioned something much different. So who is wrong? None of us. Reading exercises our creativity. Yes, someone else wrote the story and laid out the ground work but ultimately it is our minds that shape and create our mental images. In a movie, we are letting someone else do that for us. So why are we criticing a movie based on the same criteria we do a book? To me that's like judging a country song against a dubstep song: a classical ballad against a rap song; a blues piece against a pop culture hit. They are the same yet they are completely different.
Movies are great. Movies entertain quickly. We invest a grand total of an hour and half to two hours to a movie. A book? Any where from a couple of days to a week or two. How could we possibly expect to get as invested in a movie as we do a book. We pour ourselves into a book. We let someone else do the pouring for movie. What I'm trying to convey is let's get off the movie industries back for a while about movies not living up to the book. They aren't supposed to. They are not books. They are movies. We've paid someone a lot of money to do the creative thinking for us. Let's not bash them for not living up to something we spent a lot more time on creating images in our mind. Books are amazing art forms that give us the freedom to think, to create, to invest ourselves in and get lost in. Movies are great art forms as well but the difference is they give us the opportunity to relax, not think so much, and just enjoy. Why would we curse them for allowing us to let go?
If you find you go watch a movie you read a book to and it disappoints you terribly, don't do it. If a movie comes out and you've read the book recently, pass the movie over at least until it comes out on DVD. Give it some time until you have let go of your personal investment in the book. You may still pick some things a part but it may not be as personal an insult to your sense once you've given it some time. Also, don't run out and read a book that the movie is coming out soon. You'll just be setting yourself up for disappointment. Ultimately, remember the disclaimer before every movie that comes after the book "BASED" on the book...That's right BASED not word for word but based on the book. That gives the writers creative freedom to take the basic concepts of the book and create a wonderful new story. Just try to enjoy both mediums for what they are - entertainment. Let me also add that since so many of us have been guilty of judging a movie because of the book we read prior that I have to give kudos to the makers of the movie The Help. I read the book over two years ago and was so leary of the movie because I really allowed myself to get invested in the characters of the book. Ema Stone was NOT what I pictured for Skeeter but WOW! Did she do an excellent job as the main character. The movie was excellent just as the book was. In some cases, the movie drove home some of the point even better than the book by giving a visual presence that my experiences couldn't have.
A book can be an adventurous, creative medium that sends our minds and hearts across time and space for a few hours, a few days, a few weeks. A movie can do the same thing only the trip is shorter and we let someone else choose the vehicle and do the driving.
Happy reading and see you at the movies!
3 comments:
You know what? (Remembering that we all have our own opinions on your subjects today) If I know a movie is based on a book, I run out and buy the book and read it first before watching the movie. I love doing it that way. I especially was glad I had read all Jane Austen's books before seeing the movies, if I hadn't I would have been at a loss watching the movies, because they moved along much faster than the books, therefore, I could keep up with the movie pace.
I also read the book "The Help" before watching the movie. I enjoyed both. I thought they did a nice job with the movie, but, than again I was glad I had read the book first. Another book I read before watching the movie was "The Lincoln Lawyer" and again I enjoyed both. I guess I am just the odd-ball in this world of reading books before watching the movies.
Also, reading the book first, I than know whether or not I want to watch the movie.
Like I said this is just my opinion, and I enjoyed reading your commentary today.
Happy reading to you also.
I had never really thought of it that way GiGi Ann. I guess you are right. I know if I hadn't read Austen I would have been completely lost. Good perspective on this one! Thanks
I love both books and movies, and I think there needs to a be a place for those "who read the book" to say something in their review of a movie. Due to the fact that my imagination is so strong in how I see characters, I think I'm one of the only LOTR fans who wasn't madly in love with the cast of LOTR - they were great actors, I had to a suspend my "but that's not what I thought they looked like" thoughts. I love the book The Voyage of Dawn Treader and have read it over a dozen times. When I went to the movie, I told myself that I would be happy if they got Eustace's character right, if the ship looked cool, and the basic story stayed intact. I liked the movie a lot, but did I have trouble with the centipedish sea serpent? - yes, but I bit my tongue.
However, on the flip side of the coin, I loved How To Tame Your Dragon and it's nothing like the book. I loved Fried Green Tomatoes, and again, nothing like the book. I am even really happy that Ender's Game is coming out as a movie, even though the book is an all-time favorite of mine and I know they aren't going to imagine it the way I did. I'm happy because I want more people to love the story that I love.
As for trash-talking movies that aren't like books . . .well, our family watched The Lightning Thief on DVD with friends of ours who had also read the books, and guess what, we made an evening of discussing the differences and it was really fun and memorable. I wouldn't do that in a movie theatre, or necessarily on a review, but I really think it's ok to note the differences.
Post a Comment