Books vs. Movies

With the recent release of the film adaptation of The Hunger Games, the age-old (well, cinema-old) question is returning: Which is better, the book or the movie?

Two of my classmates have given really good answers to this question (click here and here). I also really enjoy this guy's take on it:

Now, let's get one thing straight: I am definitely a "book person." I don't believe I've ever read a book, seen a film adaptation, and liked the film adaptation better. But I think that we all--including myself--need to look at the situation of books and movies with a different paradigm.




After seeing a film adaptation, we like to ask, "Was it true to the book?" For those of us who actually read the book, that's often the most important part. We don't want the movie people thinking they're better than the author or something. They're just minions who must follow diligently in the author's footsteps to create a movie that reflects every description, every action, every line of dialogue that the author wrote into the novel.

But I think we need to recognize that film is a very different medium from the written word. We shouldn't expect the movie to be exactly like the book. In fact, we should expect it to be different. We should expect that the filmmakers will do their level best to fit the original story into the mold of film.

We've been talking a lot about remixing different creative works through the media. We enjoy seeing people's different takes on music or poems. Even if we wouldn't do it the same way, we like to see many differing ways of looking at the original content. So why don't we afford the same courtesy to movies?

It's like we somehow believe that if the movie is great even though it doesn't follow the book the same way, then the film will eventually take over and no one will ever read the book anymore and the world will never be the same! PANIC! Better clutch those beloved books and demand that the movie follows them word for word so that those dear pages will be preserved in time as the very best version of the story that has ever existed and ever will exist!

I think the comparing needs to end. Yes, we love the original telling of the story. But seeing another person's take on that story through a different medium--and even enjoying it--doesn't take away from our love of the original work. Let's appreciate changes and originality.