I saw a girl reading "The Other Boleyn Girl" at the train-station today. She was reading it because the movie was just out and there was a great big marketing campaign promoting it. It wasn't necessary to ask her if that was true or not. The cover of the book was the film's poster.
It made me think of that phenomenon. A movie based upon a book is approaching release into theaters. So places like Borders and Barnes and Noble place that book out on their browsing tables. People who have seen the trailer or the television commercials snatch the book up thinking, "I'll read this before the movie comes out." It's all quite silly.
What's the cliche about movies that are adapted from books? That the book was better. It makes sense too. If you want a dragon in a book, you write "There was a dragon." If you want a dragon in a movie, you have to budget for the CGI. In a book you can explicate a character's exact feelings and reasoning. In a movie you have to have that character declare those same things via conversation or monologue. Movies have be short enough to show four times a day at the theater while books can be as long as the author wants. Books have a few natural advantages in their potential to tell a more complete tale.
Don't get me wrong. I've read books before they were made into movies and there are movies being made from some of my favorite books. But reading the book before seeing the movie is foolish. You're reading the more complete version of the story before you watch a less complete version of the story. If anything you should see the movie first. Then, if the subject interests you enough, then you can go to the source material for greater depth.
Now who do I need to talk to if I want to see an adaptation of "The Shadow of the Wind"?
3 comments:
The reason I tend to read the book before I see the movie (as I did with I Am Legend) is so I know the source material and get to enjoy another person's version of this story. I Am Legend's book is incredibly different from the movie but both of them are good.
Also, reading the book beforehand allows you more things to talk about with people when it comes out. Nobody wants to see the movie and then talk about the book a month later when they finally finish it. ("Did you guys see Heat?")
Beyond that, as a pleasure-delayer, I like the slow build of a book as well as the depth so if I were to see the movie first, the climax wouldn't be as fulfilling and the characters wouldn't be as rich.
These are obviously loosely put together ideas but some combination of those things make me want to read the book before I see the movie.
Well, let me clarify something. I'm not saying reading the book before the movie is dumb. I'm saying reading the movie because of the movie is dumb.
People seeing that a movie is coming out and feeling a responsibility to read the book despite not showing an interest in the topic before is silly. It means that you really want to get into the material solely because of the movie's marketing campaign.
Also I think you make a faulty assumption that people who see the movie will want to talk about the book. Other people who saw the movie and read the book perhaps.
But it's more annoying than invigorating to talk about a movie and then have someone bring up the book. It almost like changing the topic and to one I know nothing about really.
I don't think it's dumb to read the book just because you heard about it from movie promotions.(my advertising bias? :) ) Why does hearing about a book from other sources make it somehow better? If you heard about the book from a friend it would be okay? You have to hear about it from somewhere. I know you could say that movies don't usually come out until a book is old so perhaps you should have known about the book when it first came out. But then you're just punishing people for not being up on what's new in bookstores and that's not fair.
I've had several instances when I've seen commercials for movies that are based off books I've never heard of and it has made me want to read the book because I know the book is always better. When I watch a movie based on a book I haven't read I feel like I'm missing something because more often than not I am.
I say as long as people are reading, who cares what the motivation.
I'm bored at work :) - Holly
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