Suggested by: Superfastreader:
Books and films both tell stories, but what we want from a book can be different from what we want from a movie. Is this true for you? If so, what’s the difference between a book and a movie?
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Usually I prefer books to movies. The characters and scenes in the movies rarely resemble those in my imaginative experience of the book. Despite its great casting, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe somehow failed to capture the grandeur of Aslan. Gettysburg in its magnificent 4-hour length couldn’t possibly capture the terse, stream-of-consciousness feel of The Killer Angels. And the Jane Austen movies often disappoint me because of their artificial inflation of 21st-century concerns in 19th-century stories. (The Emma Thompson Sense and Sensibility is an exception!)
Usually if I see the movie first, I don’t go back to read the book. When I try to do this, I fail: The Bourne Identity, October Sky, Freedom Writers.
Why? Because once the movie images are in my head, I can’t create my own. There’s a short circuit that happens somewhere. This is true even with books I’ve read before watching the movie. The best example of the way movies supplant my own imagination is The Lord of the Rings. I’d read Tolkien’s books, and loved them. But I can no longer access my own pre-movie vision. The movies did such a great job of picturing it all that my mind goes to scenes from them. The movies have become a mental gatekeeper.
Interesting fact: this is true of home movies and pictures as well. There are “memories” I have that on closer examination turn out to be pictures out of the photo album or old family movies, rather than my own memories. I know this because they’re not pictured from the inside looking out, but with myself as a character alongside other characters. Weird, huh?
I think you’ve made a very interesting and disturbing point here about the way in which the film image takes over. This can certainly be true for me where characters are concerned. However, I’ve tried thinking through some specific instances and it seems to depend on how well I know the book. My images haven’t been disturbed where ‘The Lord of the Rings’ is concerned, probably because I have supervised several dissertations on it and have had to re-read it sometimes on an annual basis. ‘Harry Potter’ is rather different. I still have my own vision of the three main characters but one or two have taken over. this may be due to the near perfect casting of Alan Rickman and Maggie Smith.
I have the same experience with ‘memories’ from photos - it is weird. Makes you wonder how else one could create memories!
I’ve recently been watching a tv adaptation of The Dresden Files novels and now I’m having trouble keeping the characters as I ‘know’ them from the books separate in my heard from the characters on the show. I loved that version of Sense and Sensibility though. =)
I agree, when I watch a film based on a book, I often feel it is lacking. And when I read something I have seen, those images are imposed on my mind.
I agree, too, that that occurs even with “real life” memories. We never got into taping much because it seemed to interfere enjoying the moment as it happened.
I’m the same way with characters. If I’m going to watch a movie based on a book… I will probably never read the book. And, with rare exceptions, I don’t enjoy going to movies when I’ve already read the book. You captured the reasoning so much better than I ever could!
I too can’t read a book if I watch a movie first. Somehow I am stuck with the images of the movie, as you say. I really liked your response.
Here is my BTT post!
I don’t like my image to be over-ridden by the film and Lord of the Rings did that for me with all the hobbits - and I can’t get my own versions back again, which is terrible.
Some movies intrigue me to pick up the book. Other movies are satisfying enough to where I don’t feel I have to read the book.
I thought The Da Vinci Code was sorely disappointing as a movie but was a wonderful book!
Very interesting observation re movie images. I have the same experience, which is why I’m often disappointed by movies based on my favorite books…I already have a certain picture in my mind of the way characters and places will look, and it disturbs me when the imagery doesn’t match!
One exception was The Hours…the movie felt as if I were seeing the book just the way I’d picture it.
I am exactly the same way. If I see the film first, I can’t get those images out of my head when reading the book. I’d rather create my own, and then the film has to live up to that! I no longer watch movies before reading, too often it spoils it for me.
Ah yes, I do understand your points. It’s hard to remove the images from the movies which are already formed in your mind isn’t it? Sometimes, I think it’s best to leave our own imaginations on the books we loved.