Book vs. Movie

When I was growing up, one of my favorite movie series was the Harry Potter series. It started with the renowned book by the author J.K. Rowling and snowballed into what is now a multi-million dollar movie franchise behind a national bestseller. But Harry Potter isn't the only book series that's done this. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and (as much as it pains me to use it as an example) the Twilight saga by Stephanie Meyer have been made into hit blockbusters among several others. But the primary question that underlies the hardcover to hard disc way of thinking can divide people into two categories: the movie lovers and the book lovers. That sole question is which one is better?

At the time all the Harry Potter movies were coming out, my sister, an avid reader of the author, seemed to get worked up at some of the inconsistencies between the story and the movie, such as the learning of the spell "levicorpus" too early on in the movie series. I couldn't understand how one could get upset over something so trivial. Then the movie Eragon came out, where friends of mine who had read it described how completely horrible it is when compared to the book. I could still relate somewhat, having heard about the blasphemous comparisons, yet still couldn't quite understand. You see, as a lad, I wasn't much of a reader. In fact, I barely read anything until about three or four years ago when I happened across a book called Brimstone by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.

The authors captured my attention and I soon found that it was actually book five in a series (the Pendergast series) and book one in a mini-series. Seeing this, I decided to pick up the first book in the series entitled Relic. It was about a string of grisly murders that happen at the Museum of Natural History in New York after the arrival of a supposedly cursed figurine for part of a new exhibit opening. A book or two in the series later, I found that they made a movie of the very same book; except the details I read of it made it look anything but the same as the book.

First of all, they altered the appearance of the beast from a simian-reptilian hybrid to more of an insectoid appearance. Secondly, key story elements were altered, such as characters carrying out actions in the movie that other characters in the book originally executed. Thirdly, and most importantly, they removed the main character of the series, Pendergast, and combined elements of his personality with the main character of the book, Vincent D'gosta, completely eliminating any chance of further continuation of the series. It was at this moment that I finally realized what my sister and my friends were talking about. At least in Harry Potter it was only as small as a spell. This is just one reason why I prefer books to movies.

Many people like watching movies because of the imagery and the attention to detail that they put into it, some more appealing than others. However, reading the book allows you to create your own image rather than have someone create it for you. It actually required imagination to synthesize the picture the author was trying to paint in your head. Sometimes, the movie rendition does a good job of meeting the description of the setting, such as the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory based on the Roald Dahl book. But other times, the setting doesn't always match up with what its portrayal is in a movie. If this is the case, then the movie can ruin the scene for the reader if the book is read after seeing the movie rendition. Yet another reason to choose books over movies.

One of the main things that bugs me about some of these books turned movies is that they can leave out key elements that aren't understood unless you've read the book. One such occasion is in the case of the Harry Potter series. In the seventh movie of the saga toward the beginning, Harry is seen turning a mirror shard over in his hands, looking into it. According to my sister, Sirius gave it to him in the fifth book, but it was never shown in the movie, despite being a key part to understanding the importance of the fragment.

So they next time you want to watch the movie rather than just read the book, I'd advise against it. Not only are you robbing yourself of the value of actually reading something worthwhile, but I've also yet to see a movie that quite lived up to its paper counterpart.