Movies and Books
Today I went to go see "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" at the movie theater. It was a really good film, and Erwin and I both enjoyed it. But there is a question that has been bothering me for quite some time about whether or not reading the book before seeing the movie makes the viewing of the film better or worse. Now, I'll use some examples from my own experience to explain.
I believe the first book that I ever read that had a movie adaption (and this is excluding those Disney books that have animated adaptions) was Gone With the Wind. Never before had I been so invested in the lives of fictional characters as I was with Scarlett, Rhett, Melanie and Ashley. I remember my parents going out and renting the movie for me after I finished reading the book, and I fell in love with the movie and all of the actors in it. Of course, since Gone With the Wind was over a thousand pages long, it would have been impossible to fit every detail into the movie, so there were a lot of subplots and character information that they couldn't show. I felt like I enjoyed the movie even more so because I had read the book and I could fill in the blanks myself. I started to believe that reading the novel before seeing the movie would be better than the other way around. Also, it seemed to me that I may not enjoy reading a book as much if I had already seen the movie and knew what the ending would be. I always need the suspense to keep me interested in what I'm reading, therefore, knowing the end result would kill that.
Now, the Harry Potter series is a different story. I've seen films 1-4 and I have to say that I am so incredibly impressed by J.K Rowling for creating these characters and their world, the screenwriter for adapting the story so well, and the producers and directors for their work in bringing Harry and his friends to life. I have not read any of the books before, but I just started reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and I love it! Doesn't this contradict my statement earlier about losing interest in reading a book if I already know the ending? Sure, because I'm still very much interested in reading every word on every page even if I already know what is going to happen. Seeing the movies didn't ruin anything for me. There are still many characters and details that couldn't be included in the movies, and the books are helping me to appreciate the stories and their characters even more than before.
So what is so confusing? Well, I read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe recently, and I was very excited to see the story come to life on screen, but I wasn't as thrilled as I thought I would be. Now, don't get me wrong, the movie was done really well, and the other people in the theater really enjoyed it. Maybe my expectations were too high. Maybe I should have worn socks and shoes instead of flip-flops because it was really cold in the theater. Either way, this experience was not like the one I had when I saw "Gone with the Wind" on screen for the first time. I just kept thinking that I wish I hadn't read the book first.
Memoirs of a Geisha is now a movie also, and I read that book back in 2000. I have decided I won't reread it before the movie. I know the basic plot of the story and how it ends, but I think I'll enjoy this movie more if I just let the movie retell the story to me.
As you can see, I'm still torn about which order I should do things in; movie or book first?
I believe the first book that I ever read that had a movie adaption (and this is excluding those Disney books that have animated adaptions) was Gone With the Wind. Never before had I been so invested in the lives of fictional characters as I was with Scarlett, Rhett, Melanie and Ashley. I remember my parents going out and renting the movie for me after I finished reading the book, and I fell in love with the movie and all of the actors in it. Of course, since Gone With the Wind was over a thousand pages long, it would have been impossible to fit every detail into the movie, so there were a lot of subplots and character information that they couldn't show. I felt like I enjoyed the movie even more so because I had read the book and I could fill in the blanks myself. I started to believe that reading the novel before seeing the movie would be better than the other way around. Also, it seemed to me that I may not enjoy reading a book as much if I had already seen the movie and knew what the ending would be. I always need the suspense to keep me interested in what I'm reading, therefore, knowing the end result would kill that.
Now, the Harry Potter series is a different story. I've seen films 1-4 and I have to say that I am so incredibly impressed by J.K Rowling for creating these characters and their world, the screenwriter for adapting the story so well, and the producers and directors for their work in bringing Harry and his friends to life. I have not read any of the books before, but I just started reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and I love it! Doesn't this contradict my statement earlier about losing interest in reading a book if I already know the ending? Sure, because I'm still very much interested in reading every word on every page even if I already know what is going to happen. Seeing the movies didn't ruin anything for me. There are still many characters and details that couldn't be included in the movies, and the books are helping me to appreciate the stories and their characters even more than before.
So what is so confusing? Well, I read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe recently, and I was very excited to see the story come to life on screen, but I wasn't as thrilled as I thought I would be. Now, don't get me wrong, the movie was done really well, and the other people in the theater really enjoyed it. Maybe my expectations were too high. Maybe I should have worn socks and shoes instead of flip-flops because it was really cold in the theater. Either way, this experience was not like the one I had when I saw "Gone with the Wind" on screen for the first time. I just kept thinking that I wish I hadn't read the book first.
Memoirs of a Geisha is now a movie also, and I read that book back in 2000. I have decided I won't reread it before the movie. I know the basic plot of the story and how it ends, but I think I'll enjoy this movie more if I just let the movie retell the story to me.
As you can see, I'm still torn about which order I should do things in; movie or book first?
posted by Jenn21 at 3:30 PM
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