There’s a rule in my home that my husband made about if I read the book I’m not allowed to go the Movies with him. Now before you go off about “How horrible that is.” There’s a very good reason for that. It’s no secret I’m a booklover. I feel almost all books are far better then the movies that they portray. When Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince came to movie theaters everywhere, of course we had to go see it. Thus, this far all the movies had followed the books pretty closely, so I figured this one would be the same. Now it did follow somewhat but then the scene where he has to hide the Potion book, it showed Jenny hiding it. But she didn’t, Harry did. This is important because in the last book he has to find something that he had seen when he hid the Potions book. So I blurted out quite loudly I might confess that it was all wrong and that they were ruining the movie. And I didn’t stop there, either. Now once one thing catches our eye, everything begins to catch your attention. Do naturally, I kept going on and on. Not only ruining the movie for the people in the neighborhood but also my dear, sweet hubby. So that’s when the rule became a household rule. And by the way, No I did not get to go see the Deathly Hallows part 1 and part 2, just in case you were wondering.
So where was I? Oh yeah The Book vs. The Movie. I am all for Books becoming Movies if they follow the storyline. Does that mean I think Cinderella, or Sleeping Beauty should follow their storylines, of course not. But I do like to see most books being followed. Yes, I know you cannot film an entire book. Then it would be long and boring, but don’t take out key things. Does that mean that if I ever have a chance for one of my published stories to get picked up by a Movie Studio, I wouldn’t go for? No, of course I would.
Which brings the question of The Books Vs. The Movie.
Well I really think it depends on the person. Except for Students in any grade of school. I believe that sometimes Movies can make us lazy in our reading. At one time in our society, story telling was a big form of how we as a society worked together. Before so many things were put to picture. Many people sat around campfires and told stories, children spun tales of pure imagination, and everyone listened. Even a Mathematician who mainly saw Numbers, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better know to all as Lewis Carroll, spun a great tale of a Young Girl falling down a rabbit hole and entering a magical backwards world. And then several years later again told of the same girl walking through a Looking Glass and having a second adventure. He just sat in a boat and imagined this story without pen or paper, nor camera and Visual Effects. To entertain 2 young girls who became bored on a boating outing with 2 old men.
Now does that mean that seeing such greatness on the big screen is not just as amazing, of course it is, but I can tell you my visions of each character in my head as I read the story was much more vibrant, much more colorful, much more real then watching any movie or cartoon. The written word makes one see these things inside our own minds, in our own ways, makes us feel as though we are living it right then and there.
Harry Potter was not Daniel Radcliffe in my imagination. Nor was Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, or Rupert Grint as dorky Ron Weasley. Now I am Not saying they played the parts bad, they did amazing jobs playing their roles. But once I watched the movie, I forgot what I had imagined them in my mind.
I’m not arguing that The Movie is bad, I am just merely stating that I am a book lover and so I prefer Books, but also at the same time I do feel that The Movie has in a way taken from books. You may feel differently, and that is ok. I just like the Written word better.
