We’ve all had the experience of watching a movie based on a book we read and being sorely disappointed. People often expect the movie to accurately reflect what the book was about, especially those who watch the movie rather than read the book for class assignments. The problem is movies never live up to the same standards as books.
In a movie, there is no way to hear what the character is thinking without it seeming as though everyone can hear it. Take the very first Harry Potter movie, for example. When Harry is sitting with the sorting hat on his head in the movie, it seems as though the whole room can hear the sorting hat deliberating as to what house Harry should be a part of. In contrast, that same scene in the book very clearly says that only Harry can hear the sorting hat speaking, and that Harry himself was thinking “not Slytherin,” rather than saying it out loud as is implied in the movie.
Additionally, for a movie to represent the entirety of most books, it would have to be much, much longer than two hours. There are so many more small details that fit on the page of a book than fit in five minutes of video.
Now, you may be wondering: why not just make movies then? But here is where books are infinitely better than movies — reading a book is a uniquely personal experience.
When reading a book, characters are described, not shown, which gives you the opportunity to make up your own picture of their appearance and attitude. Situations and places are the same way — described, not shown — allowing you to make it your own within your imagination.
Not only is the imagination aspect better, but when reading a book, you form your own opinions and rationale for why things happened the way they did. When watching a movie, you are subject to both the rationale immediately presented as well as the opinions of those around you.
Movies are not generally watched entirely alone. It is often a social activity to go to the movies or have a home movie night, whereas reading is a much more solitary activity.
The inherent solitude of reading a book allows for appearances to be dropped and feelings and thoughts to be felt more prominently and without hesitation. There is no audience to judge for crying or not crying when your favorite character dies. There is no one to tell you that you should not be mad at the main character for choosing the wrong thing.
Books provide a personal haven for feeling, thinking and imagining, safe from influencing ideas and the judgment of others.
Anna Millar is a freshman studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. What are your thoughts? Tweet her @AnnaMillar16.
