Movies and Books

So this is my first attempt at blogging so we will see how this goes.  I've always wanted to talk about the debate between movies and books.  I've had this argument countless times with friends so I'm just going to write this down and refer people to it whenever this argument starts again (and it will start again inevitably).

So in case you don't know yet I will be arguing on the side of movies.  Sure they may have their restrictions to them, like the capabilities of special effects vs. imagination.  But there is a whole array of things which books can not even compete with.  Books may provide immense detail which allows ones imagination to create an entire world in their mind, but a movie allows us to see something else.  We can see into the mind of another person.  We not only get the creative contributions of the person who wrote the book, but we are also getting the imagination from the director thrown into the mix.

Not only do we receive the creativity from the director, but we also get contributions from each actor in the movie.  Whether it be a small cameo that will excite the audience, to a major role who constantly keeps us laughing.  You could find the best author in the world and I can guarantee that no matter how much imagery they filled your head with they could not make you laugh as much as someone like Zach Galifianakis can in The Hangover.  Even his appearance can make you laugh which the appearance of characters in books are what you make, so only if your good at making yourself laugh will that work.

Another thing that I always find affecting me while watching movies is something that no book has... Sound.  Having a great musical setlist in the background of a movie can take the experience to a whole new level.  When you are watching a great action movie like when I recently saw the final Harry Potter, and before a great battle they have intense music playing and showing each character movie and the tension building up, you almost get an adrenaline rush from it.

If you combine these elements together you get something which in my opinion can't even relate to books.  Books do offer their own benefits with their great detail which can't be achieved in a 2 hour movie.  That is why I've made a conclusion that reading a book after you see a movie is getting the best of both worlds.  Its like getting to see a movie with a bunch of deleted scenes because you get all the extra details that the movie couldn't provide.  I've never heard of someone reading a book after seeing a movie and said "It wasn't as good as the movie" but I've heard the opposite of that numerous times.  So there are some people out there that will argue the other side to the end and I respect that.  But I just wanted to get my opinion out there to give those who care something to think about.