Books Beat Movies Every time
by Rebekah Johnson
Growing up in a world of screens, I’ve heard this phrase a lot: books are worse than movies. However, I think reading the book is way better.
Movies could change the characters, too. In a movie they could also change the true description of what the character is playing. I think books are much more detailed than the film, and books allow the mind to express creativity.
“A book is more detailed than a movie because it can use vast numbers of words to describe something whereas a movie can only show it,” sophomore Leo Austin said. “You can also go at your own pace in books instead of a movie having a set pace, that may be too fast or slow for a movie. In books you can also get in a character's mind and get a feel for their thoughts. Books dive into the emotional complexity of people and movies can only show simple forms of emotion through tears and not what the character is actually feeling.”
According to CBS News on Jan. 12, 2022, “A new survey of book readers showed 67 percent prefer books over the movie.”
“So sometimes the movie does not go along with the events of the book,” said Garner. “And so some of the events and the book that I had pictured in my mind—it is kind of a disappointment when that was not happening and sometimes the characters don’t fit the picture I had in my head.”
In a movie you are simply consuming media for at least an hour, doing nothing but watching. However, when the movie’s director has the same interpretation of the book as you did, the results can be thrilling.
“The movie can bring it to life, and especially if it has really good special effects,” English teacher Kelsey Garner said. “I really like it when the movie gets the character right, what they have portrayed the protagonist or the antagonist is what I had in my head, and it just makes them come alive.”
Movies sometimes take out some parts of the book. The plot gets cut, characters can become shallow, and movie goers do not even get to use their imagination. Movies also require special effects whereas books allow for visualization of the reader's creativity.
Reading a book can be educational, too. Reading at school helps students learn literary devices and new words. Books can improve English writing and, vocabulary, making readers more intelligent, in the long run.
“Movies are meant to entertain an audience, so they usually don’t add extra information to inform people,” sophomore Jordan Pham said. “In the books I’ve read in English class, we had to observe them for allusions, metaphors, and other literary devices the book used, and it gets a little boring.”
Books can describe people, events and places with imagery that readers can picture in their mind. Movies use the screenwriter’s perception of the plot which varies from your own imagination. The book adaptation of the movie will always be disappointing to me. Both the movie and books have benefits, but in the long run, books are better than movies.