Movies vs. Books

Movies and books have been at war with one another since the popularization of film.  Nobody who lives a relatively modern life has not at one point heard: "the book was better".  Although this phrase is often times a pretentious remark used only to highlight that the speaker is a "learned reader", the abundance of its use is what makes it more interesting. 

I have personally watched all of the movies corresponding to the appropriate texts we have read this year.  Minority report, although my personal favorite of the batch, does not quite fit into this war I have been describing, as the short story and the movie adaptation are so different that there is little reason to compare the two.  The best text to analyze in this case is going to be Revolutionary Road.  I am as tired of talking about this book as anybody else at this point, but it is just too good not to mention.  Although Yates has said that he developed the dialogue between the Wheelers incorrectly, it is what defines most of the desperation throughout the book, making it a somewhat painful read that is surprisingly hard to put down.  This desperation is mostly lost on the movie, with Leo looking a bit too juvenile to play his age in the book.  Revolutionary Road is not a bad movie by any means, and I will not claim that it is inferior to the book, but certain important elements, and particularly Yates' narrative voice, are missing. 

This brings me to the main point, the degree of freedom an author has with words is far greater than that of a filmmaker.  Part of the reading process is the visualization of ideas that begin as nothing more than shaped lines.  When a viewer watches a film, and particularly after reading the book that it is based on, their visualizations are shattered in most cases.  If they aren't, then the author has done a particularly good job of describing them.  When a viewer’s ideas are shattered, they tend to get angry, which is usually the origin of the dilemma.   

As to why books generally become movies, and not the other way around, little digging is needed.  It has little to do with the fact that people do not have the patience for books when a movie is available.  Filmmakers are not doing a favor to the impatient members of society by producing a movie based upon a book.  It is simply done due to a preexistent fan base that is reliable.  I will admit that book readers tend to be more loyal than moviegoers, and I am not quite sure why this is, but when you have a following that enjoys your work, and the process of making a movie is as simple as green-lighting production based upon your work, most authors will not turn it down.  I am not going to bring up greed or anything of the sort, and although I would love to discuss an author themselves wanting to see another interpretation on their work, a blog post simply isn’t the place for that.  My closing argument contends that books become movies because it is an easy project.