Comparing The Pros And Cons Of Books And Movies

In modern America, people are always looking for escapism and entertainment. Two of the most popular forms of entertainment that provide escapism are books and movies. Especially in today’s culture where books are constantly being turned into feature films, it is common practice at this point in time for people to compare and contrast the two media. Whilst both books and movies are alike in the sense that they provide people with enjoyment, they are also different in many ways.

Starting off with an introduction to the first form of creative media mentioned, books. Books, unlike films, are the medium in which a creative person artistically puts their thoughts down on multiple pieces of paper and then combines them to create a book, or they type out their thoughts on their laptops, but that does not sound quite as whimsical. Books are more open to interpretation, in the way that they create pictures in someone’s mind. Often times two people never imagine a certain character that was mentioned or a certain scenario that occurred in the same way. People often imagine themselves in the written scenarios because the temptation to join the world that you are reading about is exceedingly tempting. The fictional world that the author has created in their literature almost certainly is far more appealing than someone’s real, ordinary, dull life. The author’s literature is a work of art which helps spark their reader’s imagination and often inspires people to take on their own creative projects. This allowance for open-ended interpretations and the authorization for endless imagination is what makes books such a good source of entertainment for escapism.

Which brings us to the topic of movies, another entertaining, artistic medium, movies. Movies, on the other hand, are the medium in which a creative person artistically expresses their ideas through a more visual medium. A movie combines audio, visuals, and writing together to produce a unique, usually aesthetically pleasing experience. Everything from the script, to the camera angles, to the post-production editing, to the acting, to the soundtrack, to the story telling is unique and distinctive to every film. Movies are often used to make normal life seem more magical and idealistic, and many people desire to be apart of the process that generates and designs someone’s wildest dreams into a reality (of some sort) because a certain film inspired them to inspire others. The idea that something so astounding and mystical could come from reality, and that someone’s ordinary life could be so special is what draws so many people in and makes movies such a good source of entertainment and escapism.

Films and novels, while they are differing types of media, have many things in common as well. For example, Books and movies both have a beginning, middle, and end. They both have the potential to be completely fictional, or based solely on reality. When based in fiction, both books and movies usually have a protagonist and an antagonist that the plot is centered around. Both have the potential to evoke emotions in their consumer, and can often provide the consumer with a new viewpoint on the world. However, there are many differences in books and movies, despite them both being a form of creative media that inspires the people who consume them. For example, there are arguably more people who work on a single film than on a single book, which makes it all the more shocking and pleasing when a movie turns out to be something cohesive, or even a masterpiece. Books, unlike movies, have no time limit to them. A movie cannot be as detailed and as intricate as a book because it only has 2 hours to tell its story. While with a book, the consumer can take as much time as they would like to dwell on certain details because they get to choose how long they get to focus on something. On the contrary, in a movie, the director or producer chooses how long something is in the frame or is focused on. Unlike books, however, movies are not as open to interpretation. The director usually has a vision for how they want everything to look and be portrayed as. There is not usually so much open endedness in a movie, whereas in a book the reader can imagine everything how they want to imagine it. In a movie, however, the viewer sees (and usually interprets) everything how the director or the producer wants them to see it. Therefore, while both books and movies do have things in common, there are still many differing and distinctive qualities about them.

Books and movies are both great ways to spark someone’s imagination and influence them creatively. They both allow their creators the freedom of expression, and they provide entertainment to the masses. With all of that in mind, they are very different forms of media. Books are written works that can spark someone’s imagination, while movies are audio-visual works that assist people in persisting and seeing the best in the world.