The Book Was Better discussion

Have you ever told somebody to watch the movie adaptation *before* they read the book it was based on?

My cousins have just started getting into Harry Potter. The older one was born the year that Order of the Phoenix hit theatres and Deathly Hallows was published, so they are both old enough now to start watching the films. Their parents, having never read Harry Potter themselves, would like their children to read the books before they finish watching the movies (they have watched the first five), however when they asked my opinion, I had to disagree. When I watched Order of the Phoenix with them, it was a really interesting experience. They knew vaguely what would happen from rumors told at school, so none of the deaths or character hook-ups came as a surprise to them, but my favourite thing about them watching the movies first, and I told this to their parents, was that they are able to enjoy the movie as its own entity. As much as I do love the movie adaptation of Order of the Phoenix, I miss the scenes that were cut from the book, and with any Harry Potter movie, I always know what was left out. I think it is an amazing experience for kids to watch the movies first and then read the books to fill in all of the little gaps and learn so much more about the characters (this is what I recommended to their parents). It is a much more positive way to experience the stories, I think, because rather than think about everything that was missing from the books or not how we pictured it from the books, we can just enjoy the film for what it is.

There have only been a few times I have knowingly watched the movie before reading the book, and often it does make me like the movie more than I would have going in the opposite order. However, a few times where I have seen the movie and only then after found out it was a book, I found it too hard to go back and read. I would either think about the movie the whole time, or not want to change my feelings about the movies. I struggle every time reading the first Narnia book since I saw the movie easily a dozen times before I read the series for the first time. But, on the other hand, when I read Ella Enchanted YEARS after seeing the movie I was able to enjoy both, imagining them as two separate works completely.

Dana wrote: "There have only been a few times I have knowingly watched the movie before reading the book, and often it does make me like the movie more than I would have going in the opposite order. However, a ..."

Have you ever recommended to someone to watch the movies before reading the books?

I have watched many movies before reading the books (sometimes I was led to the book, other times no), and it is a hard decision to read a book when I know how the movie ends (even if internet spoilers may say that the ending was actually changed or something like that). I completely agree about Ella Enchanted!! I watched the movie many times, starting in 2004 when it was released, and I read the book two years ago. I was pleasantly surprised that both are so good and yet so different from each other!

This is what I do for most of my manga reads. I almost always get to watch the anime first then read the manga. It doesn't affect my enjoyment of the manga at all. At times, I find out it's a manga original AFTER I finish watching the whole series.

It might be different for novels but that's my experience with a similar situation. :)

Cate (The Professional Fangirl) wrote: "This is what I do for most of my manga reads. I almost always get to watch the anime first then read the manga. It doesn't affect my enjoyment of the manga at all. At times, I find out it's a manga..."

Nice! :)

I avoid watching the movies first if I can, not because I think it's the right way" but rather because I personally enjoy letting my own fantasy build the worlds in my head. If I watch the movie first I find it hard to shake these images off.
That's why I wouldn't recommend watching the movie first, but if I do it on accident then reading the book still is enjoyable so I don't think it's a big deal.

I think it's fun to have a mix... and it depends on the person. Since I suggested this to an 8 and 10 year old, yes, they are old enough and ready to start reading the books, but when it's something huge like Harry Potter, the thing is that they already know what will happen. The 8 year old said to me (before we pressed play on Harry Potter 5), "Is this the one where _____ dies?" His sister countered, "No, that's not until Half-Blood Prince." Or something like that... basically, they *know* what will happen, so the books have been spoiled already, and so I think they must have already had a vision in their heads of who the characters are and what they would look like and the details of the world around it. The movie then builds on that, and the book fills in all of the juicy details.

Personally, I do try to read the books first, or only watch movies for which I don't really plan on reading the book.

Julia wrote: "Have you ever told somebody to watch the movie adaptation *before* they read the book it was based on?

My cousins have just started getting into Harry Potter. The older one was born the year that ..."

I wouldn't say "I recommend it", but this is what always happens to me. I start a movie or a series and then I find out they're based on books. Most recently with "Locke and Key" which is a visual novel. But, as you said, I find it more fulfilling because I can fill all the little gaps that weren't shown in the adaptation. I find it more frustrating when I read the material first as it happened to me with "Twilight". (I ended up hating both things, but that's another story)

I am a fan of Jane Austen, movies and miniseries have been made of all of her books and I've seen just about all of them. The most famous one is the 1995 miniseries of "Pride and Prejudice." There is a scene in the movie where Darcy is coming home a day early to find Lizzy and her relatives taking a tour of his estate. Instead of having him just show up (as he does in the book), and be awkwardly surprised to find Lizzy there, they had him ride up to a pond, kick off his jacket and boots and dive in, so when he walks up to his house and runs into Lizzy, he's soaking wet. It's a memorable scene. and conveys his awkwardness at finding people touring his property. But I read on another forum that someone who saw the movie first, then read the book was disappointed because the "wet shirt scene" wasn't in it.
It's always a problem, not only what to leave out of long or complex books, but what you can add to the screenplay that doesn't stray from what the author intended.

I just found out Moxie is a book and now I'm interested to read it and see how it compares

I read Enola Holmes and dune after seeing the movies. I usually try to read before watching the movies but I didn’t know that they were books. I feel like if you can you should read the book first. The book will always be better. Always. Or at least the same.

My point is yes, books are better, but sometimes movies are awesome too. I like giving movies the option to shine, because sometimes my preconceptions ruin an otherwise great film.

@Barbara: That’s really interesting. I do like seeing what director's add, and usually the complaints come from the flipside, i.e. how was this book scene not in the film?

I have to say with Enola Holmes I LOVED the movie, but only liked the book. I read the second one as well and plan to read more, but they did not grab my attention as much as the movies. It's rare for me to say that, and maybe since I saw it before I read it that is part of the issue.....

I wouldn't recommend someone to watch the movies first.

But I have done it

Coraline
A few of the Harry Potter movies (but I dont think i finished watching the film)
The Lorax
Wizard of Oz
to a name a few

I first saw the Studio Ghibli adaptation of The Borrowers (Arrietty) before reading the book. I absolutely loved the movie but I found the book to be very meh. It wasn't terrible, but Arrietty's character wasn't nearly as likeable as she was in the movie and her relationship with the human boy wasn't as interesting. The movie also had Cecile Corbel's beautiful music.

I will always recommend watching The Fault In Our Stars because it is the exact same experience. Both are amazing and one takes 2 hours the other takes ya 12 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@Sedona: That's really good to know, thank you!!

I just bought a copy of The Circle because I enjoyed the movie, so I want to compare it to the source material. :)