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Is the Book Better than the Movie?

The phrase ‘the book was better’ gets thrown around a lot when discussing movie adaptations of novels, but sometimes without much of an explanation. Is it fair to compare two completely different art mediums? Do you think anything is lost from the source material when it is adapted? Should we keep comparing them or should we treat them as separate? An article on movie adaptations would hopefully make for an interesting discussion!

  • I think that you can have a comparative relationship between movies and books, but I do see your point. Perhaps an analysis of one movie to book adaptation would be useful. – J.D. Jankowski 4 years ago
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  • Good topic. It's not my exact area, but I know that this topic has been widely discussed in the field of "adaptation studies." Rather than reinvent the wheel, it might be meaningful to take a specific model by a specific critic -- such as the concept of "translation" -- and apply it to a specific film or small group of films to see how well it holds up. – JamesBKelley 4 years ago
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  • It may be a subjective topic, so be careful with that. I think it would be helpful to pick good examples of both good and bad. Also look at what makes a good adaptation, in the context of books and films. As a way to create the measure of should adaptations exist. I personally like book adaptations because sometimes films actually make the book better. Having said that, some adaptions fail, it would be good to know why (in a general sense by looking at examples. – Amelia Arrows 4 years ago
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  • As mentioned by Amelia, this is a highly subjective topic as such it may be easier to approach the concept from the perspective of comparing a good and a bad adaptation and through them discussing what one work lacked over another etc. At the same time, we can't deny that some really good adaptations have failed in entertaining the audience. – ajaymanuel 4 years ago
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  • I believe that some movies have gone the wrong direction whereas the book goes in the opposite direction and thus they don't correspond with each other. It also depends on your perspective and opinion, for many people believe the movies are better than the books and others say that the books are better than the movies. – SalHunter 4 years ago
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  • I feel you may want to hone your topic down to the relationship between a book and adapted film, and use that as a framing device for a larger argument on the nature to media adaptation. You could look at the Harry Potter series for instance; see what nuances of Harry's conflict are lost in translation to the filmsand use that as a springboard into something larger. – majorlariviere 4 years ago
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  • This could be an interesting article. Being a student of Film and Media History I can't help but always compare the different media (pay attention to the plural; I think mediums are those who communicate with the dead). Both the written medium and the visual one have their pros and cons. You should discover them by picking a book and its screen adaptation. Looking forward to reading your fleshed-out ideas. – danivilu 4 years ago
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  • I would focus less on whether a book is better than a movie adaptation and more on why movies cannot cover, or cover well, the way issues are raised in a book--particularly character development. – Joseph Cernik 4 years ago
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  • I have watched several movies that I think are better than the book, I think that could be an interesting angle to explore too. – Samantha Leersen 4 years ago
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  • This will be an interesting topic to explore, I think you should address book adaptations that have been made multiple times (often to a better reception the second time). Dune is one example - a classic book made into a movie in 1984 to mixed reviews and is now being made again in 2020. By researching into case studies like this I think you will be able to find some valid reasoning for when the public says 'the book was better'. Goodluck. – EdwardMcCarroll 4 years ago
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