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Should books be adapted into movies?
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Movie adaptations spoil the joy of reading

Movies fix a visual anchor for the characters, props and setting. The imaginative process is lost and affects the reading experience.
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The Argument

It is not uncommon to picture the characters and setting while reading the book; this is an imaginative process that is unique to every reader and makes the story special to them. The creation of a movie might destroy their own mental “movie” of the book as there are bound to be discrepancies with one’s imagination. As a result, the experience of building up one’s own interpretation of the story from reading the book is lost and limits one’s imagination. The fun in reading a book for the first time disappears.

Counter arguments

Some people may picture the story better, or even feel it would be more realistic in their minds, if they have seen a predetermined visualisation of the world through a movie. Taking advantage of the fact that movies may not faithfully recreate every element from the book, readers can now build a new mental "movie" that shows the original story, in its complete authenticity that the author wanted it to be.

Premises

[P1] People imagine the story, constructing the world in their minds as they read the book. [P2] A movie takes this imaginative aspect of the process of reading a book away.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P2] A movie does not necessarily ruin the imagination in reading a book.

References

This page was last edited on Tuesday, 7 Apr 2020 at 12:29 UTC

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