Film vs Novels: The debate continues
Both are an essential part of our lives and both bring joy while helping us to make sense of the world around us
Published: 03:08 PM,Aug 06,2023 | EDITED : 07:08 PM,Aug 06,2023
With the worldwide craze over the twin film releases of July – ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’, commonly called ‘Barbenheimer’, the debate about whether a film is better than the book it is based on is back. Of course, Barbie is not based on a book but a children’s toy, but Oppenheimer is loosely based on Kai Bird and Martin J Sherwin’s biography ‘American Prometheus’.
Novels began to be adapted into film as early as 1896, with Cinderella becoming a very short film and Charles Dickens’ ‘Oliver Twist’ being adapted in 1897 into a film called ‘The death of Nancy Sykes’ the next year. Some of the later films based on novels include ‘One flew over the cuckoo’s nest’, ‘Gone with the wind’ and ‘The help’. Of course, the Harry Potter series’ adaptations into film changed the way an entire generation viewed and read books.
In fact, now, the trend has also gone in the reverse – there are films like ‘Once upon a time in Hollywood’, ‘Love story’, and ‘Omen’ which became successful as books right after the film’s phenomenal success.
Traditionally, a book has always felt better than a film: it is more detailed, we imagine characters the way we want to and we can always come back to our favourite passages, or even skip some if desired.
Books also engage various human faculties, from developing our focus, widening vocabulary and encouraging the imagination.
But it would be wrong to dismiss films today, as was the convention earlier. Now, films are nuanced, complex and have depth in terms of plot and theme, much like books did earlier.
We often talk about a generation which is growing up with the visual medium. To discourage this is a losing battle and the most that can be done is to encourage developing the same faculties through a medium that is as attractive to the younger generations as books were to earlier groups of children and adolescents.
Think about critical analysis: Films today bring out a whole array of complex ideas, relationships and themes which go beyond the obvious. This is true of such blockbusters as Christopher Nolan’s ‘The dark knight’ which so creatively gave depth and psychological complexity to a cartoon character. Other science fiction like ‘Interstellar’ or dystopian works like ‘Hunger games’ question the nature of our universe and offer alternative worlds which are no better than ours.
Films can affect social change. ‘The day after tomorrow’, for example, brought out awareness on climate change, and ‘Black panther’ centred Black characters in fiction, legitimising their role in the cultural life of superheroes.
Of course, films open windows to various cultures and help to re-visit histories from other perspectives. There are many films on Palestine which show the Nakba from a much needed Palestinian perspective. More than books, these films draw a crowd that can be exposed to realities other than the ones presented in popular media.
Ultimately, the argument of books vs films is futile. Both are an essential part of our lives and both bring joy while helping us to make sense of the world around us.
Novels began to be adapted into film as early as 1896, with Cinderella becoming a very short film and Charles Dickens’ ‘Oliver Twist’ being adapted in 1897 into a film called ‘The death of Nancy Sykes’ the next year. Some of the later films based on novels include ‘One flew over the cuckoo’s nest’, ‘Gone with the wind’ and ‘The help’. Of course, the Harry Potter series’ adaptations into film changed the way an entire generation viewed and read books.
In fact, now, the trend has also gone in the reverse – there are films like ‘Once upon a time in Hollywood’, ‘Love story’, and ‘Omen’ which became successful as books right after the film’s phenomenal success.
Traditionally, a book has always felt better than a film: it is more detailed, we imagine characters the way we want to and we can always come back to our favourite passages, or even skip some if desired.
Books also engage various human faculties, from developing our focus, widening vocabulary and encouraging the imagination.
But it would be wrong to dismiss films today, as was the convention earlier. Now, films are nuanced, complex and have depth in terms of plot and theme, much like books did earlier.
We often talk about a generation which is growing up with the visual medium. To discourage this is a losing battle and the most that can be done is to encourage developing the same faculties through a medium that is as attractive to the younger generations as books were to earlier groups of children and adolescents.
Think about critical analysis: Films today bring out a whole array of complex ideas, relationships and themes which go beyond the obvious. This is true of such blockbusters as Christopher Nolan’s ‘The dark knight’ which so creatively gave depth and psychological complexity to a cartoon character. Other science fiction like ‘Interstellar’ or dystopian works like ‘Hunger games’ question the nature of our universe and offer alternative worlds which are no better than ours.
Films can affect social change. ‘The day after tomorrow’, for example, brought out awareness on climate change, and ‘Black panther’ centred Black characters in fiction, legitimising their role in the cultural life of superheroes.
Of course, films open windows to various cultures and help to re-visit histories from other perspectives. There are many films on Palestine which show the Nakba from a much needed Palestinian perspective. More than books, these films draw a crowd that can be exposed to realities other than the ones presented in popular media.
Ultimately, the argument of books vs films is futile. Both are an essential part of our lives and both bring joy while helping us to make sense of the world around us.