“ ‘A WRINKLE IN TIME’: MOVIES VERSUS BOOKS”
DTEB, “ ‘A WRINKLE IN TIME”: MOVIES VERSUS BOOKS”
My wife and I went to see “A Wrinkle in Time” on Saturday. It was worth going to see, and I would recommend it to others. However, I still like the book better. I generally like books better than I do movies. I wonder why?
I don’t think that it has anything to do with the fact that Oprah Winfrey had a minor part in it. I actually like Oprah Winfrey—at least, some of the time.
Nor was it the fact that Meg (one of the main characters) was the daughter of interracial parents. I was surprised by that, but not terribly put-off by it. I think that my preference for the book “A Wrinkle in Time” (as well as my general love for books) stems from other reasons.
I think part of it may be that, with books, I can read at my own pace. Movies drag me along at their own break-neck speed. While reading a book, I can pause, or go back and read a sentence or a paragraph again. I can ponder. In the case of movies, there isn’t a lot of pondering time allowed. You’ve no doubt noticed some of the announcements that they run just before the movie. “TURN OFF YOUR ELECTRONIC DEVICES!” That sort of thing. Perhaps they should make an announcement “NO PONDERING ALLOWED!”
Then too, movies tell me and show me too much. Good books suggest, but also leave room for imagination. Movies suggest too much. (It gives “suggestive movies” a whole new meaning, doesn’t it?)
As a particular aspect of books leaving more room for imagination, books let me identify with the various characters more than movies do. In the case of movies, I am seeing characters. In the case of books, I am being characters.
Of course, as a lover of the Bible, you would expect me to say that I like the Bible better than movies based on the Bible. And you would be right! The Bible (the book, not the movie) draws me into it, causes me to ponder, argue with it, fuss and fume. The Bible gives me time to ponder . . . and ponder . . . and ponder some more.
Recent Comments