Hey guys, today I’m coming at you with another discussion, crazy right? I’ve been trying to get better at writing these lately so you might see an influx of them on my blog in the next few months, and hopefully, you will enjoy them! Anyway, today I will be talking about whether or not we should read the book before we see the movie!
Today I want to go into the pros and cons of why we should watch the movie before reading the book! I know this an unpopular opinion anyway but I wanted to delve into whether it is actually a bad choice or if we’re all just biased book snobs.
PROS
- You can go into the story completely unbiased.
- Movies are fun!
- Watching the movie might be the reason you pick up the book in the first place!
- You won’t be constantly comparing the movie to the original material when watching the movie. You won’t be stressing about inaccurate plot points!
- You won’t have that weird feeling you get when you realise you pictured a character completely differently. You also won’t suddenly realise you’ve been pronouncing a character’s name wrong for 5 years.
- You’re more likely to enjoy the book/s more if you see the movie first, it’s weird but it makes sense if you think about it.
- You can go in with a completely clean slate – you know nothing and so have nothing to think about other than the movie!
CONS
- What if the movie is terrible and because of that you never pick up the book?
- What if you never even see the movie? Do you then not read the book? (and vice-versa)
- If you already read the book before seeing the film you have a lot of background knowledge. You understand the little background jokes and don’t have to read between any badly acted lines because you already know everything!
So is it best to see the film first or experience the book first? You tell me!
DO YOU WATCH THE MOVIE BEFORE READING THE BOOK?
DO YOU HAVE A STRICT READ FIRST, MOVIE LATER POLICY? DO YOU HAVE A PREFERENCE?
FRIDGE ANTS 
allonsythornraxx 
Love this post!! I’m a big fan of reading the book before seeing the movie because I like all the background and context that books provide. However, I will sometimes watch a trailer or clip from the movie so I can get a visual on the characters and their mannerisms etc. In high school, my English class watched Othello before we read it and I found that super helpful though!! Perhaps with older literature watching the movie first may be helpful 🙂
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Thank you! I totally know how you fee, its sort of like being in a class you’ve already done. You already know everything and you can sit back and chill.
I didn’t even think of that, but of course, films would help with studying the classics!
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If I see the movie before reading the book, I’ll never read the book. I know the two always have differences, but I feel like I’m wasting my time getting into the same storyline again. I have yet to watch The 5th Wave because I want to read the book first!
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Ahh, I can understand that to a point. If I like the movie enough, it will push me to read the book! Oh, haha I’ve heard The 5th Wave wasn’t too great a movie so maybe just stick to the book?
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I feel like I almost always go for one or the other, but hardly ever both. I generally just go for whichever is the one that peaks my interest in the story and make my decisions from there.
Harry Potter and Game of Thrones have obviously been my exceptions. Favourites always make it more likely for me to pick up both.
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Ahh, so if you pick up one you generally won’t pick up the other? I totally understand that it’s a smart idea.
Haha, of course! Have you finished the ASOIAF series? I have never even watched the show and I kind of doubt I ever will, but I’m up to A Feast For Crows in the book series. and I am really excited to get up to date with the series!
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Yeah, unless it’s something that really rocked me. Otherwise there are too many expectations and I could use the time on a brand new story instead.
And nope. I got halfway through the second or third book and lost my page. So I gave up haha. I’m behind on the tv series too 😂
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this is a really interesting perspective ellyn! i’m firmly on the camp of read-before-you-watch, mainly because there’s only so much a movie can fit inside its running time, there are bounds to be some things you miss from the book. i never stressed out about the things that cut, but if you read the book first, even if the scenes are cut, you could understand more the background of what happened next. i also find that if i’ve seen the movie, i got lazy to read the book, so it’s better for me to read first ahaha. great post ellyn!
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Thank you, I’m glad! I think most people are in that camp, to be honest. I totally understand that it is fun to go in with all that background info!
Thank you!
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Such an interesting discussion! A few years ago i went through a phase of picking up books after i had watched the film adaptions (normally when i had seen the film i didn’t know it was a book) but i found myself either getting bored reading the book or not really concentrating when reading because i knew what major plot points were coming up so because of that i tend to read the book first because i think i like my first experience of a book to be a complete surprise (i think that’s one of the main reasons i avoid spoilers too!) 😊😊
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Thank you! That’s a great point, a movie is just like a big spoiler but, without the fun little bits the book has, I’d never even thought of it that way!
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i love this post – mostly because it’s not just DON’T EVER SEE THE MOVIE BEFORE YOU READ THE BOOK!!! (which i feel is most bookish people’s opinion.) for me personally, i try not to see the movie before i read the book, because i usually won’t end up reading the book – either i like the movie too much and am scared to be disappointed, i don’t like the movie at all and am therefore not interested in the book, or, usually, because i already know the story. but still if i have little to no intention of reading the book, i’ll see the movie no problem! :p
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Thank you! Haha, I didn’t want to yell at people – I just sorted wanted to show the pros and cons of both sides of the argument and then discuss with everyone! I feel like so many people will absolutely HAVE to read the book first but, I was always curious to know what they would do if they had absolutely no interest in the book. I’m glad to see that if you have no interest in the book, you will just go see the movie!
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You’re blogposts are even more awesome than usual lately! I’m absolutely not opposed to watching the movie before reading the book, but I guess I prefer to read the book beforehand anyway because it takes longer to read something than watch it, if that makes any sense. If you have to re-watch a scene you’ve read about, it’s not as bad as re-reading an entire chapter that only took a couple of minutes in the film. That said, I’m very thankful I watched Game of Thrones before reading the books, otherwise, I would’ve been very confused because there are so many characters to keep track of!
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Ahh, thank you so much, Chelsea! That’s a really interesting perspective, I agree! Watching the movie is almost like pay off in a way. You spent the time to read the book and now you can watch the movie, you can rewatch your favourite scenes!
Ahh, I have actually never watched the GOT show, but I am up to book 4 in the series. I honestly don’t know if I would have even got through book 1 if I didn’t already know half the characters, and what they look like.
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Always the book first, for me. Because in general the book is written first, and once I’ve read it, then I’ll want to see what the screenwriter did with it.
See the movie first, and I’ll tend to think the book is ruined for me. “I already know what happens !”
Exceptions for books I wouldn’t read at all, since I’m more picky on books, more defensive of my reading time.
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