Like many readers, I've always had a book before movie policy. As most of you are aware, this makes us incredibly popular. Phrases like, "We can't go to that movie yet, maybe if it's still in theaters in a month" are always crowd pleasers. Then the 2018 the PopSugar Reading Challenge included this prompt - Read a Book Made into a Movie You've Already Seen.
ABSOLUTELY NOT. That is against the RULES of being a reader. and is completely wrong for a reading challenge. The book is ALWAYS better (okay 99% of the time).
But wait. The book is usually better - or at least a more complete story. Anytime I see a movie based on a book I spend most of the time noticing all the discrepancies between the book and movie. I notice all the elements of the book that the movie left out or neglected. One notable example of this for me is The Hunger Games. I objectively think those movies are very well executed adaptions. Unfortunately, all the things I imagined differently would jar me out of the watching experience. I'm rarely able to fully immerse myself in a movie based on a book because of the constant cataloging going on in my brain.
Maybe I have this whole thing backward. Maybe if I see the movie first I can just enjoy it for what it is. I tend to find books more immersive then movies in the first place so maybe reading the book second will allow me more enjoyment of both.
Another factor that occurred to me. There have been a few instances where I did see the movie first. I'm not a huge classic reader. The only reason I made it through Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen was because I saw and loved the movie first. I had attempted to read it on couple occasions but found the writing style tedious and repetitive. Knowing my favorite moments were coming up helped me get through the parts of the book I found exhausting.
Does this mean I have a new "Movies First" policy? No. But it does mean the next time someone asks me to go see a movie that looks good I can say yes.
Side note - I recently saw A Wrinkle in Time without reading it first and I really liked the movie. I'm looking forward to tackling the book soon.
