Why do we like one entertainment art-form over the other?

Who doesn’t like movies, music, or say reading a novel? We all have one or more pass-time activities. I like watching movies with all the effects and the big screen. Sadly since COVID-19, I have been able to watch only one movie like that, and it was okay. In fact, it was quite bad, but not bad enough to want to leave the theatre. I have never done that by the way. For me, music ranks at the top, out of all art forms, so much so that there is a separate blog on ‘Why we like music?’. This is because of my history of learning music and still playing at least four instruments. It is the most convenient form of entertainment, especially with headphones as it bothers no one else.

Let's try to find a logical conclusion to the biggest argument of all time, in this category, based on my personal experiences with both.

Books vs Movies

The first book I read which was not a textbook, was Harry Potter Part Two. Obviously after watching the movie of Part 1, because I was a kid who wouldn’t ever sit in one place, given the choice. I used to be engrossed in my own imaginary world of battleships and fighter jets (probably because I was a big ‘Swat Cats’ fan). Running around the whole place. I loved the movie and I was completely obsessed with the whole Harry Potter world. Then one day, an older cousin of mine told me that this is a series of books and already 4 books are out. So I went to the library at school, the first time without compulsion and the second book was available. I issued the book and read it in 3 months. I can't understand how I did it then. Seems impossible.

I loved the book. I got so scared with all the scenes with the large snake, I could imagine from the descriptions. But I enjoyed the experience. My only issue was that it took me 3 months. I know that I was a pretty slow reader and not at all determined to finish it sooner. The average novel reader would have to spend more than 7 hours straight to finish the book. The movie that came in 2001, shared almost everything with amazing detail, in less than half the time. The experience of the movie even after reading the book was on another level for me. This is the point, from where it was decided that I like movies more than books.

But still, I read the third Harry Potter book after watching the second movie. The only reason for that is that I could not wait to know what will happen in the next part. The same thing happened for all the other parts. If all the movies were out, I probably wouldn’t have read any of the books. I think everyone who's read and seen Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, will agree that the movie did not do any justice to the book. I think it's a fact that it's the best book and the worst movie of the series. How is that possible? I think the answer lies in the fact that the book is detailed and the movie is concise. The movie lost its essence in this process. The elements that made the book great, would never work for the movie.

After getting the feedback for the Game of Thrones books being much better and different from the TV show, from those who have gone through both, I never wanted to read the books, because the TV show was coming out faster than the books. Basically, for most people, this is valid as they are also lazy like me. We as a species are always looking to do things in as little time as possible. Sometimes they lose a part of the essence. It's a cost-benefit thing in the end. We can now move on to a wider comparison to get a better understanding of the bridge between these two art forms.

Comic books

Comic books are a very special part of my life. I took up a membership in a library because of comic books. They lie in a perfect spot in the middle of books and movies. They are easier to read and quick to finish. The images help you visualise the super-hero without long descriptions including the colour of the hair in their moustaches. The world they created for me as a kid was just awesome. I wanted to be a superhero having superpowers. If I someday do something good for the world it’ll be because of Marvel and DC. I won’t get into which one is better.

Now the great comics that I read growing up are being made into movies, with amazing effects, amazing actors and the greatest selections of stories with a very nice twist so that it's brand new. Who does love Robert Downey Jr. and his Tony Stark? Spoiler alert: I cried when Iron Man died in the Endgame. The different Spider-Man series are based on different Spider-Man comic series that came out. I know this is probably very geeky but that's how much I like it. I like manga (Japanese comics) and anime (Japanese animated series) also because of this. These art forms are full of endless possibilities.

I think the way it works is that comics and manga become a way for creators to put out their work in front of an audience with a small budget. The audience then indirectly decides by making it popular whether it can then be made into a movie or series, with a larger budget to cater to the larger and lazier audience. There are various roll-out strategies which are utilised to minimise the losses, in case it does not appeal to the required number of people.

If we look at the whole array of art forms that exist for entertainment, we have books, audiobooks, movies, short videos, comic books etc. Maybe we can also consider paintings and music as examples of these. People have preferences over which of these they choose for their leisure time. Some even might go for the ultimate daytime nap. I can listen to music for almost all awake hours of the day, but only when I don’t have the comfort of watching a TV show, anime or movie.

The Breakdown

For a comparative analysis, let's consider one scene or act being experienced in four ways.

The actual experience (physical presence or imagination)

Written material (Book, blog etc)

Narration (Audiobook, podcast etc)

Audio-Visual (Movies, Tv shows, YouTube videos etc.)

These are the four ways in which we can input a particular scene into our heads. Let's consider an example which can be found in all four. The book by Dan Brown ‘Angels and Demons’, very beautifully describes the scene of the church of Vatican City. The first way would be to physically go down to the church mentioned and admire the art like the Sistine Chapel ourselves. The second would be to read Dan Brown’s description of the church. He uses a lot of imagery and more than a couple of pages at least to explain the finest details, making that description stand out in itself.

The third is the audiobook, narrated by Richard Poe. It's a very smooth experience listening to him narrate the description of the church in a dramatic way making it easier to comprehend. The imagery comes to life in a tailored way. The fourth is the easiest and quickest way, the movie. You can watch the movie and see how beautiful the church these guys were taking so much time effort and expression to describe. The viewer might not get enough time to absorb all the elements but it gets the job done. The person watching the movie cares about the beautiful scene but for a shorter period.

After looking at all these examples, it boils down to just personal preference. Everyone should try all these forms because anything can be anyone's cup of tea. It changes also. I never read blogs till not more than six months ago. Then one day a friend of mine, wrote a blog and asked me to read it. I enjoyed it so much because it was like being a great listener in a wonderful insightful conversation. Now I have started this journey where I’ll be writing one blog every week. So thank you friend if you are reading this.