Everyone knows the saying that books are always better than their movies, and in lots of cases, it’s true. But in what order should people really view them? Many will say that the book will end up being better anyway, and that people should read some first to get a better experience without spoilers. While that is a valid point, watching the movie first is the clear best strategy.
If one reads first, they will already know everything that will happen in the film, since movies are just condensed versions. This ruins any sort of suspense or mystery in what viewers are about to see. On the flip side, movies have led me to read books I probably wouldn’t have known about or picked up. It can be a great way to get the highlights of a book if someone is on the fence about reading it. This gives readers a chance to see if they enjoy it. Then, when those readers pick up the book, it’s just expanding on the story and characters that they already love.
I love doing this because then I can imagine the characters’ faces and voices while reading. For example, the movie Primal Fear had the perfect cast, but a horrible screenplay. When I saw the film, I thought it focused way too much on characters that didn’t progress the murder mystery narrative. This was a shame because the plot was super interesting, but just felt so incomplete because of the focus being on the wrong things. When I read the book I got to hear the full story and have the characters I saw in mind. Also, everyones been in that situation where they finish a book and imagine all the characters in their head, and then when they see the movie characters they are completely different and it’s super disappointing. In this case, seeing them beforehand just eliminates this issue.
To piggyback off of that, one can see the environment way better, and overall that gives viewers a better reading experience. For example, Fight Club was a lot more fun to read after viewing the movie. The disoriented writing style was a lot easier to take in and understand after knowing the story. Along with being able to visually see the nasty, grimy environments helped me have an all-around more vivid read. Instead of the other way around, where the whole movie I’m just silently kicking the directors, thinking: They cut this out! How could they take that away?
Overall, I’ve found it’s a much better and more fun experience to do it in this order. End on a better note and watch the movie first.