Books Vs. Movies: Something to Think About

 I love it when people shame movies because they aren't better than the books. It's going to happen with The Great Gatsby and those of us who've read F. Scott Fitzgerald's legendary piece is going to be extremely critical about it. It's not a bad thing, really. Many people are going to complain about why they're making this movie like it's an insult to this piece of American literature and I honestly think that they should be grateful.

That's right, you heard me. Grateful.

Why?

This movie celebrates an amazing literary piece which educates us on an era of American culture; the Roaring Twenties where subjects such as love, money, economical gaps, and trying to stabilize into a life after war are prevalent. The movie may only touch lightly on these subjects, I admit. It's hard to tell with Hollywood, however, just having a grand title, billboards and movie posters, commercials and advertisements in bold letters screaming out LEONARDO DICAPRIO is going to be great for the publishing industry. Not only are we going to shell out on over-priced box office tickets, popcorn and soda but I'm willing to say that a good portion of people are going to pick up the book from their local bookstore. Everyone's a critic, as they say, and the best way to be a critic is to get the source material.

There are people who read The Hunger Games, loved it, and they made a movie… and guess what? More people purchased the books after they were released. The same goes for Twilight. I'm sure you can guess how I feel about Twilight, but it doesn't distract from the point that it actually got so many people into reading. Sometimes, horrible books come out and they make horrible movies but you know what? People who were previously non-readers; who thought books were boring or a chore, are actually putting their noses in these pages and they're picking up better books later on because they want to find that next best thing.

Fun fact: I named my ukulele
Gatsby.

I honestly wouldn't have picked up the first Song of Ice and Fire book if it weren't for the fact that Game of Thrones, the television series, came into existence. This method. It's working.

Even with great books, or even books that make you question what the publishers were thinking, people are being advertised to read something. That's worth something, right?

So finally, I'm glad they're making a movie on a classic novel. I'm glad that they're going to light up a book in a way that will make people excited to read it. Of course I don't expect it to be the same. I expect the book to be better… but I'm excited to see how many people I can spot on the train with a copy of Gatsby in their hands.