The difference between reading the book vs watching the movie

[Martha Stuart]

So, there's some backstory on why I'm thinking about this. When the Harry Potter books were originally released, I was the target age group, but for complicated personal reasons I didn't read the books. When the movies came out I watched them, and I didn't really connect with them much. Goblet of Fire is one I remember being confused about because the drama stuff comes out of nowhere. So based on that, I didn't understand why people were so drawn in.

 

Fast forward to recently, I decided to actually read the books for myself. And they're fun! I like the tone of the narrator, and there's a real understanding of how kids think. The characters are so much more detailed, and you can actually piece together the mystery before it's revealed!

 

My husband isn't as much of a reader, and only read the first two books way back when, saw a couple of the movies one time. But since I was getting into it, he thought watching the movies could be fun to do together. 

 

For the first two I noticed little differences and places where the context wasn't fully there. At home we're comfortable talking/discussing while we watch, and he appreciated some more explanation. But you know, movies have time constraints. A narrator feels less intrusive giving exposition in a book, meanwhile an off screen voice is likely to pull people out of a movie. It's understandable they've got to trim a few things.

 

But when we got to Prisoner of Azkaban there was a bit more missing, and it was easier to spot. Longer book, but same time constraints for a film. It made me nervous, because the books only get longer from there.

 

I vaguely remembered Goblet of Fire feeling weird to watch back in the day, and decided to switch to the full cast audiobook to help get through it. And it was great! The actors did a wonderful job, and the book itself is probably the one I've liked best so far (though I haven't finished all of them yet) The movie, though? There was SO much missing! The trio's rift was so abrupt and out of left field, and the whole thing felt very cobbled together out of random pieces. Moody was constantly flashed on the screen as some weird Scary Man without any of the endearing moments of buying the students' trust or his background as an auror. I was shocked! It was just... I don't know how it would make any sense to someone who didn't know the full story.

 

So, same as when I was younger: Goblet of Fire movie, didn't like it very much. But the book is really neat! The full cast audiobook has been my favorite format so far. It's basically like an ears-only movie, and they didn't cut out everything that makes it make sense.