Great! Harry Potter! It's got kids READING again!

[LesMTS]

Originally Posted by Bunnylingus

But reading a book IS better than tv

Not fundamentally.

[MarkMono]

Hmm, do you think the difference might be that reading isn't passive and actually requires you to intellectually engage with it?

Or possibly its just that TV is far more widespread and popular so its more of a target market for advertisers.

I can think of a lot of reasons why there is far more of a quotient of crap TV than there is of crap books, but I can't actually think of anything concrete which would elevate either medium above the other.

[Bunnylingus]

Yes, that.

Suppose it depends what you're reading/watching, but if we're talking about imagination, I cant imagine how tv would develop it as well as books can.

Im 20 times more likely to cry my way through a book than a film/tv programme.

[Evapilotone]

Originally Posted by Bunnylingus

Suppose it depends what you're reading/watching.

I think this sums things up really.

Using Big Brother for example. Some would say it's a pile of nonsense where they chuck a few folk into a house to watch the fights and romantic moments, where other might say it's a highly developed psychological experiment that pits people against each other in a confined and uncomfortable space.

One mans treasure is another mans rubbish so to speak.

[LesMTS]

Originally Posted by Evapilotone

Using Big Brother for example. Some would say it's a pile of nonsense where they chuck a few folk into a house to watch the fights and romantic moments, where other might say it's a highly developed psychological experiment that pits people against each other in a confined and uncomfortable space.

One mans treasure is another mans rubbish so to speak.

The person saying it was a highly developed psychological experiment would be wrong.

[MarkMono]

Exactly

Originally Posted by Evapilotone

I think this sums things up really.

Using Big Brother for example. Some would say it's a pile of nonsense where they chuck a few folk into a house to watch the fights and romantic moments, where other might say it's a highly developed psychological experiment that pits people against each other in a confined and uncomfortable space.

One mans treasure is another mans rubbish so to speak.

Not sure that logic applies, Big Brother is fairly low-brow.

One person can decide that watching paint dry is fairly high-level entertainment, but that doesn't necessarily make it so.

[LesMTS]

Originally Posted by Evapilotone

I think this sums things up really.

Yes, that's the whole idea. Reading isn't somehow self-evidently more worthy than anything else.

[Bunnylingus]

Ah, well, aye, I'd agree.

I would say that reading on the whole had somewhat more merit than tv, but thats based on general tv as opposed to the History Channel etc.

Theres something in the fact that tv/film adaptations of books always miss out a fair chunk of things. Generally a decent story is still told, but its diluted.

[MarkMono]

They also add an incedible amount to TV and film adaptations though, the visual element is immensely complex in itself.

Originally Posted by LesMTS

Yes, that's the whole idea. Reading isn't somehow self-evidently more worthy than anything else.

This seems to be only interesting point really worth investigating: Why does television comparitively have so much crap on it in comparison to other mediums if its not a fundamental fault in the medium?

[Evapilotone]

I agree and have always agreed with the point that reading is no more worthy than anything else.

[Bunnylingus]

Nothing that I've ever imagined whilst reading a book has managed to look better on tv.

Im not being pompous, its just that when I get something in my head, that's the way it should look for me, and seeing it never quite matches up.

Mind, I bet the Hellboy film looks a fuck of a lot better than the comic, but thats a different kettle of fish because comics give you the images already.

[MarkMono]

I'd disagree, big fan of Mignola's art here. Though the movie looks pretty f'ing amazing as movies go.

I think (When it comes to adaptations) it basically comes down to which medium you prefer and enjoy more regularly.

[Hammer]

Originally Posted by Bunnylingus

Nothing that I've ever imagined whilst reading a book has managed to look better on tv.

Generally, I'm the same, however Peter Jackson's vision of Helm's Deep and Minas Tirith completely blew my image of them away.

[Bunnylingus]

See, I thought the film was a work of fucking art, but with pretty much no story.

Actually, Im arguing against my point a bit here.

Films like Pans Labyrinth, Mirror Mask, Hellboy etc are just stunning, and well worth watching with probably more artistic merit to them than the book Im currently reading.

[XMachina]

Originally Posted by Evapilotone

where other might say it's a highly developed psychological experiment that pits people against each other in a confined and uncomfortable space.

.

The only way anybody would frame BB in that context would be if they were quoting the press release.