Why books are better than films

Ask any book reader which is better 'books or films?' and their answer will be 'books'. But why are books better than films? Here are my 5 reasons why books are better than films.

1. You can use your own imagination in a book

When you read a book, you have to use your own imagination. While films show you for example what a character looks like, what a building looks like and how the plot plays out, you have to imagine everything yourself when you read. Do you want that handsome character to look like your crush? Then imagine him like your crush! You can imagine explosions as big as you want. Your imagination has got no limit! With a film on the other hand, you are stuck with what the film makers have decided for you.

2. Books are more detailed

Most books give you hundreds of pages and hours of fun, while a film lasts for only 1,5 - 2 hours. This means that a lot of details from the book have to be cut to fit into the film. I remember being excited to watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The Half-Blood Prince is my favourite Harry Potter book, because it shows us flashbacks from Voldemort and we learn more of Voldemort's backstory and why he became an evil wizard incapable of feeling love. The film did not show us most of these flashbacks, making it very difficult for a film watcher to understand Voldemort's motives.

3. Film makers change important details

Sometimes film makers have too much creative freedom, resulting in very bad decisions and changing important details. Sometimes they change the plot or details so much that the film does not even resemble the book anymore and it just looks like a film inspired by the book. The Netflix series Shadowhunters is an example. Shadowhunters is a series based on The Mortal Instruments series written by Cassandra Clare. I really loved these books and was very excited to watch the Shadowhunters series when it first came out, but I quickly stopped watching the series after one big change. In the books the Lightwood family are banned from the Shadowhunter community and live alone in the Institute. The shadowhunter world has got a magical feeling without any modern devices. In the Shadowhunters series all magic was lost. The Institute was suddenly full of people and they all used high-tec computers. It felt like Santa Claus driving around in a Tesla to bring children their presents.

4. You get emotionally invested in books

After spending hours, days, weeks or even years reading your favourite series, you get emotionally invested in the characters. It's not strange after reading all their thoughts and feelings. I once threw a book flying across the room in anger after reading he died. For books I was rooting for him to defeat the bad guys and become king and then suddenly all of that was over (to avoid spoilers I won't tell the name of the book). And how many times were I left heartbroken after finding out my - I mean, my character's - crush turned out to be a jerk? I'm looking at you, Sarah J. Maas!

5. Bad acting can ruin a film

One thing that will never happen to a book, but sometimes happens to films, is bad acting. One of those films that was comletely ruined by bad acting is Eragon. Twelve years ago I was obsessed with Eragon, but all of that changed after watching the terrible film. The acting in the film was so bad, it was a 1,5 hour long cringefest. In my mind Eragon was hero, but in the film he acted is if he does not even know how to tie his shoe laces. Eragon did not look like a strong man, but like an insecure young boy.