Films Are Less Educational
Than Books
Books have always had more of an impact on people than films have ever had, despite the fact that there were numerous films based on famous writings. However, I think that a movie will never provide the same quantity and quality of information and will never reach the potential of a book.
Firstly, a film limits your imagination and forces you to accept the director’s vision upon the book. You cannot choose the characters’ hair and eye colour or what they wear, as you would normally do if you were reading the story instead of watching it on TV. A book lets your creativity loose and allows you to create a world of your own, paint it in any colour you desire and play whatever music you think to be appropriate.
Moreover, by reading you are an active learner, while watching films provides a passive learning. As a book reader, you can control the speed of the process, you can stop to think freely if you want and continue your activity at any time. In contrast, those who watch films cannot control the rhythm of the activity; they have to look in to the movie passively, lacking the necessary time to think about what they see.
On the other hand, there are some who argue that certain films are more educational. Documentaries, for instance, can often come across much more information than a book. They contain multiple viewpoints, whereas a book presents only its author’s opinion and vision.
All in all, it should not be disparaged a film’s educational impact, nor the one of a book. Yet, I would say that, as a means of learning, reading books is still much more important and far more educational than watching films or movies.