Encyclopedia of Opinion
Question
Should books be adapted into movies?
Position‹2 of 3›
Books should not be adapted into movies
Argument1 of 4›

Books can be easily overlooked in comparison to the movie

The greater attention placed on movies draws people away from reading the original source material.

The argument

More and more production companies are starting to view books as powerful source material. Increasing commercialisation undervalues the book as a work of art. The impression that books are written just to be bought by moviemakers to create a grossing box office is implied, devaluing the book itself. Even worse, there may be an increasing trend that the value of a book is judged based on whether it has a movie or TV adaptation or not. People may feel that there is no need to read the book since they have already seen the movie adaptation. They then miss out on what the book has to offer: a fuller, more detailed experience of the story.

Premises

[P1]As production companies increasingly mine books for films, the growing commercialisation undervalues the book as a work of art. [P2] Books come to be judged by whether they have a movie or TV adaptation, implying they exist mainly to be sold to filmmakers. [P3] Once people have seen the adaptation, they may feel no need to read the book, missing the fuller, more detailed experience it offers. [C] Therefore, because books can be easily overlooked in comparison to the movie, they should not be adapted into films.

Counter-arguments

Not everyone watches the movie before reading the book. Plenty of people read the book first since the book is usually published before the movie is made.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] This is not always the case.