I was reading in Sunday magazine that comes with our paper this morning about some guy who makes trend predictions for 2006. He said he thinks movies will not make a comeback this year (the movies made are the same old same old). He predicts books will. He went on to say there is little in the way of good entertainment coming out of Hollywood whereas with books there are some terrific ones out there. So movies out, books in.
Of course, as a writer and teacher, I was thrilled to see what he said about books being in. However, that may be wishful thinking on that man’s part. I have students at school who never read a book (I’m not sure they even read the ones assigned to them). I do think the movie industry is suffering but that’s because of television and video games–not books.
What do you think–books in, movies out?
I think it’ll be the same. There is a heightened awareness in reading since Narnia and Harry Potter are movies, but the initial appeal is the movie. At least, that’s how it is with my high school kids at church.
Camy
Kids are unpredictable. The do seem to go after the immediate gratification of movies. But on the whole, when you take into account the rest of the generations, I think books are seeing a rise.
I’ve been asked a lot more recently by friends if I can recommend a good book for them.
And I couldn’t be happier about that!
I agree with Cammy, I think books may rise a little, but movies will at least stay even. Most kids I know, including my own (grr) prefer movies to reading the books. They’ll read the short ones, but don’t have the attention span for the long ones like Narnia and Harry Potter.
I think the question needs to be refined. People may be going to the theaters less, yes. In fact, I myself hardly go anymore–the mildew bothers my sinuses, the volume is incredibly PAINFULLY loud, the snacks are pricey, and the audiences these days are rude, loud, and bothersome. BUT..I see more DVDs and buy more DVDs than ever.
If you count “seeing films” as people renting/buying videos/dvds, then we might find it’s UP.
Books will likely continue to go down because we are an image oriented culture now.Kids don’t read the way they used to.(Of my four nieces and nephews, only one reads fiction regularly. Compare that to my siblings and I, who, out of our, two read fiction voraciously, and one read non-fiction with some frequency.)
Kids love games and movies–visual stuff. Books, less so.
My guess is books will decline and visual stuff increase. BUT..on the plus side, all devout believers tend to consider Bible reading important and pass that to their kids. If it STICKS, then those kids may be book-oriented, and the adults who are Bible-lovers will be book-enjoying types. The CBA should and may see increases in sales, therefore.
Mir–who thinks too much, huh?
http://mirathon.blogspot.com
Thanks, Camy, April, Becky and Mir for your comments. You all have brought up some good points. I hope people can develop a love of books like I have. They have enriched my life.
Margaret
I think books are in… but I’m an avid reader. As far as kids are concerned, I hope the kids who go to the movies will actually be encouraged to read the books. Books give much more insite to the personality/ thoughts of the characters.
Fawn