Movie vs Books

I love how people always think that it's so much better to be a person who reads books all the time, as opposed to a person who spends their time watching movies. Readers are viewed as ubber intelligent and deep thinkers. These are people who use their minds as opposed to being fed entertianment through a bube tube. They have deep thoughts and educated views. Yeah right! People! We're usually reading Fiction!! Our minds are being swayed to the bias of the authors, and it's so subtle that we don't even know it's happening!

Let's be totally honest, when I get to reading a good book (usually fiction) nothing else matters to me. It will take at least one evening, usually more, to read the whole book and nothing else will get done. My animals are downright relieved that I remember to feed them on these occasions. I'm pretty sure most of my high school teachers would be shocked to know how often I was holding a book under my desk as I pretended to follow along with their lecture. The only way I got through college was to leave my books in OK while I went to school in IL.

Books are just as consuming and adictive as movies, but they last 10 times longer. While your average movie is over in 2 hours with the heroin or hero living happily ever after (or everyone is dead and gone - depending on you entertainment preferences), after 2 hours of a book, you've just gotten aquanted with the main characters and the basic setting. The movie goer has now moved on to doing the laundry and vacuuming the house, while the reader has moved onto the couch for more comfort. Now, who's got the healthy lifestyle?

And as for this ubber intelligent rumor, let's take a look at a prime example. Henry McCarty, a.k.a. Billy the Kid. He was a huge reader all through his youth. That's how he spent his free time. Historians believe he was a very smart individual with a ton of potential. Here's my thought: If he was really that smart, he would have made it past the age of 21. The idiot did everything he could to get into trouble and then never had the sense enough to think "Wow, I only stole some laundry and I'm only a teenager, maybe they won't string me up for this offense." So, he breaks out of jail and his life is just one big spiral of bad decisions. Reading does not create intelligence.

So, should you put down the books and just watch movies? No. Just be careful who we put on a pedestal and why.