I look at books and literature like a facet of myself as an early-starting reader. I’ve learned to pick apart words and look at them like they mean more than their spellings. As a result, every book I read leaves me with something substantial, even if the book is one of the worst things I’ve ever come across. Something about it will always strike me, even if it’s literally only how bad the book is or why the story is not compelling.
ATG World: Some of these books, I grew up on; some of them, I have yet to read. But every one has something to offer me.
On the other hand, film and television don’t strike me as strongly as literature does. I often forget even good television shows or feel as though I wasted my time with them. This could be because I didn’t grow up absorbing television or film in the same significant way that I absorb literature. I know many people who do take a lot from film and television, and in return, don’t take in books the way that I do.
Rio Grande Theatre: I’ve seen some of these works as well, but I found them harder to dissect than books.
I did find an article that talks about the difference in reading versus watching. It turns out that watching a lot of television tends to grow parts of the brain that are associated with aggression. I don’t think that watching films that have a lot of work put into them could be anything but good for you, but I also don’t feel perceptive to that kind of media. I took a class in freshman year that incorporated film and television into its syllabus; my professor emphasized the importance of videography and storytelling in a media-form I was not familiar with. This class helped me shape my perception, but I had a hard time with absorption and writing about these films.
One of my new goals is to improve my skills by watching television and film in a more effective way. In 2019, it’s important, since so much of the content that we absorb is visual and audible.
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