Don't know if this should go here or the research area, but...
I have a question that's been bugging me for some time now. I've seen this on several forums, in various discussions and comments, and it's something I really don't understand.
Why do people ask for or recommend movies to show how to write something (genre or subject matter)?
Movies are not novels. We don't read them; we watch them. So how does that tell us how to write something? Watching movies (and by extension, television) doesn't even tell us how to write a script - they only show us what the director's final decisions were for a medium that is wholly different from the written word.
Added to this puzzle is the oft-times made suggestion that we should watch this or that movie for factual information. Now, unless that movie is an actual documentary (and not one of those docu-drama horrors), why should we take as fact anything that's in them? Do we accept "CSI" as a factual reference for forensic science? I hope to heavens not!
I'm just curious why so many people think that movies and/or television shows are good learning sources for writers.
I have a question that's been bugging me for some time now. I've seen this on several forums, in various discussions and comments, and it's something I really don't understand.
Why do people ask for or recommend movies to show how to write something (genre or subject matter)?
Movies are not novels. We don't read them; we watch them. So how does that tell us how to write something? Watching movies (and by extension, television) doesn't even tell us how to write a script - they only show us what the director's final decisions were for a medium that is wholly different from the written word.
Added to this puzzle is the oft-times made suggestion that we should watch this or that movie for factual information. Now, unless that movie is an actual documentary (and not one of those docu-drama horrors), why should we take as fact anything that's in them? Do we accept "CSI" as a factual reference for forensic science? I hope to heavens not!
I'm just curious why so many people think that movies and/or television shows are good learning sources for writers.