So Hank Green - someone whom I admire a great deal - came up with an idea in a recent video that, from the outset, I felt somewhat unsure about and now, having watched a few reaction videos, I know why. From Hank's screen shots that have been posted on Tumblr it looks as if Nerdfighters will sign a pledge to read the book before watching the movie. See, I would generally agree that the book is better than the movie and I would prefer to read the source material before I see the movie. That's my general preference, yes, and so from that point of view alone you would think I agree with the idea of the site, yes?
Well... not entirely.
You see, I feel there's a silent feeling in nerdfighteria that no one really talks about but a lot of us feel and that a feeling of "I'm not a real nerdfighter unless I've ~done/read/see/enjoyed X thing~". No one is any less of a nerdfighter than anyone else if they haven't, say, read Harry Potter. I've never read Harry Potter but I enjoyed the movies. That doesn't make me less of a nerdfighter than any Potterhead who can recite passages and knows about what the different wand cores actually mean and... all that jazz. But, see, this is the bad part about ReadIt1st; it elevates one point of view and implies it to be superior to all others. I know that Hank isn't saying that anyone that doesn't enjoy a book over a movie/ anyone that reads the book after the movie is wrong or should sort their act out and get in line or anything like that, of course he isn't.
But Nerdfighteria is the community in which every point of view is to be valued and respected (which is a bit of a pipe dream) and Hank creating this website which places one opinion above all others is a very un-nerdfighterish thing to do. I feel that Hank has, for a brief moment, forgotten to be awesome.
I get where you are coming from, but just because John or Hank do something doesn't mean all of nerdfighteria have to participate. Just like you haven't read Harry Potter and don't feel less like a nerdfighter. Just because someone someone doesn't pre-order John's new book doesn't mean their less of a nerdfighter. So, essentially, just because one sector of nerdfighteria has something going doesn't mean all of nersfighteria has to feel obligated to participate.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think of it that way when I first heard of the Read It 1st idea, but I see what you mean. I know a lot of people who actually like movies more than books (for example, I definitely prefer ther LotR movies to books). I agree with Hank, to a point. Reading the novels movies are based on is important, but they're really meant to be taken as two separate entities. I remember WAAAY back, even John said that when making a novel into a film, things need to be changed, omitted, or added. That a film is not the novel, and it's impossible to make a film based on a novel exactly like said novel.
ReplyDeleteI don't know where I'm going with this, but you brought up a very valid point and I do agree with you. I like the idea of the campaign, but not as something backed by Nerdfighteria.