Zsemlye Tamás

Are books and television shows really that different?

In 2014 people have a lot of freedom in deciding what they want to do with their free time. Some people like watching television, some people like reading a good book. Nowadays however, the latter is considered a virtue and the other is just mindless relaxation. There are lots of factors behind the social acceptance of new activities, such as watching television, but it resembles reading more than one would think. Even though reading is a respected hobby and watching television shows is considered as lazy entertainment, they fundamentally give you the same experience.

Historically, there always has been a bias towards liking traditions. People only slowly get accustomed to change and it shows in society, too. Cars are a great example of this phenomenon. First, they were considered to be the silly fun of the wealthy few, but nowadays life is unthinkable without them. The same could be said about jeans, forks, the internet and so on. This mentality appears in accepting television shows as a valid form of storytelling, too.  People always tend to like the old customs at first, even though new is not always bad. Change should be explored with curiosity and not looked down upon.  Just the fact that Mozart worked earlier in time does not make his music inherently better than any pop song of our time. One should ignore the bias of liking the old, so that things could be seen as they are.

It could be seen, for example, that television shows and movies have the same story structure as books. Of course there are exceptions, where the explicit purpose of the book or movie is only to entertain for a few hours. Survivor is a television show, for example, that is not expected to be anything more than entertainment. However, there are other types of television shows that genuinely want to make art and tell their consumer something more. For example, Lost wants the viewer not only to be entertained, but to think about the story, too. These products are structured the same way; let them be books or movies or television shows. Obviously, they have a plot, main and supporting characters, twists etcetera, these are all part of the story. The way of presentation (written or audiovisual) of this story is not as important as what it tries to tell. One can cry, have an epiphany, be overjoyed, or even be terrified while watching a film and reading a book, and that is why people want to experience stories like this. Immersion is the key.  Generally, people want to step out of their life for a short while, live in someone else’s and then come back to their own life and be more as a person by that experience. Both by reading and by watching something, this can be achieved.

Moreover, the writers have the same goals when writing a book or a screenplay. They have to know exactly what they want to invoke in the consumer of the final product. When they want to make them happy or sad, excited or relaxed, they have to tailor the story accordingly. Every scene must have a purpose, every dialogue must have meaning. Just as Edgar Allan Poe wanted to control the reader, the writers of Breaking Bad, for example, know exactly what effect they want to invoke in the viewer. To stand out, writers also have to be original and bring something new to the market. Even though the sheer number of works has increased in modern days, this is still possible. A good writer always creates the story according to what he or she wants to tell the consumer, but since every story is open to interpretation, everyone can find their own meaning. That is what makes immersing in a story exciting.

Maybe reading is less passive but it has the same effect as watching television. Times have changed, but people’s need for immersion remains the same. The thrill of experiencing something that we could not in real life is just as fascinating for the modern person, as it was for the people of the past. The appearance always changes, but we can clearly see how television is just a new form of the same exact thing: telling a story.