Boxing Day

Have you ever opened a novel half-way through and begun reading until the end? No? But perhaps, over this Christmas season, you switched on the television and watched a movie that's already started? Why is there a difference? There shouldn't be. The problem is that most books you read you will have paid for, whereas the television is free (relatively speaking). As another excuse, there is the semi-tragic sentiment 'there was nothing better on'. Also, unless you have Sky plus, you can't rewind films once they've started, where you can just turn back the pages of a book. You might also say that films take less effort, they aren't as serious a medium, and it is much easier to 'figure it out as it goes along'. These are weak excuses, but based on some reality: many more movies are light-entertainment than books, especially those you'll find on television. Its shorter history and method of distribution means it is a popular medium, where much of literature aims at high art. This difference explains why most of us have seen many films more than once, but hardly read any books twice. These comparison might be meaningless, or banal, but it is insightful sometimes to question our practices, before assuming them. Happy Christmas.