I love my Google reader. More specifically, I love how my friends share things that make me think. Honestly, I could do a whole post about how having good people sharing with you on your Google Reader is almost like having a do-it-yourself reference section. Maybe another day.
TODAY, what I want to talk about, on this lovely holiday, is this post from the io9 blog about Hayao Miyazaki’s films and the genres they inhabit, sort of. If you don’t recognize Miyazaki’s name right away, you’ve almost certainly heard of his films, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and the latest, Ponyo, are some of his better known titles here in the States. Let me just say, I love most of the movies Miyazaki makes (I say most because there’s a couple I still haven’t seen). He does seem to inhabit a genre all his own though, which is what the io9 post is getting at.
I really enjoy the way they try to fit the movies into specific genres, noting at the same time the places the movie breaks out of the genre norms and expectations.
Now, though, the real reason this post piqued my interest so quickly: most of Miyazaki’s movies are also books. I love being able to tie popular movies into the books that inspired them. I also love the quick synopses of the stories in the movies given by the blog post. I’m not saying copy them for book/movie talks, but I am saying they’d be a great place to start writing a talk about Miyazaki movies and books. Not all of the movies started as books, but many of them are published as manga after the movie is released. Thing is though, they’re usually really, really good. In the case of Nausicca of the Valley of the Wind, Miyazaki actually did an entire manga series himself, then based the movie off the first few books in the series. Howl’s Moving Castle, on the other hand, was based on the Diana Wynne Jones novel of the same name. Both book and movie are excellent, but must be enjoyed on their own terms, as they are quite different. Still, I think a booktalk that begins with a movie and then moves into the book the movie is based on could be a lot of fun. Double bonus if they’ve already seen the movie, because then you don’t have to worry about spoilers, and can still let them be surprised by some of the turns the book takes.
And obviously, this is not a new idea to me, but more of a reminder that displays of books that correspond to popular movies are always a good idea, as well as book/movie clubs. Watch the movie, read the book, have discussion, ??? profit? Ok maybe not that last part, but the book and movie discussion club seems like it could be a lot of fun.
After all, as XKCD reminds us, Hollywood will never stop making movies from books, so we’ll have plenty to choose from for the displays and discussion groups. But some people still think books are dead. Oh well!
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