Knowing vs not knowing: spoilers Book first or movie? Original or cover?
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I use to be a staunch "read the book first" person because i didn't want spoilers, in a world before the word spoilers. I figured if I knew what was going to happen then I wouldn't want to read the book anymore, except now, I know how often the book or source material varies from the movie/other product, that sometimes it doesn't matter, informs the other, or makes it very hard to appreciate the product because you are too influenced by the source material to properly view it without distance.
For instance, Game of Thrones. I wish I hadn't seen that coming.
Or when you hear a song and it just makes you want to hear the original/sample source.
The Hunger Games: the book and the movie only have a passing resemblance.
True Blood/Sookie Stackhouse: totally deviated at this point but may inform each other.
Can you think of the best order for someone to be exposed to a thing with different versions?
You don't have to read 2001 to see the movie but I don't know if it's in any way a story if you haven't, but those i think are very standalone pieces, which i think most things aspire to be, without a big overlapping audience.
Then you have, say, Hamlet, and knowing the story makes you want to see what people are going to do with it. Not knowing it could mean a bad version turns you off it completely.