"I'm all ears!"

Communicating is hard work. Of course, all things that require reciprocity are hard work because everyone knows, from experience, that communication is listening and feedback. I can listen all I want, but you can only talk so much until you'd rather talk to a wall than to me. I can talk all I want, but you're not a wall!- you've got opinions too!

But this isn't always the case, sometimes people have different ways of communicating, and I don't mean that  one person prefers cuddling over home-cooked meals. No, really, I mean, consider this, my fellow geeks: does it bother you that some people will prefer the movie, as opposed to the book upon which its based?

I know that drives me mad.

Although I've learned that movies and books are two different medias. I will almost always prefer the media of a book, but a near-perfect example of appreciating both the movie and the book is Life of Pi. 

When the first advertisements for Life of Pi: The Movie were out I knew that regardless of its success or failure I was going to like this movie. Life of Pi: The Book is intensely descriptive, heavy with dialogue, and purposefully challenging. Life of Pi: The Book works for the very same reason Anna Karenina by Tolstoy works, for the same reason The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien works: because books can be of any length! 

But movies are generally limited to 1 1/2 to 3 hours in length. Any longer and most of the audience has lost interest and/or fallen asleep. (But trust me, I could watch a movie for that length of time and be fine.)

However much it bothers me that people can't appreciate the book-version as much as the movie-version, should it really bother me?

Even within the same medias, writers, directors, actors, etc. want to communicate with people outside their usual social group.

Christians/The religious want to convert non-believers/atheists.

Non-believers/atheists want to educate Christians/the religious.

Scientists want to instill sciencey-stuff into thespians.

Thespians want to convey powerful emotions to their audiences.

But, generally, Christians only reach Christians. Atheists only reach atheists. Scientists only reach scientists. Thespians only reach thespians. 

When a Christian, or an atheist, or a scientist, or a thespian writes a book, hoping that the book will help outsiders understand it doesn't usually work. I've worked at a bookstore long enough to know that people who are interested in business go only to the business section and nowhere else. I'd be hard-pressed to convince a customer interested in graphic novels to attempt a perusal into the local history section--frankly, it's just not what they're looking for.

I'd even be more hard-pressed to convince someone to read the Harry Potter books, if they only want to watch Harry Potter.

But frankly, some people are just more visual. 

So...how do writers communicate with movie-goers?

How do directors communicate with bookworms?

How do musicians communicate with scientists?

How do Christians communicate with the non-religious?

I don't know! 

But I'll try and be all ears for you!

I want to make more people read, but I'm only talking to people who already read. How can I communicate with non-readers?

Turn Life of Pi into a movie.

Sha-bam.