movies vs. books

We shouldn't have to choose between the two.  In academia, if I specialize in books, what i like about keeping movies as a sub-speciality into whose fields I can branch out for relief, is that in movies the characters are real people--they lead independent lives.  One seeks relief from the solipsism of the novel-world, in which all characters ultimately are figments in the head of the singular author, to the film world, which reminds us of the existence of real people even in the act of escapism in the throes of which we often turn to movies to help us satisfy.