Book vs. Movie: To Kill a Mockingbird

Hello, it's Owyn and I'm back for another Book vs. Movie on Friday the 13th! (scary music inserted here).    And I've decided to do To Kill a Mockingbird.

              versus            

*ALERTING, THERE ARE PROBABLY SPOILERS AHEAD* 
I am going to start with saying I have gone to seven different schools (so far). And when that happens, you get to relearn things and never learn things. For example, I have been assigned to read To Kill a Mockingbird twice and I have never been taught about the Civil War.
So in seventh grade I read Mockingbird for the first time and loved it. Granted, I try not to enjoy reading books I have to read for school because I'm a rebel, but I honestly enjoyed it. Even with my monotonous English teacher dissecting every single word, I loved it immensely. Then I read it in eighth grade as a part of required reading and still adored it and also got a new perspective on it through another teacher.
After finishing the book in eighth grade, our class had to watch the movie. I tried to pay attention, I really did, but the people in my class were EXTREMELY loud and distracting so I watched it at home with my parents later that night.
The next day we had to make a list of differences that we noticed (I mentally pointed and laughed at the people who decided socializing was more important than learning.)

Major Differences that My Class Accumulated:

• You never meet Aunt Alexandra, Uncle Jack or Francis in the movie
• They cut a lot of the kids' moments to emphasize on the trial and a general gravitation towards Atticus. Some moments cut out were the little slight puppy-love between Dill and Scout and when they go with Calpurnia to the black church.   
• Jem never has to read to Mrs. Dubose in the movie. 
• There is no mention of Dolphus Raymond, Scout's teacher, or the judge's house getting broken into in the movie. 

NOTE:
I typically find it odd when you watch a movie of a book you had to dissect in class, because (with me) you keep hearing your teacher's voice informing you of all the symbols used, and how this-piece-of-imagery-is-vital-to-everything-and-anything-in-the-plot. But with this I hardly felt it.

Did I prefer the book or the movie?
I have to say for this one I definitely enjoyed the book more, even with the complete and utter analysis I suffered through twice. But I would like to note that I really did like the movie and they did a great job with it, just not as good as the book. There's just something heart-achingly timeless/classic/amazing about that book that you can't replicate in a movie. Like the scene where Atticus shoots the rabid dog; it wasn't nearly as intense as it was in the book. But I did like the way they handled the trial in the movie, it was almost exactly as I pictured it.