* Consistency with other titles: Novels typically italicize book titles, but not movie titles. This helps distinguish between different types of works.
* Clarity: Italicizing movie titles could create confusion, especially if the novel features characters watching movies or discussing them.
How to Handle Movie Titles in Novels:
1. Quotation marks: Use double quotation marks around movie titles. Example: "The Shawshank Redemption"
2. Shorten titles: When referring to a movie multiple times, you can often shorten the title after the first use. Example: "They watched 'The Shawshank Redemption,' a classic film about hope." Later: "They discussed the escape scene from 'Shawshank.'"
Exceptions:
* Emphasis: If you want to draw special attention to a particular movie, you could italicize it.
* Character's perspective: If a character is writing a screenplay or specifically referencing a movie title in a way that suggests it's a distinct text, you could italicize it from their point of view.
General rule: Stick with using quotation marks for movie titles unless there's a specific stylistic reason to deviate.