My crabbiness on the subject, I realize, is probably annoying and spoiling the party. I've found some of the marketing for the flick to be somewhat exploitive of fans and the lengths they'll go through to preserve the thing they love. Some lameass person charged with selling a lameass video game recently called upon the fans to write letters saying they wanted Verizon to buy their lameass game, when Verizon passed.
And all I could think was that the fucker was preying upon the fans' feelings of being in a constant underdog position, in order to sell his game for him. Dude, you're fucker #52698 who's trying to profit off of Mutant Enemy in some way. If your game is lame, it doesn't benefit the fans.
And that sort of thing, I think, exploits the myth that the fans made it all happen. But there's no smoking Tabasco gun. When they talk about the dedication of the fans being the sole reason for the flick, there's no specific examples of how. It's sort of a hazy statement with nothing to back it up.
Did fans campaign for a movie? Are they talking about the fan tables at conventions? DVD sales? Give me a few examples, Universal, of how the fans' dedication was the reason for all of it.
I mean, truly, there's nothing I'd love more than to see that the fans were able to just win something on their own steam. It's rare, and it gives hope to other fan campaigns with nobel efforts.
I think Wonderfalls fans won a bit, that the petition helped prove that there was a market for DVDs, for example. And while it wasn't the sole reason, it certainly helped to have a brick of paper as a visual aid.
I didn't want a Firefly movie. I wanted to see Firefly on my television set EVERY week. I wanted lots and lots of good stories--stories that I knew Joss could give us.
As thrilled as I am with the movie, every time I hear the theme song on SciFi on Friday nights, my anger kindles anew.
I don't see Serenity as a win for fans. I see it as a nice consolation for Joss that we just happen to be able to enjoy.
Yay for
Whedon hopes Serenity makes money so he can do a trilogy, even see it return to TV.
from a 2005-08-14 Sunday Times article on Serenity, but what is this intelligent Spider-Man he speaks of?
Whedon is relieved. "There have been some disasters out there this year," he says. "But there is still some room for more intelligent entertainment. Batman and Spider-Man have proved that."
Edit: the indent that adds line breaks is not the real indent.
My crabbiness on the subject, I realize, is probably annoying and spoiling the party. I've found some of the marketing for the flick to be somewhat exploitive of fans and the lengths they'll go through to preserve the thing they love. Some lameass person charged with selling a lameass video game recently called upon the fans to write letters saying they wanted Verizon to buy their lameass game, when Verizon passed.
Yeah, I didn't mess with that. I actually have ideas about what I would want a Firefly/Serenity game to look like, and I think the only way I would support such a project would be if it were a game I actually wanted to play. You're right, everyone is exploiting the fans here. I think, and this makes me a bit sad, that I have grown an almost Darwinian attitude - these fans seem to enjoy being exploited (always have, really), and while that makes the people exploiting them bad and assholes, it doesn't really feel like it's worth the energy to get angry about. But I'm all about conserving energy, lately. A couple years ago I would've been totally pissed off.
I think that possibly one big factor I've not seen mentioned before is that Joss was able to make the feature film quality pilot "Serenity" for just over $10 million. While that's Godzilla sized for a TV pilot, it's normally the kind of money that gets you bunches of second tier WB teen stars being chased through the woods by someone with a mask and sharpened kitchen untensils on the big screen. War of the Worlds probably spent more on lighting Cruise favorably so he wouldn't frighten Dakota Fanning.
It's still the best consolation prize ever. I assume. I have no evidence to back that up. I'll tell you when I actually see the movie.
I don't see Serenity as a win for fans. I see it as a nice consolation for Joss that we just happen to be able to enjoy.
Ok, but the question wasn't Firefly on tv or a movie. Firefly as a series was dead, done, over. So yeah, I do appreciate having another visit to this 'verse.
Ok, but the question wasn't Firefly on tv or a movie. Firefly as a series was dead, done, over. So yeah, I do appreciate having another visit to this 'verse.
Don't get me wrong, I'm THRILLED at the prospect of the movie, considering that the series was, in fact, dead when it came about. But if the movie is great (and I think it will be), I'm just going to get more angry because of what we know could have been.
It makes it all the more painful.
t /bitter
who'm I kidding--that tag never closes here.
