The “One of Us” Problem by Lauren Cates
August 29, 2013 1:18 am | Leave your thoughts
In the last podcast, the Leftovers were talking about being a fan of a property and how that might help or hurt the franchise. Unfortunately, I am unable to give a real-time reaction to things the guys say, primarily because I’m not a podcaster, and probably because I’m likely to go on tangents like the one I’m about to go on.
Let me start by saying that I don’t read comic books, I rarely show slavish devotion to any franchise because I’ve got other things on my mind most of the time, and therefore, I’m not really a “fan girl”.
So, my question is: should I be allowed the right to my opinion on casting decisions, choice of directors, upcoming projects? Of course I do.
You might of course be inclined to tell me that I speak from an uneducated opinion on the subject, but remember, when it comes to pop culture, hardcore fanboys and girls are the minority and always will be. Studios aren’t in the business of selling to the most knowledgeable on the subject of, say, Batman, because the people who are aren’t bringing in the big bucks.
And I’m fine with that.
I like being able to walk into a movie not having played the ARG, read the book, endlessly argue online about what plot points match up with what in this medium or that one and still feeling like I got the complete experience of it. I sometimes like my involvement with a movie to begin and end with the movie’s run time.
But when a big studio primed to aim a franchise at the mainstream shows signs of playing to the masses, I suspect this is what causes a fan backlash that spurs them to say things like “at least the director is a fan of the comics”.
Bullshit.
I don’t care if you’re a comics fan. I want you to make a decent movie. And if being a fan precludes you from being completely objective with the material, then you are the wrong fucking director and you should move over for the right guy to come along.
When fans rally around “their guy” or “their girl”, it’s really a big fucking turn-off to me. We get it. You loved this story first and therefore you loved it best, and no grubby mainstream idiot could love it nearly as much as your proxy, right?
Well, that’s the thing. I hate it when the “right” guy very obviously loves the material too much. Because he wants so much to prove how much he loves the material, he needs to cater to the fans to make sure they get everything they want and then builds in a bunch of homework for the folks that otherwise don’t give a shit about it. A winking sensibility that I should feel bad that I’m not dedicated enough if I just “don’t get it”. The in-jokes or the background props. Or all the cheering when Plot element X leading to Story Y gets introduced.
Maybe I don’t want eight hours of backstory to feel excited about a two-hour movie.
Last summer, I became part of the minority that liked The Dark Knight Rises better than The Avengers. Because as bloated as it was, I never felt like there was a shrieking fanboy behind the camera grinning with glee about how much he was pleasing the fan base. Nolan, for all his faults, thought through the angles to make a decent approximation of how Batman would function as part of a relatively realistic society, and cut out tons of stuff that would end suspension of disbelief. If Nolan is a Batman fan and has widely read the comics, I honestly couldn’t tell you for sure based on the movies he made.
The Avengers, on the other hand (and I do realize I’m digging my own grave with this opinion) earned massive side-eye from me. While the Internet was alive with hype about how This! One! Movie! brings all the others together, I sat annoyed at the notion that I was forced into doing homework for full appreciation, and for what? A bunch of action figures playing in a sandbox. There wasn’t any real layering of the stories into something more complicated and interesting, and it was perfectly functional without all the other movies propping it up.
I got the feeling the whole time that the movie was one long self-congratulatory dream of a fanboy, of having everyone watch him play with his toys.
But because Joss Whedon is “one of us” he gets a pass.
(Not that I believe Whedon IS “one of us”, but that’s a digression for another day, provided I survive this one.)
The point I’m trying to make based on a question from Brian was that if Ben Affleck has Kevin Smith in his back pocket, is the production better off because they’re fans? They also are “ones of us”.
No, it motherfucking isn’t.
There are plenty of good reasons why people who are “ones of us” aren’t making $300 million movies that pull in a billion dollars worldwide. The majority of them have to do with being able to tell a bigger than life story that a normal person lacks the creativity or energy to tell.
So, cut it out with the need for cred, all you fanboys out there. It only makes you and your projects look exclusionary and nerd culture should be inclusive and welcoming to all comers. It brings us new energy and fresh ideas. And money.
We like those, don’t we?
Categorised in: Headlines, Movie Reviews
This post was written by David Griffin
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