Some of the talk on the latest cast reminded me of an issue I think bares some decent thought & discussion.
Over the years, we as fans have been at times tossed bones by the film industry that we just accept which I think results in more bones. We don’t get the respect of getting a decent meal most of the time.
For every Lord of The Rings & Harry Potter, we get rubber dragons with horrible acting & even worse effects. As a fan base we have embraced them because it was all we were getting. I wonder if that is a visious cycle that we continue to feed. This includes sci-fi as well.
We’re finally seeing in very specific instances that we are getting good material because it appeals to the mainstream. The mainstream in certain cases (it’s not embraced as a whole by a long shot yet) have moved into our playhouse. However, Hollywood as a whole still considers genre fare as “niche” marketing. This is from greenlighting projects, to budgeting to award nominations. I feel that they figure they will get their money anyway. So I ask you, GWC are we getting craaaap, because we don’t demand better?
Yes. The reason Transformers films keeping getting made even when the quality of the writing is clearly bad is because people go to see them. I will still go see the third film. I can’t stand films like the Green Hornet but people like Chuck enjoy them so they keep getting made.
I also think the issue of films like the Dark Knight or shows like Battlestar Galactica not getting any award nominations has more to do with the people in charge of such things then the crapy X geeky film that’s made.
but i seriously doubt that most people who goes to Transformer movies are scifi geeks. if that’s the case, and there truly are so many scifi geeks that would go see a movie just because it’s scifi, then we should have had Serenity 2, 3, 4, 5 already.
the fact that movies like Transformer 2, 3 gets made shows that most people who goes to see it just went for a summer blockbuster. they just want to feel like they are watching a big budget shock and awe action flick. This one just happens to have giant robots in them.
One needs to realise that in the screenwriting business, the final product - more likely than not - will look nothing like the first draft that the showrunner conceptualised it to be.
The first draft would sit in a bin somewhere for months or years unless someone’s interest is piqued by it - then it goes through development hell which again might take months or years. Sometimes the project never gets to see the light of day.
Then if (and that’s a big IF) it passes the development phase, there’s Soviet-style screenwriting-by-committee where every story beat, story arc, character arc & narrative is consulted as a group.
Also, Legal & Standards will need to review the script lest any outstanding IP issues might crop up. And the marketing people may or may not sell screen time for product placement, or to push their own new toys (like the twins from the last Transformer movie) into the show.
And the end of it all, I don’t think the fans need to beat themselves up for nothing - it’s a business after all; and decisions are made to maximise profit. The final product might end up as crap, but hey, even creative people need to eat.
I don’t want to start a debate but I do not think Firefly has or ever really had as big a fan base as people like to think it did. It had one sure and those people met other fans but outside of them? Not a whole lot of people knew or even watched the show. Transformers has much much much more of a bigger fan base from people who watched the show as kids then a little sci fi show that aired on fox for a short while.
Transformers also had the benefit of a MASSIVE ad campaign. I found out about Firefly from The Pirate Bay. I literally had never heard of it until I stumbled upon it months after it had been cancelled.
All of my friends found out from me, or from others of my friends whom I told. For every one of them, seeing the show made them a fan. Most of them have become LESS of a fan after seeing the Transformers movies.
But I do agree that the former has more fans than the latter. Which is actually the problem described in the first post.
In the movie arena, I think the answer to your question is a resounding yes. But it’s not because we’re shooting ourselves in the foot–it’s because that craaaap is good for something, whether it’s a Saturday afternoon movie or a summer popcorn blockbuster or something you can go see with your non-geek friends that still has giant robots. We aren’t also getting enough of the good stuff because all that craaaaap eats up the budgets and it brings in so much more money. Making small, independent movies is really, really hard and is incredibly difficult to do long-term because the combination of burn out and financing challenges make it extremely difficult. While I don’t like it, I don’t see a solution.
In the television/episodic serial arena, I think we are demanding better and getting it. Not every time. There are colossal frak-ups like canceling Firefly and greenlighting a Bionic Woman reboot. There are shows that should be great but are just good, like Stargate Universe. Even though it’s all pretty light fare right now, there are good geek shows on the major networks and cable stations–from Chuck and Big Bang Theory to Doctor Who. I said “episodic serial” because I really think web series are where some of the best genre stuff is springing up these days. It’s hard to do anything effects-heavy but there are still some gems.
Finally, science fiction pop literature, literary sci-fi, and YA sci-fi are all areas with a ton of talent and creativity. Sure, sometimes you want the lush visuals and crisp sound editing delivered straight to your eyes and ears, but reading is where it’s at! Especially for the discerning fan.
In pop sci-fi you have awesome stuff coming out like the Honor Harrington books or the Vatta’s War books (both of which we’ve discussed on the forums quite a bit recently).
In literary sci-fi you have things like China Mieville’s Embassytown and Aurorarama by Jean-Christophe Valtat (cannot wait to read both of these!). I’ll add Nalo Hopkinson to this list because her books seem to fall somewhere between pop and literary–check out Brown Girl in the Ring.
Finally, in YA there are things like Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, which will be an enduring classic. Plus, one thing I’ve been meaning to plug on the forums for a while, the books by Kristin Cashore called Graceling and Fire (and the forthcoming Bitterblue). Those are some of the best/most inspiring genre YA I’ve read since Tamora Pierce!
In summary, yes, I think that the laziness of fans and our inability to better match what we say we want with what we fork over dollars to support does end up hurting us. But not fatally. And not so extensively that fantastic, amazing science fiction and fantasy don’t get produced and distributed. I think that we will be rethinking distribution channels and financing mechanisms in the next several years and trying new things. I remain optimistic about the future. But I enjoy an occasional bitch and moan on the side when I see that Syfy is giving me yet another Ghost Hunters series and no more SGU. :mad:
