Today marks the 76th publication anniversary of The Hobbit, another book near and dear to my heart and probably millions of others out there. The second part of the movie trilogy, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, releases December 13, 2013. There will undoubtedly be a lot of media coverage in the interim time, today will be no exception. This is not intended to be a predictive piece of writing, I am very excited about the second movie, I just wanted to share some of my thoughts on what it means to me to be a fan of a large franchise.
Books, comic books and their subsequent movies have been the topic of many conversations between their fans and critics alike. Which version is better? Which screenplay best captures the original material? Who played the best rendition of the hero/villain/sidekick? The conversations go on and on, sometimes resulting in very strong opinions and angry words. It is in this area of fandoms that I wish to hold my discussion, on the pervasive desire for some fans to be correct and sometimes combative about their opinions on their favorite subject matter.
When an author writes a story, they hope to communicate a set of emotions, thoughts, ideas and story elements to their audience, usually for the purpose of entertainment. Sometimes to convey information and often to provoke some critical thinking on the part of the reader. Some writers will tell you that their story means 'exactly this' while others will say 'it means whatever you think it means', either way, if they were a good communicator, you have a good idea of what the point of their piece was intended to be in the end.
However, when it comes to translating written works, which can have about 100k words, to movies, which average around 120 minutes, there is frequently something left out of the book in order to make a (hopefully) cohesive movie. Someone makes that decision, this can be the screenplay writer, the director, the producer, the editor or any combination of the above. Those individuals have favorite parts of the original material that means a lot to them. Sometimes they like parts of the original material that just doesn't do it for other fans. As more and more people become involved in the making of a feature length film, the more the influence of the team color and shape the film until it is difficult to tell where one person's thoughts ended and another's began.
I think I can say with some authority that writers and film makers do not deliberately set out to create bad books or movies. That simply does not seem like a successful business plan to me. If you're going to go into the entertainment industry in some fashion, you are likely to want to entertain some people, not offend or disgust them. Sadly, not all productions succeed at pleasing most of the people most of the time. It is unfortunate, but it does happen. The most important thing to remember when you are not satisfied with someone's interpretation of your favorite story: This does not invalidate your love for a fandom or the enjoyment you derived from the original source material.
No one can take away from you that which is inside of you. Ever. If you don't like one director's version of your favorite comic book character, then don't watch it. No one will ever be forced to watch Ben Affleck as Batman, I promise. The best advice I have for anyone is to give something a shot and try to enjoy it for it's own merit. I loved J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, but I don't think Chris Columbus approached the first two movies with a wide enough vision for laying the groundwork for the subsequent 6 movies. He focused on the very cool special effects, but left some of the small and seemingly unimportant throw off comments out of the film. Comments which Rowling hangs the plot for follow up stories on later down the line. Did this make Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone a terrible film? No, but it was hard to follow for those who had not read the books. In the case of some of my friends, they have sworn off the books, even though Ms. Rowling was in no way to blame for the condition of the film's storytelling flaws.
We were watching the film The Cabin in the Woods, which is full of names and faces I recognize and love. Now, a quick note about me, I try to avoid the hype leading up to film releases, because I firmly believe in enjoying a film for what it is, not what other people think it should be. So, I had a very small preconceived notion about what this film would be - a horror film of some kind with people in it that I liked. About halfway through the film I finally gave into my disappointment and said to my husband, "This is the worst horror film I have ever seen." It was then that he educated me by saying, "Honey, it's a farce. You know, like the Scream movies." A light bulb actually went off over my head. I had been watching the film all wrong! By refocusing my expectations to the the reality of the piece, I realized it was one of the best films of it's kind I had seen in a long time. It's fun and quirky, definitely a B-cult film by design and I enjoyed the rest of the movie greatly.
Being a member of the audience is really easy. Making something entertaining is really hard. As new comic book and novel inspired movies begin to make their way to us for the Holiday Season, please remember this: No one can take away how you feel, but you also cannot take away how someone else feels either. Every person has the privilege of deciding for themselves whether or not they want to fall in love with or dislike the same fandom you fell in love with or disliked. Their choice does not validate nor invalidate your choices and emotions. You may love or dislike the next big fan movie and that is your privilege to do so. It is also their privilege and my privilege to disagree with you. Let's just do it respectfully. Keep looking for the part in the story that makes you think and dream, even if it's for something better than what you just experienced. Maybe we'll both find a deeper appreciation for the next rendition of Batman or the New Jedi Order. Maybe we'll get lucky and we'll wander with purpose to the next great film.
Books, comic books and their subsequent movies have been the topic of many conversations between their fans and critics alike. Which version is better? Which screenplay best captures the original material? Who played the best rendition of the hero/villain/sidekick? The conversations go on and on, sometimes resulting in very strong opinions and angry words. It is in this area of fandoms that I wish to hold my discussion, on the pervasive desire for some fans to be correct and sometimes combative about their opinions on their favorite subject matter.
When an author writes a story, they hope to communicate a set of emotions, thoughts, ideas and story elements to their audience, usually for the purpose of entertainment. Sometimes to convey information and often to provoke some critical thinking on the part of the reader. Some writers will tell you that their story means 'exactly this' while others will say 'it means whatever you think it means', either way, if they were a good communicator, you have a good idea of what the point of their piece was intended to be in the end.
However, when it comes to translating written works, which can have about 100k words, to movies, which average around 120 minutes, there is frequently something left out of the book in order to make a (hopefully) cohesive movie. Someone makes that decision, this can be the screenplay writer, the director, the producer, the editor or any combination of the above. Those individuals have favorite parts of the original material that means a lot to them. Sometimes they like parts of the original material that just doesn't do it for other fans. As more and more people become involved in the making of a feature length film, the more the influence of the team color and shape the film until it is difficult to tell where one person's thoughts ended and another's began.
I think I can say with some authority that writers and film makers do not deliberately set out to create bad books or movies. That simply does not seem like a successful business plan to me. If you're going to go into the entertainment industry in some fashion, you are likely to want to entertain some people, not offend or disgust them. Sadly, not all productions succeed at pleasing most of the people most of the time. It is unfortunate, but it does happen. The most important thing to remember when you are not satisfied with someone's interpretation of your favorite story: This does not invalidate your love for a fandom or the enjoyment you derived from the original source material.
No one can take away from you that which is inside of you. Ever. If you don't like one director's version of your favorite comic book character, then don't watch it. No one will ever be forced to watch Ben Affleck as Batman, I promise. The best advice I have for anyone is to give something a shot and try to enjoy it for it's own merit. I loved J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, but I don't think Chris Columbus approached the first two movies with a wide enough vision for laying the groundwork for the subsequent 6 movies. He focused on the very cool special effects, but left some of the small and seemingly unimportant throw off comments out of the film. Comments which Rowling hangs the plot for follow up stories on later down the line. Did this make Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone a terrible film? No, but it was hard to follow for those who had not read the books. In the case of some of my friends, they have sworn off the books, even though Ms. Rowling was in no way to blame for the condition of the film's storytelling flaws.
We were watching the film The Cabin in the Woods, which is full of names and faces I recognize and love. Now, a quick note about me, I try to avoid the hype leading up to film releases, because I firmly believe in enjoying a film for what it is, not what other people think it should be. So, I had a very small preconceived notion about what this film would be - a horror film of some kind with people in it that I liked. About halfway through the film I finally gave into my disappointment and said to my husband, "This is the worst horror film I have ever seen." It was then that he educated me by saying, "Honey, it's a farce. You know, like the Scream movies." A light bulb actually went off over my head. I had been watching the film all wrong! By refocusing my expectations to the the reality of the piece, I realized it was one of the best films of it's kind I had seen in a long time. It's fun and quirky, definitely a B-cult film by design and I enjoyed the rest of the movie greatly.
Being a member of the audience is really easy. Making something entertaining is really hard. As new comic book and novel inspired movies begin to make their way to us for the Holiday Season, please remember this: No one can take away how you feel, but you also cannot take away how someone else feels either. Every person has the privilege of deciding for themselves whether or not they want to fall in love with or dislike the same fandom you fell in love with or disliked. Their choice does not validate nor invalidate your choices and emotions. You may love or dislike the next big fan movie and that is your privilege to do so. It is also their privilege and my privilege to disagree with you. Let's just do it respectfully. Keep looking for the part in the story that makes you think and dream, even if it's for something better than what you just experienced. Maybe we'll both find a deeper appreciation for the next rendition of Batman or the New Jedi Order. Maybe we'll get lucky and we'll wander with purpose to the next great film.
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