Let's just say for the sake of argument that I am a total film snob. That I have no understanding of what appeals to certain demographics, and that I am completely out of touch with the youth of today. Let's also make the argument that film can and should be entertainment - that all types of films need to exist so one has the ability to make comparative analysis. It's why Democrats need Republicans' and vice versa. Without a balance we would not have the ability to cultivate taste or interest. Use information to judge right from wrong.
This is all fine and dandy. But Stomp the Yard being NUMBER FUCKING 1! I get it, people don't care if something is good, they want simple entertainment. I am guessing it was all teenage kids. Okay. But 22 fucking million dollars for You Got Served (also #1 when it came out but at least it was for 9.8 million) at a Truth (eyes rolling into the back of my head) University for dance battles?! There are reasons why this is so amazing and it comes down where we are at in our society. It is harder to claim naivety in our age of information, yet even when we are presented with information we are also in a time "rich with knowledge yet weak in action".
Yet, studios still pander. They were scared shitless of releasing Borat. Unsure that the cheap and mostly Internet motivated promotional campaign wouldn't reach the lowest common denominator they scaled back the amount of theatres they were planning on releasing Borat in, having no faith in what was easily one of the best movies of the year which ended up also being one of the biggest hits of the year.
On the opposite end of this spectrum Mike Judge's (Beavis and Butthead, Office Space) Idiocracy was literally given no advertising campaign (have you even heard of it?) and dumped off with no knowledge in a few select cites and ended up making about $436,000. Most critics found this a bit perplexing as the film was considered not only very funny, but at least better than most films that get released. If it were given a proper release people might have seen it. You might say to yourself, but Office Space was such a huge hit, everyone has seen that, why would they shit-can his new movie? Was it a hit? You probably saw it on DVD or TV because Office Space took in $10.8 million dollars on its entire theatrical run. Stomp the Yard made 2 times that it's first weekend? How does this happen? I'm not sure. I made a little list for comparative analysis to give you an idea of why it is so striking that this film made the money that it did. These are not opening weekend numbers but the money these films made in their entire theatrical run.
Fight Club - $37,023,395 (cost $64 million)
Shawshank Redemption - $28,341,469
Usual Suspects - $23,272,306
Adaptation - $22,245,861
Punch Drunk Love - $17,791,031
I Heart Huckabees - $12,784,713
Office Space - $10,824,921
American History X - $6,712,241
Swingers - $4,505,922
Requiem For a Dream - $3,609,278
Donnie Darko - $727,883
I am picking these films, with the possible exception of I Heart Huckabees (that poor overlooked gem), because these films have huge followings. People love these films and talk about them all the time, but judging by these numbers no one saw them. Why is this? I can say I went and saw a good portion of these in the theater except for Swingers, Office Space, and Darko. I saw some of them multiple times in the theater. Maybe you did too? That's why we are horrible, annoying snobs. Whether that is the case the bottom 4 listed above combined don't even add up to the weekend box office of Stomp the Yard. REALLY? How can this be?
It is because studios rely on your ignorance and want you to see what they push on you. Sometimes films are so bad even the dimwitted people they are targeting don't go, but they essentially choose what you see and it is no longer an excuse. The reason why all those films above have been seen by so many and are now huge hits is because of DVD. That is when it becomes your choice, it is no longer about what is being marketed to you, it now comes down to what you might think is good. The few people that saw the movie in the theater tell everyone for months how good a movie is and it just spreads. It doesn't do this in the theater, except in freak instances like the Blair Witch Project or Little Miss Sunshine, because generally there isn't enough time to create that momentum. It must be generated prior to the release and once it's out it better do good fast or have some insane word of mouth or it's going to get killed.
So why am I equating the success of Stomp the Yard to the Apocalypse? First it's the firey image of orange clouds engulfing Truth University in the poster above. Which is probably heat generated from the "hot" dance moves. Secondly, and more importantly, it is because we have choice now. The act of downloading music has made MTV so obsolete that they no longer even play videos, yet, the shows they play (Next, Laguana Beach, the new show with the lie detector, even The Real World is now about party happy morons who hop on the drunk fuck truck the moment they meet (remember when it was an issue show?)) are about as base as it gets and cater to the feebleminded. People, like myself, or others, who view these shows because we feel superior to them, can't blame anyone but ourselves for watching them. The most obvious point is ignoring the loss of our basic rights as Americans and the blatant fiasco that has emerged in Iraq, yet people read about Beyonce brushing her teeth or Orlando Bloom walking his dog. I understand diversion, most people work hard and have very tough lives, they want nothing more to escape, but to the extent that we give Nicole Richie a platform while a huge portion of the country struggles to get by?
Read the paper, or online, see what is coming out that you might like, trust yourself, and be mad that they don't believe that you will "get" something. Studios, PR people, the Media are constantly undermining our ability to be intelligent discerning individuals when the market is dictated by our choices. If it bothers you that the movies above get killed, don't kill them. They end up making money on DVD, but you don't think Stomp the Yard will take in double what it made in the theater? It will. It is money that you are spending, you are giving consent to say, "Yes I want to see more of this kind of film, you can do market research and predict exactly what you think I am going to see and you will probably be right." Or you can help create a market, which exists here on the Internet, in which everything is on an even playing field and is chosen based on what you are interested in.
5 comments:
Wow, that is very interesting. You really did a lot of research on this didn't you? I fully agree with all this stuff you are saying here, its so true, damn mtv and those shit magazines that people buy every WEEK! my girlfriend reads that shit and talks about those people like there her best friends. but i don't hate her for it, shes just a victim of society. somthings gotta give, hopefully more people will wake up and get their own lives and tastes like you said. amen brother.
First of all I would like to thank you for your sentiments, I appreciate it very much. I want people to know that if you comment, I will always respond as I truly appreciate people not only reading, but contributing their views on the site. That being said, since you remained anonymous and I don't know who your girlfriend is it is easier to say what I am about to say which is, it is her fault, period. I don't believe in victims so much (add John Stossel's Blame Game: Are We a Country of Victims? to your netflix queue).
She makes the choice to find that interesting above and beyond anything else. My roommate, she buys those things every week. For awhile there I would look at them, for fun but never considering myself part of the problem. But it's hard to make fun of something when you pick it up and read it every time it's around which made me just as guilty.
That being said I haven't looked in one of those US type deals in ages. I understand that it is sort of an exaggerated form of high school gossip and we all are guilty of that tendency to want to know stuff about that but when you live in a town like LA when you know most of that shit is orchestrated you realize how they are using those magazines as a medium to tell stories.
For the company I work for, Blurred Motion Pictures, I recently had to shoot Aaron Carter's (oh god lord that's a story in itself) birthday party for Monster Energy Drink. Even as it was something I found funny and was making fun of alone in my head, I was pretty miserable being in that enviroment. One thing I learned which was very amusing and horribly uncomfortable for the parties involved is that those photos you see of people standing in front of back drops at parties are all orchestrated by the publicist.
The publicist either walks out before the person with a sign saying who they are or literally announces it to the paparazzi who then say the name of the person during the photos as if they didn't just her it. Meanwhile, that person just stands off to the side as they do this infront of them. Obviously if you are someone big this isn't the way it goes down but god how awkward. Then they put shit like t-shirts in their hands and they just lift it up like it's their favorite product. Everyone of them did it, didn't care what it was just took their picture with it and moved on. This is why there are those E True Hollywood Stories.
That being said, your girlfriend needs to know that the people in those magazines, to a certain extent, choose to be in those magazines and a majority of the gossip she is hearing, created for their enjoyment, which is a sad enjoyment. That's why they have pictures of them pumping gas or getting groceries because some don't participate. The real dirt is kept locked down pretty tight in the press although everyone in town knows about it.
But amen to you and thanks for your patronage. Maybe you should send her my link.
I think the Cramps put it best, and perfectly succinctly: People Ain't No Good ... there's no other possible explanation .. I just got my Idiocracy in the mail from Netflix, and I'm definitely looking forward to watching it tonight
I think it's more that they are lazy and don't care so much. There are too many mitigating factors to even count but with the in mind the studios no what they are doing and that's where the problem lies. As for Idiocracy, I can only imagine that it's better than Stomp the Yard
You write very well.
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