I have long maintained that the Internet in general, and social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, have devolved into an ocean of hate and negativity (and photos of lunches, but that's another story....)
It seems that everyone hates everything, all the time, and quite frankly, it gets depressing. Now, I already know what some people are saying. "You should talk! You're always ranting and raving about sometimes!!" This is true. There are plenty of things in life that tick me off, and I talk about it as opposed to keeping it all bottled up. This helps keep me somewhat sane. BUT! I still love so many things in life. FIlms, music, art, poetry, family, friends, food, nature, travel, etc.
Anyway, the main subject of this post is movies, and how many people hate them, sometimes years before a movie even comes out. Just scroll through your Facebook news feed and you'll see what I mean. People complaining about every movie they see, and every movies that is upcoming. OH, and casting announcements! Those are fun, aren't they?! They announce that a particular actor or actress is going to play a comic book (or other) character, and everyone loses their shit! When it was announced that Ben Affleck would play Batman in the second "Man of Steel" film, I think the Internet actually broke from the outpouring of hate and outrage. Holy horse shit! The film doesn't come out for years and people are killing it.
Another case in point, the upcoming Godzilla. From the day it was announced, people were complaining because it was an American film. OK, the 1998 disaster didn't help, but come on! Then, when we got the first glimpse of the king himself, some fans' collective heads exploded. A million people started bitching about Godzilla's look. "His head is too small", "He's too fat", "The spines on his back are not right." It went on and on and it is still going on. THEN, when we first heard Godzilla's roar, I could hear the sound of the collective groans rolling in, to the point that I have seen many posts of people declaring they are not going to see it JUST BECAUSE OF THE ROAR! Huh?
People are still saying that Godzilla's look is "too Americanized." What the hell does that even mean? Look, I loved Godzilla as a kid, and I still do. I watch the movies any chance I get, but let's face it. It was a man in a rubber suit stomping around a miniature set. If I take off my fanboy goggles for just a second, I could make the case that the suit was, at times, ridiculous. With the effects available to filmmakers today, almost anything is going to be an upgrade. Just embrace it. If you love the originals so much, as I do, how could anything possibly diminish that love?
It seems that everyone hates everything, all the time, and quite frankly, it gets depressing. Now, I already know what some people are saying. "You should talk! You're always ranting and raving about sometimes!!" This is true. There are plenty of things in life that tick me off, and I talk about it as opposed to keeping it all bottled up. This helps keep me somewhat sane. BUT! I still love so many things in life. FIlms, music, art, poetry, family, friends, food, nature, travel, etc.
Anyway, the main subject of this post is movies, and how many people hate them, sometimes years before a movie even comes out. Just scroll through your Facebook news feed and you'll see what I mean. People complaining about every movie they see, and every movies that is upcoming. OH, and casting announcements! Those are fun, aren't they?! They announce that a particular actor or actress is going to play a comic book (or other) character, and everyone loses their shit! When it was announced that Ben Affleck would play Batman in the second "Man of Steel" film, I think the Internet actually broke from the outpouring of hate and outrage. Holy horse shit! The film doesn't come out for years and people are killing it.
Another case in point, the upcoming Godzilla. From the day it was announced, people were complaining because it was an American film. OK, the 1998 disaster didn't help, but come on! Then, when we got the first glimpse of the king himself, some fans' collective heads exploded. A million people started bitching about Godzilla's look. "His head is too small", "He's too fat", "The spines on his back are not right." It went on and on and it is still going on. THEN, when we first heard Godzilla's roar, I could hear the sound of the collective groans rolling in, to the point that I have seen many posts of people declaring they are not going to see it JUST BECAUSE OF THE ROAR! Huh?
People are still saying that Godzilla's look is "too Americanized." What the hell does that even mean? Look, I loved Godzilla as a kid, and I still do. I watch the movies any chance I get, but let's face it. It was a man in a rubber suit stomping around a miniature set. If I take off my fanboy goggles for just a second, I could make the case that the suit was, at times, ridiculous. With the effects available to filmmakers today, almost anything is going to be an upgrade. Just embrace it. If you love the originals so much, as I do, how could anything possibly diminish that love?
The examples go on and on, especially with every big "genre" film, like "Avengers", "X-Men", "Spider Man", etc. People are never happy with any of them, usually from the minute the first casting announcement is made. One of my personal favorites is when people say "So and so is shitting on my childhood!" Case in point, the upcoming "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" film, and Michael Bay's involvement. Meanwhile, he is one of four producers, and he didn't write or direct it.
All of this feeds into something a very good friend of mine calls "Internet Self-Entitlement", and I love this term. These self-proclaimed "Super Fans" feel that THEY are entitled to determine who should play a certain character, how a character should look, how a story should be written, how a creature or monster should look, etc. Fans seem to forget that they do not own these properties, and the filmmakers are free to interpret them as they please. If we end up not liking the finished product, that's different, but if George Lucas wants to re-edit Star Wars with Chewbacca break dancing for 30 minutes in the middle of it, that's up to him.
I just don't understand how some people can just hate everything the see. They bitch and complain about how every film sucks, especially wildly popular films (and TV shows). I honestly believe that if a movie comes out, and has critical and popular approval, some people think that if they shit on it, it makes them seem edgy and cool. Guess what? It doesn't. It makes you seem surly and negative.
I believe that a lot of people carefully construct an image in their mind of what a character should be, or what a story should be, or what a whole film should be, and if ANYTHING deviates from their carefully constructed image, they hate it. Look, if I wanted to, I could find something to nitpick about every film I've ever seen. Why in the world would I do that? Why would I look to attack and break down something that I love? As a budding film reviewer, I am able to look at films with a critical eye, but not to the extent that I feel the need to tear everything apart all the time, and I certainly am not going to say that they next Star Wars film is going to be "liquid shit" (yes I read that) two years before it comes out!
I could go on and on about this, but I won't. My advice to all of the people who say that they are not going to see (insert film name here) because they don't like a casting decision, or for any other reason is, please DO NOT go see it! If you feel it's going to destroy your cherished childhood memories, then STAY HOME! But, I know you won't. You won't be able to resist going to the theater so you can hop on the Internet as soon as the credits roll and tell the world how much you hated it, and how much it sucked, and how you were right and all of us who enjoyed it are just stupid.
Life is far too short to just hate everything. Of course there are films I don't like. Let's not be ridiculous, but I still LOVE the theater experience, and I am absolutely giddy over the upcoming Godzilla film. Stop constructing these "perfect" films in your mind and stop setting expectations that are impossible to achieve. Try and embrace the magic of film, grab your popcorn and soda, sit back as the lights dim, and just enjoy!!
The Horror Nerd
All of this feeds into something a very good friend of mine calls "Internet Self-Entitlement", and I love this term. These self-proclaimed "Super Fans" feel that THEY are entitled to determine who should play a certain character, how a character should look, how a story should be written, how a creature or monster should look, etc. Fans seem to forget that they do not own these properties, and the filmmakers are free to interpret them as they please. If we end up not liking the finished product, that's different, but if George Lucas wants to re-edit Star Wars with Chewbacca break dancing for 30 minutes in the middle of it, that's up to him.
I just don't understand how some people can just hate everything the see. They bitch and complain about how every film sucks, especially wildly popular films (and TV shows). I honestly believe that if a movie comes out, and has critical and popular approval, some people think that if they shit on it, it makes them seem edgy and cool. Guess what? It doesn't. It makes you seem surly and negative.
I believe that a lot of people carefully construct an image in their mind of what a character should be, or what a story should be, or what a whole film should be, and if ANYTHING deviates from their carefully constructed image, they hate it. Look, if I wanted to, I could find something to nitpick about every film I've ever seen. Why in the world would I do that? Why would I look to attack and break down something that I love? As a budding film reviewer, I am able to look at films with a critical eye, but not to the extent that I feel the need to tear everything apart all the time, and I certainly am not going to say that they next Star Wars film is going to be "liquid shit" (yes I read that) two years before it comes out!
I could go on and on about this, but I won't. My advice to all of the people who say that they are not going to see (insert film name here) because they don't like a casting decision, or for any other reason is, please DO NOT go see it! If you feel it's going to destroy your cherished childhood memories, then STAY HOME! But, I know you won't. You won't be able to resist going to the theater so you can hop on the Internet as soon as the credits roll and tell the world how much you hated it, and how much it sucked, and how you were right and all of us who enjoyed it are just stupid.
Life is far too short to just hate everything. Of course there are films I don't like. Let's not be ridiculous, but I still LOVE the theater experience, and I am absolutely giddy over the upcoming Godzilla film. Stop constructing these "perfect" films in your mind and stop setting expectations that are impossible to achieve. Try and embrace the magic of film, grab your popcorn and soda, sit back as the lights dim, and just enjoy!!
The Horror Nerd
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