The internet has provided us all with a wide birth of information and every opportunity to complain about it. That's sorta what's about to happen here, so let's not pretend that it's not about to go down. Let's talk film adaptations for a bit, shall we?
Without getting into a lengthy spiel that could turn into a rant, the whole point of an adaptation is to represent the material honestly so that the results resonate with the familiar and the uninitiated. You can't and shouldn't make a movie for only one crowd or the other. This defeats the purpose of adapting preexisting material, no matter the size or demographic of the fan-base. If you've done a great job at bringing an idea to life on-screen, then the fans will love your work in addition to the original material and you'll have made new fans out of those who didn't know about this property because of the movie they've now seen.
Not in spite of it, you jack-ass.
I bring this all up because of a special turn of events in the realm of film adaptations: The SPECTACULAR failure of Jem and The Holograms. Yeah, you were probably expecting a "Truly, truly, TRULY outrageous" here if you're in the know, but that's just predictable and we're better than that. Besides, the only people truly outraged right now are the execs that backed the production of that dumpster fire. If you threw in some of the estimated $5 million to make that colossal shit-show, you'd probably be a little angry too considering the turn of events.
Technically, YOU'RE not even in the movie. So, don't feel bad...
2 weeks!! 2 WEEKS!!! 2 WEEKS!!!!
I know...
This is unprecedented to my knowledge. And although there is the very real threat of Hollywood (ie. major studios) misinterpretation of this film's failure being an indicator of a lack of interest in female-driven properties (to which I would respond by pointing to The Hunger Games alone--Not The Force Awakens though. That was a guaranteed success regardless of who starred in what role), the bigger picture here is the power of full-scale demographic dismissal.
By now, we all know the routine when news of a film adaptation of any property hits. The fan reactions kick in immediately with hopeful optimism or begrudging pessimism, and very little in between. But by the time the movie is finally released, many in the fan-base go see the movie. Even those that were adamantly opposed to the project all along the way will inevitably have a comment or review to share of the film that they have ultimately paid to see. That's where the fans of Jem set a precedent. The first trailer was released in May of 2015, and the collective response from fans was "no." Or rather...
This...
...and as evidenced by the movie's extremely quick departure from theaters, fans stood by their decision. But what was the basis for that decision? What made fans of this franchise so determined to see this film fail? Well, let's look at that trailer, shall we?
Now, for some context: Jem was a cartoon that began airing in 1984 created by Christy Marx. It featured the adventures of a mild-mannered music exec named Jerrica Benton and her sisters/band-mates, the Holograms. Their name correlates with Jerrica's holographic super computer, Synergy, that projects holograms over them at her command to create their rock star personas, Jem and the Holograms. If any fans of Jem can find any major fault in this brief synopsis, feel free to pick apart the breakdown that I *LITERALLY* just typed in a matter of 5 minutes while multi-tasking before taking a much-needed lunch break. It's still more accurate than that ANYTHING in that trailer.
That, coupled with the news that the series creator wasn't involved in the making of the film at all, was all the fanbase needed to fervently walk away from this completely. And walk away they did. This was pride-obliterating and eye-opening in ways that seem rather obvious. The power of the consumer has never been displayed quite like this in the realm of film....but that's because most consumers still don't get that they're in more control than none at all.
But then why is it lately that a lot of male fans over the age of 18 strike me as...idiots or worse...assholes?
Don't get the wrong idea: This *looks* like an improvement over the 2014 effort. Of course, that's a lot like saying wet, rotten socks is a better state of affairs than dysentery. They both suck, just in differing degrees and ways. The first TMNT movie from Platinum Dunes was an absurdly convoluted mess with a misguided focus and distracting lack of consistency in tone. And as is seemingly customary with Michael Bay-related projects, the subsequent rebootannouncement and/or retroactive apology tour has already begun. It only makes sense that the cast and producers have promised a better product this time around while admitting their own criticisms and concerns with the first movie. There's just one problem: Why is this franchise deserving of a second outing at all?
The same question can and should be applied to the Transformers movie franchise because it suffers from the same problems and always has. In the cases of Jem, the Ninja Turtles, and Transformers, the criticisms leveled against the films aren't just directed at the fidelity to the source material. The films themselves have all been found lacking, and in the same notable ways. Looking at the responses to all of the movies involved, critics and level-headed detractors point to things like structural problems with the story, pacing issues, poor character development, and an overall mediocrity that makes the experience more or less forgettable. In spite of all of this, the 2nd Ninja Turtles movie in a rebooted franchise will be hitting theaters soon after I post this and the 5th installment in the Transformers movie franchise was announced mere days ago. One has to wonder why...but then this happened...
I know this entry feels a little like it's all over the place, but bear with me. The blow-back over the upcoming Ghostbusters reboot has been ongoing since the day it was announced. Every other person formed an opinion, and they were mostly negative due to the general pattern of adaptation announcements. Yeah, it applies to remakes and reboots too. Surely you've noticed. Just as you likely noticed that the negative impression of the Ghostbusters reboot got pretty uncomfortable once it became known that the new Ghostbusters looked like this...
Front-butt pockets. Unacceptable.
Seems like the sight of women in onesies set off a firestorm of negativity. But what could be the true cause of this response? Well...
Yeah...Let me clear something up right now: I have no investment in the Ghostbusters movies because to date, there really has only been one good one. You might think fondly of Ghostbusters 2, but it's a lazy cash-grab of a movie with a retread plot in reality. Why do you think Bill Murray didn't wanna come back for a third one? Plus, the idea of a Ghostsbusters 3 long ago missed its window of opportunity. So, a reboot is the only sensible course of action if a movie must be made seeing as the "franchise" was already circling the drain the last time anyone checked. I think everyone can agree on that if they're honest with themselves, or...not dangerously inept. So, the issue isn't as simple as the usual backlash over a reboot. These responses and others make that much pretty clear. The source of this particular nerd tantrum is obviously Donald Trump.
If you thought I would use any other image, you must be new here...
No. The real reason for this reaction is the latent misogyny and sense of entitlement that permeates much of nerd culture. This is not to say that the movie looks great. Out of the 4 trailers that I've seen, I've laughed all of once. But those tweets and comments up there were all from 2015. There wasn't even a trailer until this year. These people had nothing to go on other than it being a female-led reboot. But then...
No one even practices Karate in this, making it both inaccurate AND kinda racist
Ironically, you don't even remember this one.
And of course...
...and...
Tell me...Where was the anger and calls for boycotts on any of these? Sure, some of these movies turned out to be fantastic.* There'd be no other reboots if Batman Begins didn't work. But then other remakes and reboots have been absolutely awful, or worse...forgettable. That remake for Point Break? One of the worst reviewed mainstream movies of at least the past 5 years, and nowhere near the animosity directed at it. That only leaves one possible point of contention, but you need to understand something first. Ghostbusters never belonged to nerds or men.
Nostalgia over a cartoon you watched on Saturday mornings may have distorted your memory, but Ghostbusters was never a niche property that only appealed to boys. It was the highest-grossing PG-rated movie of '84. You don't get much more mainstream than that, and you don't get those numbers without resonating with men and women alike. So, there is no rightful claim that male nerds have to this property and there never was. I get it though. You were introduced to this at a young age, and feel like it helped define you. But there's nothing about this new movie that betrays or abandons the premise of Ghostbusters, so any fan backlash on those grounds are dishonest at best. Unlike Jem fans, you weren't insulted or wronged no matter how much you wanna think you are. The problem is in the misguided belief that something is being taken away from us, but is it? Just because the 2016 movie isn't deliberately pandering to male audiences doesn't make it bad, nor does that mean it's pandering to women. In fact, the team being made up of women gives this remake a more valid reason for existing than most remakes. Nobody can justify the existence of the Conan the Barbarian remake that you clearly forgot with such a notable difference between the two movies. Are you gonna miss a ghost BJ joke that badly?
"Bustin'" isn't supposed to make you feel that good...
This wasn't supposed to turn into a rant, but the response to this movie that has yet to be released has become overwhelmingly annoying and transparent. Many have and will try to hide behind criticisms, but no one has actually seen the movie yet. And while "angry nerds" like James Rolfe are proudly declaring that they won't watch the movie, Dan Akroyd saw the movie and loves it. At this point, it's time to admit that this isn't even about Ghostbusters. Because the truth is most complaining about this movie would never have opened their mouths if the team looked less like this...
...and more like this...
At least this tool admits it. Choose your company wisely.
*--By that, I mean one of them listed here. Star Trek '09 is good, not great.
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