Imaginary Conversations and Random Thoughts

Our friend the Bloggin' Bizatch popped in to let me know about another Serenity previewee. His experience was similar to mine noted here, with the whole you're on the list but not necessarily guaranteed a seat thing. Based on the date of his posts, I think he did make it into his preview screening, just like me. Like me, he also had some misgivings about the nature of the whole enterprise. You can read about them here, since, unlike me, he had the nards to actually voice his concerns. He was willing to take the chance that a little impertinence might keep him from getting in.

I didn't mind the notion of being used to promote the movie, or share his other concerns. Hey, I was going to get something for free. But I was a little bothered by the hype they wanted me to put up:

Joss Whedon, the Oscar® - and Emmy - nominated writer/director responsible for the worldwide television phenomena of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE, ANGEL and FIREFLY, now applies his trademark compassion and wit to a small band of galactic outcasts 500 years in the future in his feature film directorial debut, Serenity. The film centers around Captain Malcolm Reynolds, a hardened veteran (on the losing side) of a galactic civil war, who now ekes out a living pulling off small crimes and transport-for-hire aboard his ship, Serenity. He leads a small, eclectic crew who are the closest thing he has left to family –squabbling, insubordinate and undyingly loyal.

They wanted it, and I put it up. But I just have to say that this is the sort of thing that I normally ignore, once I've gotten over being annoyed by it. To me, it's almost insulting. This sort of hype job has almost become a parody of itself. "Trademark compassion and wit" just irks me. I liked the movie. I liked the series. I did not like the blurb they wanted. I am no professional writer. Probably most bloggers aren't professional writers. However, I believe the effort of each individual to promote the movie as he sees fit would have been much more effective. I count 106 words in the blurb above. If they had said "Hey, to be part of this promotion, write a brief paragraph, 75 to 125 words, about your feelings about Firefly and/or Joss Whedon," they would have gotten much more heartfelt responses, and people reading them would have been more likely to be swayed to see the movie.

A few added thoughts I wrote to SButler:

I really enjoyed the movie too. It was different from the series, but in a good way. One of the things that bugged me about the many of the Trek movies was that they seemed to think that since it was a movie, they should go crazy with the cosmetic details, altered uniforms and such, and gave not nearly as much effort to the story. Serenity did feel a bit rushed, especially for those familiar with the Firefly series. I wouldn't blame Whedon though. He just didn't have the luxury of ten or twelve hours to fully play out a massive story arc. He did do a great job with the time that he had, and I think he made the film accessible to those who had never seen the series as well.

And here is his review.

Next up: O'Reilly tells us about the smearingest political sites on the web. And you know it's true, because he's just looking out for the folks.