I try to keep an eye on things going on in the entertainment business as that also impacts the video-game business. Surprising many, GI Joe is being watched by many.
How could this be? The movie was supposed to bomb. This was ‘confirmed’ because there was no advanced screenings of the movie for our wise and amazing ‘movie critics’. Those behind the movie said this was done because they don’t want the ‘movie critics’ to define the game, but they want the audience to define the film. The movie critics, naturally, thought there wasn’t an advanced screening because the movie was an expensive bomb.
They thought the movie would be like this:
Or like this: (warning, language in the video)
Or like this: (warning, language in the video)
Or even like this: (warning, language in the video)
But the movie ended up being like this:
This column and its comments end up eyeopening of illustrating this anger. Bizarrely, political slang is inserted to describe the success of a movie like GI Joe (e.g. a movie for “flyover country”). In the comments, some say it is because of ‘nostalgia’. Those who actually watched it and liked it reported back that it was just what they were looking for, a fun filled movie that entertained.
I haven’t watched it, and I already know why people like this movie. It is because it is good and wholesome testosterone entertainment (if you don’t know what testosterone entertainment is, see this review on Contra III).
300, which is very much bubbling with testosterone, was hated by many in Hollywood. They called the movie to have ‘video game graphics’ (which is apparently supposed to be an insult according to Hollywood) and to be too ‘black and white’ and not enough gray.
Sci-fi TV, which was dominated by a male audience, decided to even do a not ‘black and white’ and entirely gray TV show with Deep Space Nine, and Hollywood really didn’t like that either.
In the show, O’Brien and Bashir become obsessed with ‘hopeless battles’ especially the Alamo (ironically, Bashir begins playing the 300 Spartan’s last stand at the end of the show). Hollywood’s distaste has nothing to do with shows being ‘black and white’ and not ‘gray’, but everything to do with that testosterone celebration. “This show ruined Star Trek,” they would complain, “because the captain needs to negotiate peace through diplomacy instead of blowing them up.” I’d rather see them blown up. It is the reason why the Borg episodes were so extremely popular in “Best of Both Worlds”. The Borg do not negotiate and have to be blown up.
Another movie that wasn’t well liked by Hollywood was The Dark Knight. It, again, was another testosterone movie. Because Heath Ledger died before it came out, you never heard the typical ‘sneers’ that comes from Hollywood when a ‘macho’ film does well at the box office.
Movies like ‘Gladiator’ also fit this. Critics thought people liked ‘Gladiator’ only because of its Roman setting. Actually, they liked it because they like seeing a movie about a ‘real man’.
I’ve done acting before. It should be no secret to any observer that actors don’t come across as ‘men’. They are too baby faced. In real life, I’ve seen actors have to perform some ‘stage combat’, and they look absolutely ridiculous. They are scared of holding a sword! It is clear that the audience demands these type of ‘testosterone’ movies, but people in the movie business certainly do not want to make them. Movies like ‘300’ or ‘Matrix’ are coming from the outside.
Believe it or not, Hollywood thought that ‘Star Wars’ ruined movies. You see, before ‘Star Wars’ and even ‘Jaws’, movies were ‘sophisticated’, had grand ‘narratives’, were ‘social commentary’. They excused movies like ‘Star Wars’ based on the application of ‘special effects’. But the appeal of ‘Star Wars’ had root in far more than flashy effects. Nevertheless, ‘Star Wars’ was fun and entertaining, something the so-called ‘sophisticated’ movies were not. It didn’t destroy movies, it saved them.
Ironically, Hollywood has the reverse problem that the “Game Industry” does. While Hollywood loves ‘family films’, ‘artsy films’, and ‘chick flicks’, it sneers at ‘testosterone films’ as being ‘not really films’ and insult the customers who watch them. The “Game Industry” thinks ‘testosterone games’ are the only type of games that can and should be made while ‘family games’, ‘chick games’, and ‘experimental games’ are not really games and should be sneered at with their customers attacked. Hollywood calls people who likes films they don’t like as ‘casual movie-watchers’ which is a nice way of saying ‘dumb people who can’t handle sophistication’. “Game Industry” calls people who likes games they don’t like as ‘casual gamers’ which is a nice way of saying ‘dumb people can’t handle gaming sophistication’.
Despite over a decade of trying to become like Hollywood, the “Game Industry” has succeeded. The “Game Industry” and Hollywood are exactly the same in their sneering at customers who like movies/games they don’t like to make.
Good job to Paramount for bypassing the ‘movie critics’ and sending the movie “GI Joe” straight to the consumers. I hope soon that the “Game Industry” will bypass all ‘game reviewers’ and send games straight to the consumers and let consumers define the games, not these idiot game reviewers. The only reason why anyone reads these idiot game reviews is because, at the time, they are the only people who have played the game. Send the game to everyone at the same time, and I bet those ‘game reviewers’ would go out of business.
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