i was reading some comments on a movie blog i frequent. apparently the seltzer/friedman team are working on an oh-so-topical twilight spoof movie. i think the shark has long since jumped on twilight mockery, but that's the not the point of this article nor has it stopped that unholy duo from "parodying" anything. i use parody so loosely here. it isn't really ribbing, it's more or less showing a pop culture reference, letting it say a catch phrase of some kind, then hitting it in balls. someone, upon watching the trailer noticed something that i have thought about before.
the post said as follows:
"This is the lowest kind of theatre imaginable. I remember, as a child, going to shows where random cartoon characters (people dressed up) would run up on the stage. You would have Bugs Bunny and Spiderman in the same scene. It made absolutely no sense. But children find comfort in familiar characters who remain perpetually static. As long as they sound the same, and use the same lines, everything is fine."
i couldn't have said it better myself. i've seen television specials where various cartoon heroes band together to tell kids to fight the real danger: plaque and gum disease. as basic of an example that is, it's very true. the familiar face of spiderman makes everything feel a little safer, and makes the children more susceptible to the message. the post above took it up a level and applied it to the god-awful seltzer/friedman movies. i'd like to take it one level higher and look at movies geared for adults. the apatow movies are a great example. he uses a fairly consistent cast of people, giving the audience a familiar line of faces to count on and feel safe with. while seth rogen may or not be a funny guy in person, that's not important. the writer is the one who gives him the funnies, all he has to do is groan them out. people are more likely to laugh because they are comfortable with his face. he's not overly ugly, and nor is he threateningly handsome to the point where other men don't like him (ie: dane cook). comedians really shouldn't be attractive, but that's a whole different post entirely. of course the familiarity eventually leads to contempt, will ferell's over-exposure and constant sport comedies made people a little cold to him, and they latched on to the apatow wagon, which is currently getting to that contempt stage. it's all cyclical, it's just a matter of time before the next face appears and is suffocatingly embraced by the masses.
the other thing that came to mind was with this comfort comes a great profit opportunity. if you can convince children on a basic level that spiderman hates plaque and that all children should brush their teeth, what's to stop companies from taking advantage of say, seth rogen's familiar and beloved mug and using it to hawk their product. obviously, the adult mind works a little more complexly than a child's but the direct method is just a few subtle advertising tricks away from working on an adult brain. keep in mind that not all adults are as bright as you, and what might not work on you could easily work on the guy next to you in the theatre.
i'd like to add that i, myself have been one to go to a movie just because of a familiar face, or laughed harder at a joke because of a familiar comedian. no one is immune to the effect.
stay skeptical. don't trust those familiar faces. they just want your money.
the post said as follows:
"This is the lowest kind of theatre imaginable. I remember, as a child, going to shows where random cartoon characters (people dressed up) would run up on the stage. You would have Bugs Bunny and Spiderman in the same scene. It made absolutely no sense. But children find comfort in familiar characters who remain perpetually static. As long as they sound the same, and use the same lines, everything is fine."
i couldn't have said it better myself. i've seen television specials where various cartoon heroes band together to tell kids to fight the real danger: plaque and gum disease. as basic of an example that is, it's very true. the familiar face of spiderman makes everything feel a little safer, and makes the children more susceptible to the message. the post above took it up a level and applied it to the god-awful seltzer/friedman movies. i'd like to take it one level higher and look at movies geared for adults. the apatow movies are a great example. he uses a fairly consistent cast of people, giving the audience a familiar line of faces to count on and feel safe with. while seth rogen may or not be a funny guy in person, that's not important. the writer is the one who gives him the funnies, all he has to do is groan them out. people are more likely to laugh because they are comfortable with his face. he's not overly ugly, and nor is he threateningly handsome to the point where other men don't like him (ie: dane cook). comedians really shouldn't be attractive, but that's a whole different post entirely. of course the familiarity eventually leads to contempt, will ferell's over-exposure and constant sport comedies made people a little cold to him, and they latched on to the apatow wagon, which is currently getting to that contempt stage. it's all cyclical, it's just a matter of time before the next face appears and is suffocatingly embraced by the masses.
the other thing that came to mind was with this comfort comes a great profit opportunity. if you can convince children on a basic level that spiderman hates plaque and that all children should brush their teeth, what's to stop companies from taking advantage of say, seth rogen's familiar and beloved mug and using it to hawk their product. obviously, the adult mind works a little more complexly than a child's but the direct method is just a few subtle advertising tricks away from working on an adult brain. keep in mind that not all adults are as bright as you, and what might not work on you could easily work on the guy next to you in the theatre.
i'd like to add that i, myself have been one to go to a movie just because of a familiar face, or laughed harder at a joke because of a familiar comedian. no one is immune to the effect.
stay skeptical. don't trust those familiar faces. they just want your money.
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