Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: thoughtful
  • Music: Rachel Sage, "93 Maidens."

Why Scott Pilgrim is important (voting with your dollars).

A movie called Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was released recently. It's a classic "boy meets girl, boy fights girl's seven evil exes to keep girl, boy learns important life lessons through kicking ass" story, told with all the manic intensity of a Nintendo game on Red Bull and speed. Is it perfect? No. There are probably things that could have been done better, or at least differently, without changing the movie into something that it didn't want to be. But it's good. It's quirky and strange and wild and totally new; it's something we've only ever seen before if, say, we ate a dozen Krispie Kreme donuts before challenging our boyfriends to an all-night Super Mario 3 game session that ended with sweaty sugar-buzz groping on the living room couch.

For example. And even then, it was a hallucination, whereas Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is something you can show to other people.

Sadly, when the opening weekend box office for Scott Pilgrim was reported, it was well below industry expectations, and the movie was promptly written off as a flop. It doesn't matter if it makes back its budget and more on DVD; it failed. It didn't bring in big bucks in the theater. The same thing happened to Slither, which has been one of my favorite movies of all time basically since the first commercial aired. Bad box office, great DVD sales, game over. (And yes, opening week matters. It's incredibly rare for something to have sales that climb after the opening rush has passed, which is why, weirdly, it's important to be a part of that initial rush, if you can. That initial rush is what tells the accountants "this is going to be okay.")

A lot of people said a lot of things when the numbers for Scott Pilgrim started coming in, and what a lot of them said boiled down to, "Why do you care?" You are not, after all, involved with writing, producing, marketing, or selling the movie; you're just a consumer. The movie was there to be consumed, you consumed it, now move on. And to a degree, they're right. No one can ever take Slither away from me; all the bad box office in the world can't keep Scott Pilgrim out of my DVD collection once it's released in a purchasable format. So why do I care?

I care because we're not going to get another movie like Scott Pilgrim any time soon. I care because Slither tanking at the box office is why we had to wait five years for Zombieland. I care because all entertainment is profit-driven, and when we don't put our quarters in the plastic pony, it stops bucking.

Why do book series end in the middle? Because not enough people bought the books. Sometimes they can live on, as with tim_pratt's online serialization of his fabulous Marla Mason stories, but for the majority of authors, if the sales aren't there, the story's over. Why do midlist authors disappear? Because their sales weren't good enough to justify their continued publication. Why are TV shows canceled? Because not enough people gave money to their advertisers. All entertainment is profit-driven. We pay to play, and when we stop paying, they stop playing.

Scott Pilgrim is important because it's a weird, wacky, wonderful movie, and it's going to be a long time before we see something else like it. Next time you love something weird, wacky, and wonderful—whether it's a movie, a TV show, or a book—remember the lesson of Scott Pilgrim, and the eighth evil ex: the box office. In this economy, it's more important than ever that we kick its ass.
Tags: at the movies, comic books, contemplation, media addict
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  • 76 comments

ryuutchi

August 24 2010, 15:46:26 UTC 6 years ago

The reason I'm okay the movie didn't do well is this. I recognize that because it didn't do well, I might miss out on something interestingly avant garde and fun. But that's not really a reason to support something I know is going to also support a lot of attitudes I dislike.

(Not to say people shouldn't enjoy it, just that I, personally, am deeply bothered by some of the attitudes in both the comic and the movie and thus chose not to watch for most of the reasons eloquently stated in the linked post.)

seanan_mcguire

August 24 2010, 15:50:45 UTC 6 years ago

These are all totally reasonable reasons not to see a thing, and we all have our hot buttons in different places. (As a horror fan, I argue a lot about whether a movie that has a male monster and mostly consists of screaming and running can pass the Bechdel. Although Resident Evil managed it.)

Scott Pilgrim, in this case, is less of a "OMG YOU GUYS WHY DIDN'T YOU RUN OUT AND SAVE IT OMG," and more, "here is an example, look, everyone who complains about this sort of thing, this is why." I'm honestly a lot more upset about Slither (and Freakylinks, but that show broke my heart forever).

artbeco

August 24 2010, 18:35:18 UTC 6 years ago

I agree, and the review really says my feelings about the movie pretty spot-on. So thank you.

I should add that I went with my husband and he loved the whole thing, while I was wishing I was somewhere else, or at least had brought my knitting! Two hours of my life I won't get back.

I think the quirky technology approach was interesting, but the attitudes and storyline really ruined it for me. And the fact that they pushed the in-your-face 'we're cool, look at our look' aspect really put me off. If you don't have a decent story, the best visual tricks still aren't going to cut it.

What I find sad is that this stupid story used up a chance for a well-written, good cutting edge movie to have done well in the box office. Its flopping will affect the chances of other quirky films getting made. Too bad it blew the chance.

seanan_mcguire

August 24 2010, 21:06:13 UTC 6 years ago

I don't know. I think everything that fails is "blowing the chance" of something somebody would have liked better. In this case, I'm talking as much about the theory as I am this specific example—a lot of the people I've seen going "oh, woe," about the bad box office are fans who saw it for free and didn't see it for money/put off going to the theater/don't do movies in the theater but want the DVD. (At least one person? Brags about never paying for movies.)

It makes me sad, because that is why the median always wins.

palmer_kun

August 24 2010, 21:18:03 UTC 6 years ago

I'm going to have to call out a few of the complaints there.

Specifically, the ranting about how asians are only relegated to "accessory" status.

That's kind of an ignorant comment, since Knives status in the story is identical to that of the original graphic novel. Which was written by a KOREAN.

She missed a LOT of points, really. Calling Scott "a bland, creepy loser" as a negative? The whole point of the story is that he IS a bland, creepy loser, until he actually starts growing up, learns some self respect and stops being a loser.

Same with Ramona, actually. It's just as much about her loser habits and outgrowing them.

Blaming hollywood for all these things when it's a near-verbatim adaptation of a graphic novel is just plain ignorant, and frankly invalidates almost everything she has to say.

ryuutchi

August 24 2010, 21:45:56 UTC 6 years ago

I assume that the author of the post hadn't read the comic and was calling out problems as she saw them (whether or not they were present in the original media is beside the point-- the point being that they exist). OTOH, I, in fact, said "I, personally, am deeply bothered by some of the attitudes in both the comic and the movie". I don't think racist and sexist flaws being faithfully recreated is exactly something to be proud of, though...

If you don't feel they are as pronounced as she and I do, that's fine. Everyone's entitled to enjoy the things they enjoy, but I had issues with the comic, and the post supported my initial impression that the things I disliked about the comic were clearly evident in the movie. Thus, personally, I'm okay with the movie doing... not amazingly.