EW recently published a list of "20 Pop-Culture Hits You Say We Couldn't PAY You To See". I was unsurprised by some - High School Musical, Da Vinci code, Godfathers, James Bond, dancing movies (defined as any of the "Step it Up"s or "Bring it On"s), reality TV. Some seemed a little arbitrary, like the movies 300 or ET. What's the problem with ET?
The user comments that justified the answers were the best part. One person won't see any of the Lord of the Rings because "somehow watching them would feel like cheating on my beloved Harry Potter."
Another won't read Oprah books just because she endorses them, though I don't think he realizes that Oprah has chosen Anna Karenina and 100 Years of Solitude in the past. If a "housewife" (his description of who reads Oprah's recommendations) reads Anna Karenina and hadn't before, bully for her! What's wrong with people reading for whatever reason?
One person just doesn't do vampires. At all. "I'm against vampires. Which means, Buffy and Twilight — yeah, I'm not watching! Sorry! But I have seen every episode of Gossip Girl, so I've got that going for me. Which is good." I've seen every episode of Gossip Girl, too, but it's not something I think "I've got going for me".
"Sarah" won't watch Jaws, but has a rational reason that seems out of place in this list. "For some reason, people being eaten by a large fish scares the crap out of me." Uh, yeah. I think most of us would agree.
This girl is obviously crazy and leads a sad, sad life: "When I was a kid, I wasn't allowed to watch the show [The Simpsons], and as a teenager, I stopped wanting to watch it. I'm an adult now, and people are always shocked that I've managed to live my entire life without seeing a single second of The Simpsons, except for those old Butterfingers commercials."
And finally? This person wouldn't see Harry Potter if you paid her because...drum roll..."I have read none of the books or seen any of the movies. I don't really plan on starting any time soon." Really? That's the least interesting answer ever. I was hoping she'd be some religious nut.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
20 Pop-Culture Hits You Say We Couldn't PAY You To See
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3 comments:
speaking of twilight, do you think the vip seats will be available for that movie? if yes, when should i go about ordering them? i want to drink beer and watch edward and bella NOT do it.
I bet they will be, and I think we have to wait until like 2 weeks before.
JP, Tim, and I watched the trailer on the PS3 the other day and it was so awesomely melodramatic. They were both like, "do you think that'll be good?" and I responded that if it was awesomely melodramatic, it would at least be just like the books. Lol.
And we get 2 MORE movies of them not doing it! w00T!
I can totally understand thee "I don't do Vampires" comment, although my statement of that is much less broad than that poster's probably was. I actually had a very lengthy discussion about this over the weekend.
It really makes me sad what contemporary authors and screenwriters have done to the poor vampire. The vampire used to be the arch-villain that the protagonist worked to escape or overcome. He controlled the forces of night and darkness, his very nature an anathema to all goodly virtues. He appears as a man, but that appearance is merely a mask and is made all the more sinister by the depth of horror and evil that lurks underneath.
Not anymore. Vampires are just angsty, gothy whiners who are not evil, simply misunderstood. They're just people that happen to drink blood and are extra sexy. Whether they actually "do it," as in Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter/True Blood or they have some creepy blood related pseudo-sex ala Anne Rice, they're nearly always hypersexualized. Dracula didn't want a bride because he was a horny old man, it was more of a spiritual statement of stealing the purity of her chaste soul. Stoker used the term "bride," but never once (to my memory) did Dracula physically copulate with his brides or engage in anything even remotely analogous to an actual human intimate relationship. There IS the one scene where his "brides" try to seduce the writer, but it takes up a few scant pages and is really not emphasized within the rest of the body of the story.
Hey, I get it. I like to bite, and I like to be bit. I've bit in the past and will certainly bite again. But seriously, keep your kink out of my vampires. They're horrific, evil, megalomaniacal arch-villains and I like them that way just fine. There's still plenty of creative elbow room to work within that framework.
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