He-man drives a flying jetski. Helloooo!?
May 25th, 2007 by screenwriterguy
 The last thing the world needs more of is written evidence that I am a geeky nerdy loser geek.
Still, I couldn’t help being annoyed when I read this article in yesterday’s Variety about a new He-man movie coming out. Sure, some of my annoyance stems from the fact that yet another fond memory of my youth is about to be dug up and shat upon by Hollywood, all in the hopes that name recognition equals tent pole. What really bugged me though was the article describing He-man’s home world of Eternia as “Middle Earth-like.” OK, let’s get something straight, Michael Fleming of Variety magazine. Prince Adam lived on another planet, in a futuristic kingdom where magic and technology coexist. Frodo lived in a sylvan land of enchantment from time immemorial. He-Man is science fiction. The Hobbit is fantasy. Lumping them together is dismissive of an entire genre. Pretty much the only thing they have in common is main characters with special swords. Also, Samwise and Cringer were lame sidekicks. No, I don’t have a girlfriend. Shut up. |
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Posted in Entertainment Industry | 5 Comments »
May 26th 2007 at 7:54 am
The sad thing is, I could see a He-Man movie, minus Dolph Lundgren, being sorta decent.
Also: Read A Game of Thrones if you want to read some nerdy fantasy stuff. It’s RAD. It’s like Deadwood meets Lord of the Rings.
May 26th 2007 at 5:44 pm
Uh. Actually a story “is” not a genre. A story fits into a genre. You can compare He-Man to The Hobbit, because they’re both stories. Just as you did when you said, “Prince Adam lived on another planet… Frodo lived in a sylvan land…”
Genres are just marketing categories stories fit into. Comparing stories doesn’t degrade one category or the other, just because one is typically associated more strongly with the science-fiction genre and the other is associated more strongly with the fantasy genre.
One more obvious point: Since genres are marketing categories, a single story can fit into two or more genres at once. It’s usually marketed in one category or another. But such is the nature of cross-genre stories. What does that do for the integrity “of an entire genre”?
-TimK
May 26th 2007 at 6:20 pm
All true, Tim.
I think my point was that sci-fi, whether it be a marketing category or something more substantive to storytelling, can frequently be looked down upon by fans of other, more mainstream film categories.
My problem wasn’t in comparing stories. That is quite valid. What I object to is making the comparison so imprecisely, because it implies that it wasn’t worth the journalist’s time to find out even the most basic details of these worlds. I wouldn’t suggest that someone will love Field of Dreams because they liked Major League. I wouldn’t send you to watch Letters from Iwo Jima if you really liked Glory or Starship Troopers.
In the end, of course, I think I intended my tone to be much more playful than it must have come across. It’s not like I’m REALLY offended if someone doesn’t like He-Man. Please. That’s how Beast Man would act.
Jun 4th 2007 at 5:52 pm
Actually, I believe He-Man would be considered Science Fantasy not Science Fiction, due to the heavy use of fantasy elements. How’s that for a nerdy comment?
Jun 5th 2007 at 11:38 am
Yes, John, that was a pretty nerdy comment. Then again, I’m the guy who posted because I was upset about He-Man mixing with LotR, so perhaps I shouldn’t throw stones. Science Fantasy is actually a very apt title for it. I’ve always wondered why we haven’t seen more work come out of that sub-genre.