April 12, 2012@Dallas!Dallas!
Hey pal, I absolutly agree with you. You might get a kick outta something I posted a while back, when the sequel to Carpenter's THE THING was released. Here it is below:
The Thing is…
Well, I saw “THE THING” prequel last night. (NO SPOILERS) If I compare it to the average Science fiction/Horror film…it wasn’t terrible, and had some pretty interesting ideas. On the other hand, if I compare it to truly excellent films of the genre, of which there are few (Carpenter’s THE THING, ALIEN), it’s quite weak and feeble…at best.
The setting/atmosphere was a bit stale…and “diet Coke.” Like its predecessor, there should have been more of a…pardon the pun, “Who Goes There?” sense of paranoia in the air. Also, I never really got the sense of bitter cold, and the frigid reality that it would be in Antarctica. The extra-terrestrial monster manifestations are pretty cool designs, with some rip-offs…or homage to the original The Thing, Alien, From Beyond, Leviathan, etc. A few of the effects are crap, right out of a “Sifi channel” original movie, but most are passable or good. The films editing and pacing is a bit off, and the third act feels rushed.
However, I will sacrifice criticizing everything for a solid story, believable characters, and realistic, interesting dialogue.
The question is: Who goes to see Science Fiction Horror Films?
I mean…Who goes there?!
I’ll tell you who goes there. MALES. That’s right! Males between the ages of 10 and 50. Sure you have a couple of “here and theres,” but by and large, it’s “Dudes” who make or break a SciFi/horror film’s box-office success.
So why in God’s name, do filmmakers continue to shove and shoehorn female characters into traditional “male roles”? Once again, I’ll tell you why…to push a liberal, feminist agenda. These roles are traditional because they work…and are more realistic. This is an unpopular and fairly taboo subject in today’s society. You would think, they would be smart…and greedy enough to realize that sometimes you cannot accomplish both box-office success, and political correctness simultaneously. Alas, they’re too numb to figure out this equation.
When I saw the film last night, there were about 70 or 80 people in the audience…give or take. Only 6 or 7 were female. This is what I talking about. This is a “Guy flick,” whether people like it or not. So, all the males in the theater sat there and watched a woman shell out most of the flame throwing and alien ass-kickins. In my humble opinion, this is the main reason why this movie will fail. To tell you the truth, I actually, really liked the lady protagonist’s character…a lot! Doesn’t change the fact, that deep down, males want to identify with a male protagonist.
One could say: “Well it worked in “ALIEN” with Ripley”. My answer for that would be: It worked in ALIEN, first of all, because it was a novelty. It had never…really been done before.
Secondly, in the original ALIEN, Ripley was not the Rambo type of character she was eventually developed into. She was a young, responsible officer, who had command authority and terrible decisions thrust upon her, in an impossible situation.
Thirdly, ALIEN was less of an action picture, and more of a horror film. Therefore, Ripley fit perfectly into the horror genre’s male psychological…Beauty and the Beast cycle, where male viewers are free to be scared and terrified, vicariously through a female character’s predicament…without injuring their own tender male ego.
Ultimately, I enjoyed a lot of the elements in the new “THE THING” film…but it’s still weak, and pales in comparison to the original.
~Neurion
