So Please Stop With The Trailers

[bloodyrosemccoy]

I think I have managed to achieve exact calibration on What Kind Of Hollywood Bullshit I Will Put Up With!

Evidently ...

... I will gush for weeks about a movie so loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen" that the only things it really has in common with the original story is that it has snow and a queen in it ...

... And I prefer the Disney version of his other story, too, because what the hell was UP with the end of the original Little Mermaid?! ...

... And I can sit back and enjoy all the ridiculous padding Peter Jackson stuffed into a movie trilogy version of The Hobbit while still knowing that the book is INFINITELY more wonderful ...

... And I'll even contend that the LotR movies in a lot of ways are better than the books ...

... but I draw the line at Walter Mitty.

I could go on about all the reasons why, but basically what it comes down to is that making a movie about Walter Mitty is exactly, completely, 100% antithetical to the whole POINT of Walter Mitty.

Things you learn about yourself while groaning at movie trailers. Everything is opportunity for self-discovery! It's fun!

Comments

[madripoor-rose.livejournal.com]

I am frothing at the mouth about that, because Walter Mitty is supposed to be about imagination and the power of escapism, and they've not only missed the point, they've insulted it.

[starwatcher]

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Exactly. If they gave the man a different name, it would simply be an adventure movie, and people might enjoy it. Those who love Walter Mitty... not so much.
.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

And what we're all doing in our heads all the time, really. To have Walter Mitty go out and actually DO things devalues the daydreaming aspect of the story.

[badgermirlacca.livejournal.com]

There's the story, which is wonderful. There's the Danny Kaye movie, which is also wonderful (ta-pocketa pocketa pocketa).

And that is all that there NEEDS to be, THANK YOU VERY MUCH HOLLYWOOD.

[starwatcher]

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+1
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[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

I will have to disagree with you on the Danny Kaye movie. That, too, was unnecessary.

[badgermirlacca.livejournal.com]

Fair enough. I love Danny Kaye, and tend to view Mitty as a separate-but-equal joy. Mileage varies!

[prodigal.livejournal.com]

what the hell was UP with the end of the original Little Mermaid?!

My impression, after reading the story, is that Anderson suffered from chronic depression, and at least part of it was due to a disastrous romantic relationship. Since the story is about how, no matter how much you love someone or how much you give up, sometimes the other person will never love you back.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

See, that part I am actually okay with. It's not really the part where she doesn't get the guy and dies--it's that whole bit about the Children of the Air. The shoehorning in of a moral lesson for kids, plus the strange stuff about immortal souls, was what seemed so weird to me.

But I think you're right--from what I've heard, the guy had some pretty terrible depression and anxiety. And I hate to admit it, but most of his stories creep me out, for a lot of reasons.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_wastrel/]

Since the story is about how, no matter how much you love someone or how much you give up, sometimes the other person will never love you back.

Wow, I never fully realized what a huge part that was of that story I was trying to write all that time ago, and where so much of its water-based imagery had come from. It's a topic that was on my mind a lot back then... and still is, for some reasons which are the same, and some not.

[westrider.livejournal.com]

Wait, what? I hadn't seen anything about the new movie except the poster. They really fucked it up that badly?

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

I think he winds up going on an actual adventure. But pretty much making a Walter Mitty movie at ALL is self-defeating.

[gwalla.livejournal.com]

"47 Ronin" is the trailer that makes me grind my teeth. And Rebootcop to a lesser extent. Remaking Robocop is just unnecessary; "47 Ronin" is just flat out insulting.