Why the mainstream?

[veronica_rich]

Many of us reading this right now are obsessive little fangirls (and some fanboys) - let's face it, we wouldn't belong to a POTC LiveJournal community if we weren't. We are probably the type who are or have been fans of "Star Trek" or "Star Wars" or various and sundry other sci-fi/fantasy/paranormal (Helllllllo, Mulder!) franchises over time. We're considered "fringe" and outside the mainstream.

Fair enough. I've been that way since 1992, LOL.

My discussion question today is this: What about those people who are NOT going to see POTC or its sequels in theaters 5 or 10 times for discussion and analysis and fanfic-writing points? "Dead Man's Chest" has raked in over $500 million worldwide in only 17 days; by comparison, "The Da Vinci Code" has only taken in about $525 million during its entire run so far - and THAT was a highly anticipated, controversial movie.

Why do you think "mainstream" people are seeing this movie? And do you think it's making its money mostly off of us "fringe" diehard fans, or are there more people just going to see this than normally go see movies, period? Is it because all ages (including little kids who probably shouldn't be in the theater) are going to it? Is "Pirates," in fact, the new "Star Wars?"

Or do people just really love Keith Richards THAT much? ;-)

Comments

[alilacia.livejournal.com]

About the 'little kids who shouldn't be in the theatre' bit, I have to nod in agreement here. My friend and I were sitting next to a long line of them the first time we went to see it.

And they didn't shut up for most of it, which is another gripe altogether.

Well, they didn't look old enough anyway, although they could have been. I have a hard time telling with some kids.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Any person who can't shut up and let the people around them enjoy the movie is too young to be in the theater, as far as I'm concerned. I'm still pissed about the adult who sat behind us at "War of the Worlds" last year and loudly NARRATED half the damn thing to the person with him, whom I know very well had good eyesight.

Love the avatar, BTW.

[moonbeamdancer.livejournal.com]

Was Keith Richards in this one? I thought he was going to be in the third one... Well I've only seen it once, so damned if I can remember, good thing I'm going to see it later this morning.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

No, it was just a figure of speech comparison ...

[chibikat-wtf.livejournal.com]

I think Johnny Depp is a major draw. He did something creative and incredibly different in the first one, which brought an entirely new charisma to the film - he made Pirates into a shebang! when, in truth, it should've just been a meh? He created a character in the middle of all the action, keeping the "Yay, explosions!", "Ooh, characterization...", "But what does this crazy, mixed-up, work-a-day life all mean?", and "I HEART ADVENTURE" crowds appeased.

There's both humour and pathos in the film, and it's an adventure epic. Considering the utter drought of goodness in the movie industry lately, people have caught on to the fact that this is A Good Movie - people love the cinema, but they hate paying money for a movie they're not sure is going to pan out. Since the first one was so fantastic (and they took a gambit on it already), you can almost be guaranteed that the second Pirates is gonna be good.

Then, there's us - the fringe, as you call it. Pirates has enough of the fantastic to appeal to the sci-fi/fantasy crowd, yet good enough writing to also offer something to those looking for more than just the mainstream. Beneath the layers of money-fuelled sets, explosions, and (now) big-name actors, there's also something that hasn't been done before, which intarweb geekz immediately cling to. We are different; we want something different. Pirates, simply put, is different.

Most importantly, Pirates is an escape world, a nigh-romantic vision of a time when adventure was free. In our time, it seems everything has been explored, everything's been done...and there are so many goddamn government sanctions, rules, and regulations (all enforced by the police and/or military), we crave a taste of freedom in this generation of war and politics. Pirates are rebels, heeding only the sea and their own souls - sometimes for better, sometimes for worse, but always with exciting (and sexy!) results.

Star Wars had the galaxy to conquer; Pirates has the sea. We all just want an adventure, whether we're "mainstream" or not, and Pirates offers that...brilliantly, though, as opposed to many other movies that have come out in the past decade or so.

/babbling

[philosophercat.livejournal.com]

*points* What you said. ;)

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Those are all good points and I can't disagree with any of them. I think it boils somewhat down to the simple notion that it was new, and good, and different - Jack Sparrow is not an existing comic book hero, or anti-hero, or anything really.

[heartofslash.livejournal.com]

Everyone wants to fuck Johnny Depp.

It's that simple.

(Unfortunately, POTC2 lessened my personal desire to fuck him...)

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Okay, I gotta ask - explain. (I know you were less than thrilled with it, but I didn't know you were less horny because of it, sweets. *G*)

[finding-neo.livejournal.com]

It's the new mythology, as we talked about before. Superman's old news (no pun intended toward Clark), X-Men is 30+ years old and the third movie. People are hungry for something new which has enough familiarity to it that it does not alienate them - hence the popularity of POTC. Everyone "gets" pirates, they pillage, they plunder, they're greedy bastards. And fun as hell. What's not to love? And Johnny put a twist on the whole thing which makes that fringe audience you mentioned grin with glee. I believe the rest don't have a clue about the slashiness of it all - they just think he's a drunken pirate.
Truthfully though, the Disney name behind helps some too. Family people think it's "wholesome" entertainment.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Actually, our conversation is what made me post this. I wanted to know what other ideas people had, besides just the fact it's a really good movie (which is why I didn't mention that theory).

And subversive slash is the BEST. I'm perfectly happy for Disney to leave the boys alone and let us fans take care of that part of it ourselves. *G*

[finding-neo.livejournal.com]

And please say no to the "new Star Wars" thing. That would mean 3 more movies allst while tumbling downhill.

Hopefully with melons rolling after them....

[captsparrow4evr.livejournal.com]

Did anyone besides me see "Mind of Mencia" Sunday night? "The Curse of the Butt Pirates of the Caribbean" is not all that tremendously original but it says something that an obvious non-slasher like Carlos Mencia can put two and two together. The sex appeal of the relationship between Jack and Will (Elizabeth's existence as a distraction to keep the religious right from foaming at the mouth notwithstanding) has been noticed by the mainstream. They may choose not to acknowledge it but it's very prominent in the movies so far.

BTW, I went to Wal-Mart the other day and found some PotC portfolios and notebooks. Lovely pics of Jack, Will and Jack&Will on them. Nary a Liz in sight. Hmmmm, one would think that there would be at least one portfolio or notebook to feature the female lead--or the "romantic" pairing of the movie. Nope, all I found were pic upon pic of Jack, Will and the two together. Gives one something to think about.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I don't get cable - can you give a little more detail on that routine of Mencia's?

It's not just Wal-Mart. Pretty much anywhere there's visual POTC marketing, it's focused on Jack (of course) or Jack and Will - which leads me to hope they'll work together again in the third movie and at least end up friends. (And one of the Wal-Mart folders has the boys on front outlined by a big "P" and their names are scrawled inside the folder! Man, all you need is a "+" sign between them for some junior-high romance! Awww.)

[captsparrow4evr.livejournal.com]

Sorry I didn't get this reply to you before. Basically, the gist of the intro to the skit was that if Disney and mainstream America really wanted "realistic" pirates, they would be okay with pirates being gay because, after all, these guys were at sea for months if not years at a time and had nobody but each other to turn to especially since women were considered bad luck at sea. So, we launch into the skit featuring Carlos as Captain John Swallow (complete with eye-liner and braided wig) and Tracy Morgan as Captain Black Cawk--the "bad guy." The plot (such as it was) basically went like this: a young sailor finds the buggery aboard the pirate's ship unacceptable so he grabs a rock (a rock? Why not a cannon ball?) and throws himself overboard (nod to "Master and Commander" I suppose). Before he does, he curses the crew to be forever "married" to the person they last had sex with until Swallow can convince the spirit in Davy Jones' "closet" to come out. The punch line is that the spirit in the closet is the spirit of the young sailor and they settle on the coast where they find the closet and name the settlement after the sailor: Sam Francisco. Yeah.

I had similar thoughts. In fact, the design of one of the folders and notebooks actually made me think of a romance novel cover. Quite adorable, really.:)

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Something I've wondered about Jack Sparrow is if he truly likes men or if he just likes them because they're convenient to his lifestyle, if he wants regular sex and blowjobs. I wonder if he was that way before piracy or sailing, I mean ...