5/8 Late Update: Spidey, Disney & Mel Gibson buzz...
Appologies for the lateness on this and other assorted topics, was unable to access for a few days. So, where were we?
SPIDEY PULLED
Following a public outcry not seen from disgruntled sports fans the likes of which not seen since, y'know, the LAST public outcry from disgruntled sports fans; Major League Baseball and Sony have scrapped their plans to place "Spider-Man" web pattern on bases as a promotion for the upcoming Spidey sequel.
Superherohype passes on the news:
http://www.superherohype.com/spider-man/index.php?id=1334
It's tempting to let Geek Pride get the best of one and wonder aloud if the reaction of sports fans would have been this negative had the promotion been for something a little more "traditionall" sports-related? Say, I dunno, for "Gatorade" or something? The "Champion" sportswear logo? I guess we'll never know.
Mind you, I'm the first person to admit that commercialization is doing major harm to the integrity of athletic competition in this country; and I'll admit that this is at least a victory against commercialism. Still, there's a little spark in me that just HAS to ask: Was this REALLY, at a point in history where most of the ballparks are "decorated" with the NAMES OF THE CORPOROTATIONS THAT OWN THEM (while these "eyesores" were essentially specks in the center of bases), just about anti-commercialism or could it be that it was at least in part about a vocal segment of fans furious that Geek Iconography might "taint" a sports institution? Just asking :)
BETTER THE DEVIL YOU KNOW
You don't need to have your ear even remotely CLOSE to the ground to know that big rumblings are afoot at Disney. Eisner is now sharing the top spot, powerful-in-name-only Roy Disney wants him out for good and Pixar's Steve Jobs sees him in a position to be tossed out as condition for aquiring Pixar distribution rights.
News of Eisner's impending end have been met with near-unanimous glee in the Geek Community: He was, along with ex-Warner Bros. biggie Lorenzo DiBonaventura, one of the all-time archetypes of the "bean-counter" boss who crushed all creativity in his quest for market dominance. It's often asked, "who could be WORSE as the head of a major studio than Michael Eisner?"
Well, for starters, how about, say... A close pal of the Extremist Religious-Right movement with recent ties to the likes of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson?
Yup, Mel Gibson is being sought by "a mysterious consortium of European investors" to stage a takeover of the Mouse House. The New York Post passes along the story:
http://nypost.com/gossip/23749.htm
Yeesh. Now, first things first:
A.) This story is still only gossip, nothing more.
B.) I have no personal "grudge" against Mel Gibson, in fact I've been a fan of about 90% of his work aside from "The Passion," which I find to be a train-wreck of a film and deeply troubling as a cultural artifact.
C.) I would certainly never suggest that a certain set of moral/political beliefs should "disqualify" one from the job of running a major studio. (On the contrary, Gibson has proven himself a superior businessman time and time again.)
What troubles me here is not so much Gibson but the company that he has kept as of late. During the promotion of "The Passion of The Christ," Gibson closely aligned his film and himself with various segments of the so-called "Religious Right" in America in order to garner support for the film. Groups like Pat Robertson's "Christian Broadcasting Network" (CBN) openly promoted the film as a tool for use in their ministry.
CBN still, in fact, devotes an entire section of it's website to "articles" that essentially amount to a giant hunk of free promotion for the film. Here's the link:
http://cbn.org/special/PassionOfChrist.asp
WARNING: This site may include content and/or opinions which may offend you. Click at your own risk.
Despite the fact that CBN is here essentially piggybacking the promotion of their own theological and political agendas onto the hype for Gibson's film, there has been no real effort on the part of "Passion" production to disassociate the film from groups such as this.
And what sort of group is CBN? Specifically, what are their views on the entertainment industry? Well, here's a nice article from CBN that attempts to blame "explicit" Hollywood films for fueling terrorist hatred of the U.S. No, I'm not joking:
http://cbn.org/living/entertainment/screen/hollywoods_america.asp
So, by CBN's logic, if we could just stop making R-rated movies, maybe there'd have been no 9/11. Yup, sounds like a rational, clear-thinking, harmless political group to me. Not.
Actually, Jerry Falwell and CBN head Pat Robertson are quite the virtuosos of blaming 9/11 on people other than the terrorists: Falwell in 2001 appeared on the CBN "TV news broadcast" (actually a PAID PROGRAM) "The 700 Club" and advanced the theory that God "allowed" the attacks to happen because of America's tolerance of feminism and homosexuality. Swell buncha guys, the "Religious" Right is, dontcha think?
There was a famous incident in the 1980s wherein the Reagan (Bush?) presidential campaign wanted to use Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" as a campaign song. The incident is famous because Springsteen quite publically refused to allow use of his work to further a political agenda he was not entirely supportive of.
See the connection? Right now, organizations which promote (among other things) an extremist political movement, anti-gay and anti-choice agendas, etc., are using the notoriety of "The Passion" and the fame of Mel Gibson to promote themselves and their political aims. As of yet, Gibson has not denounced these groups or what they stand for in whole or in part. Therefore, I believe that until proven otherwise it is reasonable (if INCREDIBLY depressing) to infer that Gibson MAY in fact be in "alignment" with these individuals.
If so, I believe it would be a TREMENDOUSLY bad thing for ANY individual with such ties to be heading a major film studio, as it has the potential to open the door to CBN and the like to work their Religious Fundamentalist messages into films. However, as I said, it has not been proven that Gibson DOES support CBN as much as they support him. Were Mel to simply denounce these extremists as not representative of him or his intentions with the film, I would feel A LOT less apprehensive about this potential deal. (I would, however, still find "The Passion" to be a severely below-average film at best.)
SOME SILLINESS:
Sorry, I know that was a little heavy. Let's have some fun: I want to hear some responses in the comments on the following question that ties the two news items together:
Since so many pundits chose to characterize the huge boxoffice success of "Passion" as some kind of "referendum" on the enduring relevence of Traditionalist Christianity, in effect equating ticket sales with religious devotion; if "Spider-Man 2" winds up beating "Passion" at the boxoffice... does that mean that Spider-Man is now a more "relevent" icon in the U.S. than "Passion's" Christ?
Followup: If so, is that necessarily a bad sign? :)
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