Anghus Houvouras on whether it’s fair to criticize movie marketing…
“Just wait until the movie comes out…”
Every time you write an article about a movie and exhibit any opinion based on the marketing, some ninny steps up and attempts to invalidate the opinions stated with that same tired statement. Earlier this month I spent a few paragraphs decimating the Star Trek Beyond teaser trailer for being the awful piece of marketing that it is. I wasn’t expecting everyone to agree with me. I rarely do. However, a few contrarians decided that the argument was fairly worthless and provided some the following feedback:
I would call this a variation on ‘Just wait until the movie comes out’. Someone who is convinced that judging any of the marketing materials for a movie lacks merit, and that as fans we are only allowed to critique the finished product.
Which is, of course, total bullshit.
What is marketing? It’s a creative endeavor designed to grab our attention. A collection of elements from the film to let us know of its existence and give us a taste of what’s to come. It’s not a meal, it’s a sampling course. Tiny bites and miniscule tastes of what we can expect should we eventually order the main course. It’s the sample spoon at Baskin Robbins or the guy hanging out with tiny cups of General Tso’s chicken when we walk through the food court at the mall.
Like the samples of ice cream or MSG laden Chinese food, we judge those small tastes. If we like it, we order more. If we like the teaser trailer, we might watch the full length trailer when it arrives, and then eventually pay to see the finished film. This is how the process works. So why are so many film fans aghast at the idea that someone would speculate and/or criticize on what they see in the marketing materials?
Do they think that marketing materials are merely placeholders to inform of us a movie’s arrival? That we shouldn’t immediately develop opinions based on what we saw? What are we; soulless automatons who must purge ourselves on any reaction until we get to see the finished film? Do we exist in some kind of opinion-free vacuum?
Movie marketing is fair game. It exists to get people excited about a forthcoming feature. When it arrives and lands with a deafening thud, why can’t we point out its glaring flaws and wildly speculate about how it could potentially reflect on the final product? This comment on twitter seemed to tidily sum up hypocrisy of the debate.
So the teaser trailer sucked and yet for some reason commenting on that agreed point is frowned upon. ‘Inappropriate’ as the previous commenter said. This logic is baffling. Film critics write about films. They judge the two-hour creative endeavor in its final form. From the opening titles to the closing credits. Film bloggers are something entirely different, and the idea that commenting on good/bad/atrocious marketing is unfair is a concept that I can’t get behind.
Movies are movies. Marketing is marketing. Different artistic endeavors with their own respective challenges. Both can be criticized for their successes and failures. Let’s go ahead and get past the idea that criticizing marketing is unfair or pointless. Trailers are the vehicle studios use to drive audiences to the cineplex.
When one of them is a broken down lemon, it’s perfectly acceptable to comment on the flaming fuselage which is exactly what the Star Trek Beyond teaser trailer was.
Anghus Houvouras is a North Carolina based writer and filmmaker and the co-host of Across the Pondcast. Follow him on Twitter.
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https://youtu.be/b7Ozs5mj5ao?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
Originally published February 23, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
