I recently added a few new blogs to my blog roll, and deleted a couple that i don’t really read anymore. The one at the bottom, Creating the God Complex, i’m still keeping around in case he ever decides he misses the world of self-obsession and comes back to entertain us…
Check them out, all interesting in their own right.
—-
In other news, I’ve decided that i’m going to boycott Spider-Man III. 3D loves the Spider-Man movies, and he will probably wind up going to see it in the theatres, but i am boycotting it based on the ABSURD amount of money being spent on the film.
The film has been rumored to have cost anywhere from $200 – $500 million. One of Spider-Man III’s producers, Laura Ziskin, was quoted as saying the following: “I refuse to say the [real] number because it makes me choke… Spider-Man 3 was a super-expensive movie–the most expensive film we’ve ever made. But there’s no way you can get to $300 million.” (reprinted in the New York Post)
I know that many other movies have insanely large budgets, and i am considering boycotting those as well, but i am starting off with Spider-Man III. I feel that there is a difference between spending a lot of money on a film that brings awareness to an area/issue that was previously largely unknown to the general public (such as Super Size Me, or Inconvenient Truth) and spending a crap-load of money on something that is going to make you feel scared/happy/excited for 2 hours and exit your mind as soon as you exit the theatres. I encourage anyone who feels similarly to do the same. How can it even be LEGAL to spend that much money on a movie when our country is still at war, and the value of our dollar is dropping steadily… not to mention the fact that a sum of money like that would be better used to help any number of charities or developing nations??
To Ziskin and the other people at Sony, 270 mill may seem like a BARGAIN compared to $300 million but if you’re getting anywhere near those figures while making a movie, there is still a HUGE problem with that in my book. So yes, i am boycotting Spider-Man III, and yes, i will probably boycott other movies in the future as i see fit.
(Or here is an idea—once Sony makes back their $250 million or $300 million or however much they spent on that movie, they should donate the rest of the money to some worthy cause…… Or another idea, since i bet a lot of people will go to see the movie 2 or 3 times, how about you go see the movie once and then donate the cost of your movie ticket to UNICEF if you feel the need to go again.)
Superman Returns which was filmed in a studio in Sydney costed $250 million, it felt more like SuperJesus with all its overt Christian imagery. I would see Spiderman just to see what $300 million looks like.
The dollar is dropping because of the 10 Trillion + debt that the US holds. Everyone thinks we are the richest country in the world but if you look at it from the point of view of an accountant we are the most in debt, not the poorest, but the most in debt nation in the history of the world. Iraq was actually a way to keep the US Dollar from falling in value, you see the Iraqis wanted to sell their oil for Euros, and that would stop the ability of the US to finance al this debt we have. Now that plan is backfiring, everyone is voting for the more left wing Democrats and our financial future is in serious trouble.
Superhero films have made a major comeback since 9-11. The first Spiderman had a scene where he used a web to stick a helicopter to the WTC, that scene was removed. I think people are looking for some kind of escape from a lot of the bleak realities of this world. We see humans committing great evil around the world, so Hollywood shows superhumans committing acts of great good. Just my 2 cents on it.
Superman Returns had a lot of 9-11 references to it, like the part where he goes falls from the sky, it represented the fallen heroes of 9-11 to me. Then there is a part where he is in space and people are calling for help. There is a the scene of Lois Lane, her husband, and boyfriend trapped a very somber theme is played then Superman comes to the rescue and lifts them from the Abyss.
Okay,I agree with the comments about people feeling they need superheroes more since september 11th, although an equally convincing counter argument is that now a generation that has grown up on comics (more so than in the past) and video games is creating the demand and spending the money. I also agree that Superman Returns had a lot of Jesus refernces, totally unwarranted, but probably reflecting America’s background. Interstingly enough there was weird sexual tension between Jimmy Olson and Clark Kent! Anyways, the comment about the US debt coming from liberals changing the plans in Iraq is way off base. First off, The debt started with Bush entering the white house, more so with september 11th, and a refocusing of the national goals. Then when the budget started getting large, Bush cut taxes, thinking this will magically make money appear to pay our debt. Then he sends us in to a war that we spend more money on, that we don’t have. This war is unplanned and backfires, costing Americans more money. Jobs were lost, as were lives, foreign investors were put off American investments. So yes, the falling dollar is due to a huge debt, but I don’t think that the current decisions are not having nearly as much effect on that as the last 6 years have had. Honestly, although things can get better or worse, no one can be as bad as Bush– no president has cost us as much money as the current one, going from a surplus to the largest debt ever. His current strategy of relying on big business to help revive the economy is building up to a 1929-like state where we are ready for a crash and the reason why Ben Bernanke is reading about post 1920 debt deflation.I’ve said too much.Take home message, I’m seeing Spiderman 3 because I grew up on Spiderman comics as did my brother. I agree with E that my money would be better spent with UNICEF.
So, Many good points are raised….but i find myself torn and confused on many of these issues. I will go see spiderman…not because I think the millions spent were right, but because America(ns) are so used to turning their back on things…it just feels right.Americans are always complaining about recycling and how no one in america does, this is part truth…we do not recycle enough. Family owned businesses are a huge violator of this…very rarely do small companies recycle…High schools, small colleges, FORGET ABOUT IT! BUT THEN THERE’S EUROPE…THEY REALLY DON’T RECYCLE…AT ALL! Why don’t we focus on that….put 300 million towards education and facilities for recycling around the world (tangent sorry)Back to the topic….The millions spent on the Spiderman movies are just as horrifying as the thousands of dollars people spend on tabloid mags daily. America needs to know which baby Madonna will adopt next or how skinny can Nicole Richie get before she collapses or what else can Brittney Spears shave. I mean these are all escapes…people are living less and less in reality everyday. With all the technology of communications and with freedom of press you’d think more people would make an effort to know what is happening in the world.What’s the problem, whose fault is it? Well it must be a generational thing. Our parents grew up during “Nam” some of our parents, uncles, cousins fought. Then you would think since I have a few high school friends (no older than 23 years old) fighting in IRAQ that I should want to know everything that happened all the time. But the truth is…I’m too busy wrapped up in my small world in NJ. I can’t think about anything else except what color my bf flowers will be at her wedding. The hustle and bustle is too intense and the economy makes it really hard to make a living!People can say, well, you’re a ditz, you’re self-centered…I say, aren’t we all. Why are we so jaded by this war? Why are we all so jaded by 300 million dollars? I can’t even fathom 1 million, let allow 299 million more. Perhaps this is why: Working at a poorman’s wages of $10/hour working 40 hours a week 7 days a week you’d make 146,000/year HA with no vacations! It would take you (working those hours that many days a week) roughly 2,000 years to earn 300 million dollars! hahah isn’t that funny.I’ll see spiderman b/c i need to forget about reality some more! ROCK ON MY JADED FRIENDS
Hey SisterI think you got some of your math wrong…..If you worked 40 hours a week at $10/hour you would only be making about $20,000/year and it would take you 14,000 years to make $300 million!! muahhahaahhahah the world is insane. “I’m trying hard not to be a hater, but it’s not my fault that people suck.”
America was neck deep in debt way before George W Bush was in office. The war in Iraq was planned in the late 1990’s by Neocons Wolfowitz and company. You see Saddam Hussein wanted to offer oil to Europeans and was going to accept the Euro as payment. If you have not studied the economics of oil, I have at U of Pennsylvania(the best business school in the world), America is able to finance unlimited debt because of its domination of the world oil trade. You see, every country in the world, including Australia has to hold US Dollars in order to buy oil. A better example is Japan, Japan is a cold country and needs oil, to get oil it needs US Dollars, to get US Dollar it needs to sell something to the US, so they sell a Honda or a Sony TV, they get US Dollars, and then buy oil from Saudi Arabia, the Saudis wind up with excess US Dollars, so they buy US treasuries, then the US
Treasury prints more money. In effect the oil trade provides America with a license to literally print money. The system constantly recycles, this is known as “petrodollar recycyling”. Basically the US creates more debt and it doesn’t have to pay it. Now comes the Euro, several EU leaders including Jacques Chirac(the outgoing President of France) approached OPEC to convince them to sell oil for Euros, if this happens as it soon will, the US will have to pay back the mountain of debt that it is in right now. Its not completely the fault of the government, but of the American consumer who has an insatiable appetite for imported goods, every time you purchase a BMW, a Honda, heck even a Lamborghini, you are putting America further into debt. Now you say, lets buy American, its becoming impossible now because of China, American corporations are outsourcing to cheap third world nations like China because they can reduce their costs. So now the US has no choice but to go to war in Iraq and stop OPEC from switching world oil trade to the Euro. Now that Americans have voted Democrat, you are seeing a weakening of US foreign policy, in 2008 we will see a Democrat elected President, so we will have a left wing White House and Congress at a very dangerous time in history for the US.
I am not a warmonger but the fact is that human history has been savage, and America has been a light unto the world, even culturally different nations such as Japan and South Korea have benefited from America’s good will.
The US has also been the true bridge between the different cultures of the world, especially between Europe and the Muslim world.
Australia is a nation whose future as a free Democratic society is tied heavily to the US as a strong military superpower, not too far from Australia lies Indonesia, a country that poses a serious military threat to the nation. What would happen if America did not maintain a strong military stance? Simple, the Indonesians(maybe even the Chinese) would invade.
the reason studios spend so much money making a movie like spiderman is because they think people will flock to watch it. the studios (and actors, filmmakers, advertisers, etc) stand to gain a lot of profit from the movie. that’s the bottom line.of course, it’d be really nice if studios donated that kind of money ($300 million or most let alone all their profits) to a good cause, but theres very little chance theyre gonna do that. at least not as a studio. maybe some of the actors or filmmakers or whatever will donate as individuals. but not the studio.studios are essentially there to make a profit, not to give money away. the movie and entertainemnt industry is a business after all, and studios are for-profit orgniazations and companies.so, sorry, the studios are spending that kind of money on a movie becaues they think they will get a huge return back. they think people will pay $10 or whatever it is to watch a movie. and then sell lots of dvds later. etc.hence, it’s really our own fault, the consumers, for watching so many movies. it’s our daily spending habits, our desire to be entertained, our life of luxury and ease when other parts of hte world aren’t doing so great. we can talk all about how we’d liek to give money away to a good cause, but sadly i would guess very few of us are actually gonna do what E does and boycott the movie and spend the money elsewhere – which i will say is definitely noble and i applaud E for doing that.instead most of us would rahter spend $10 on spiderman than give $10 to help children in africa or whatever. we’re selfish and we want to be entertained. bread and circuses, bread and circuses. just like back in rome. as long as our society or nation is prosperous (bread) and entertained (circuses), we don’t really care. we’d rather not have to sacrifice our daily entertianment, skip a movie, not a buy a cd or dvd, or download the latest hit single from itunes, forego the tv set, or whatever else instead of giving away our money to the poor in other nations.that’s our entertainment saturated culture.
Superman Returns had cost almost as much, the studio spent over $250 million to bring back Superman. It was filmed in a studio in Sydney fyi.
Oh, I just looked up both movies on imdb.com, Superman Returns costed $270 million, the budget for Spiderman 3 was $258 million.
Movies are big even in third world countries where “Thing aren’t so Great”
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_48/b3810019.htm
People like to deal with a problem by avoiding it or trying to forget about it. Movies provide a kind of escapism, we live in a bleak world where bad things happen to the best of us, movies are made in way where the good triumph and evil loses. That is why Spiderman and movies like it appeal to so many people. People dream of a world where good triumphs, but we live in an evil world.
Spiderman sort of envisions a “Perfect World” one where there is always a solution and good wins. In such a world, Steve Irwin would not have died the way he did.
I read in the paper the movie cost just over $250,000,000 and they are spending another $250,000,000 on marketing. Yea, it’s asinine. I’m going to wait for a pirated copy. Stickin’ it to the recording/movie industry! Now, I just wish there was a way to do the same thing to the Oil companies making $360,000,000,000 a year in pure profits off our $4/gallon gas prices. Is there a wind/solar powered car????
If you think 4 dollars is expensive, don’t go to Europe, you will get a heart attack when you see gas prices over there, with the weak dollar it is especially expensive, almost $8US dollars a gallon. Europeans place high taxes on fuel to discourage people from buying oversized vehicles, still SUVs are becoming as popular in Europe as they are in the US.