Girlz 'N' Games comic #115: Why nerds can't have nice things

-

Originally posted on my web comic, Girlz 'N' Games.

Nerds. The geek contingent... The Star Wars and Star Trek franchises are excellent examples of the cash that can be squeezed from this obsessive group of pop culture consumers by movie-makers.

At the same time though, films that have specifically targeted this very fussy, very critical demographic - films that have been loudly, proudly and very off-beat geek - have continually failed financially. Watchmen. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. Sucker Punch... They were all box office duds. Time and time again it's been proven that passionate, largely online, fandom does not equate with profits. Although the concept of geekdom grows more and more mainstream every day, these self-identifying guys and gals are not indicative of money-making potential. Whether they rally behind a project or not, they do not reflect the public's opinion.

Not that I support the idea that only films likely to turn a profit should be made. Not at all! That's a shortcut to bland mediocrity, and pretty much already applies to the vast majority of what come out of Hollywood.  It's just going to be interesting to see whether Pacific Rim, the latest effort from writer-director Guillermo del Toro (a self-proclaimed geek himself) bucks the trend. How will this "Kaiju" movie fare critically and commercially. Will the public flock to a movie about humanity building giant robots to punch giant monsters? Or are people turned off by the deliberately dumb concept.

We'll be finding out within the next month.

-----

If you got a kick out of this Girlz 'N' Games comic, please "Like" the Girlz 'N' Games Facebook page.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is the rebooted Lara Croft gay? Evidence for and against...

-
Image
As some of you know, I’ve been fangirling hard over the new Tomb Raider , the first entry in the video game series since 2008, and ostensibly a reboot for the entire franchise . Taking the form of an origin story, Tomb Raider 2013 depicts the events that transformed a beautiful, if bookish, archaeology graduate into a pistol-packing adventurer with a devil-may-care attitude. We meet Lara Croft as a pretty, fairly ordinary 21 year old, brooding over her work notes, listening to her mp3 player and very much confined to the shadow of her male mentors. By the end of the game, however, she’s taken charge – she’s had to! – and, battered, bruised and bloody, she’s both a survivor and hero, right down to rescuing the princess and carrying her away in her arms. Yeah, this is probably the best point to mention that there will be some Tomb Raider 2013 spoilers in this post, so read ahead with caution. Anyway, I loved the game. Technically it’s near faultless, it looks beautiful, the ov...
Read more

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Queer Icon (Part 4)

-
Image
Part 4: The mystery of Lara Croft’s sexuality “Now what’s a man gotta do to get that kind of attention from ya?” – Larson Conway (Tomb Raider, 1996) Despite being an icon for many queer pop culture consumers, Lara Croft’s own sexual orientation remains ambiguous. Outside of the Top Cow comics and live-action films – where Lara is blatantly heterosexual, with a fondness for slightly scruffy bad boys (who keep betraying and hurting her) – the character comes across as primarily asexual. Kurtis Trent is the only male figure who even comes close to being a love interest in the game series. Lara's apparent sexual disinterest is despite the adventurer appearing very sexually attractive herself; a figure of desire with bee-stung lips, voluptuous breasts, toned stomach and impossibly long, athlete’s legs. Yet Lara is never dominated by sexual yearnings or romantic affections. She is very much in control of herself at all times. It’s worth noting, however, that over time th...
Read more

Ladies I Love: Part 2 - Rhona Mitra

-
Image
Following on from the first post in this series , you may realise that I have a very definite type. Anyway, today we profile model-turned-actress Rhona Mitra . This 36 year old Briton is of English, Irish and Indian descent. You'll have seen her pop up on the big and small screen multiple over the past decade and a half, although Mitra's claim to fame is that she was the second ever model (some say first if you rule out "unofficial"  Nathalie Cook ) to play iconic video game character Lara Croft . From 1997-1998, Mitra could be found in PR material, as well as at trade shows, events and conventions as a flesh-and-blood embodiment of Tomb Raider 's kick-ass archeologist lead. There have been many official Lara Croft models over the years , but as far as I'm concerned Mitra remains the best. In my mind, of all of them, she most closely resembles the video game character in terms of facial features. Plus she comes from money and had a rebellious boarding...
Read more