I had mentioned to a co-worker last week that I did not plan to see The Watchmen movie despite the awesome ad campaign designed to make me want to give up my first born to see it. My number one reason for not seeing this epic was the length of the movie. Any movie that checks in at more than two and half hours automatically becomes a candidate for viewing on HBO in my book. Sorry, but if you can’t tell the story in ninety minutes or two hours max – you can’t tell the story period (particularly if you have a built-in audience like comic book fans).
A friend of mine alerted me to an on-line plea from one the writers, David Hayter, for people to go see the movie this weekend (again) to send the producer a message that more movies like this one need to be made. Mr. Hayter concludes his open letter by saying that you’ll want to see the movie again because after you see it the first time, you’ll want to come back eventually- like Sally (a character who was assaulted and almost raped in the comic). Later recognizing that this analogy was a gaffe of tremendous proportion, Mr. Hayter goes on to explain that he didn’t mean what he said, but was talking to those “who are truly entwined with the heart of the story — A horrific act, that ends in a love story.” He apologized for any offense.
I am willing to accept Mr. Hayter’s apology at face value. It is probably worth the oxygen he expended in giving it, but what I find unacceptable is his on-line plea in the first place. You can’t beg people to like you or your work when you put it out there for public consumption. The movie, the screenplay you wrote, the soundtrack that goes with the movie, the product you produce is either good enough to succeed on its own or it’s not. I use to write fan fiction and even I know that.
I did go the movies this weekend. I saw “Race to Witch Mountain,” which is a remake of the 1975, “Escape to Witch Mountain.” I liked this movie, despite having seen the original in its theatrical release. But what I enjoyed most was that I didn’t have to worry about someone from Disney pleading for me to see this movie nor did I have to worry about the language because you know – Disney. And best of all, Disney managed to tell a story in 98 minutes. There is a lesson here, I’m sure. I wonder if Mr. Hayter can guess what it is.
Mr. Hayter’s open letter is here.