The Blind Passion of the Fanboy

Believe it or not, it took me a while to recognize the symptoms of Fanboydom in myself.  I've collected movie posters, "Art of" and "Making of" books, toys, and soundtracks since I was in middle school, but I didn't see myself as a mega-movie geek (the term Fanboy did not exist back then).  In college, I decorated my apartment with Disney movie posters and action figures of all kinds, from "Star Wars" to "Jurassic Park" to "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (yes, I own a Quasimodo action figure).   

It was recently that I was faced with my own super-fandom in the form of setting up my office in our new home.  I decided I'd pull out all my memorabilia in a fantasmagoric explosion of coolness.   So, I start pulling out the boxes.  And more boxes.  And more boxes.  I soon realized that over the course of 40 years I had collected enough stuff to decorate an entire megaplex movie theater rather than a small-sized home office/recording studio.  So, I've had to choose which posters and toys to keep out for display.  I think it was about the time that I took this picture.....

....that I realized I was a fanboy.  Not just because I owned all of these very disparate toys, but because of the perverse glee I got at combining them.  The idea of Superman in a battle with Marvin the Martian while riding a velociraptor is just waaaay to joyful to me.  In fact, right now, this epic battle is being observed by a little yellow minion, Pluto, and Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo from MST3K.  Yes, I fully own up to my movie nerd tendencies. 

However, there is one critical area in which I tend to differ from others of my ilk....blind passion.  Not to say that I don't at all suffer from this condition, but I would like to think that I'm more aware of when this passion is effecting my objectivity.  You see, this blind passion tends to cause a difficulty in objectively judging the quality of films, specifically of genre franchise films.  If a fanboy has been anticipating a  new chapter in a favorite franchise, expectations grow and grow, often to the point where a mere movie could not possibly live up.

The most notorious example is "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace."  No, I'm not going to argue that TPM is a great movie, or even an above average one.  The dialogue is pedestrian at best and the performances feel universally held back, as if the actors were directed to not emote (I could almost picture George Lucas yelling "Natalie!  Everytime you emote, attention is taken from Jar Jar!").  

However, I am going to say that it's still a victim of F.A.S. (Fanboy Anticipation Syndrome).  A 16 year span between films had made the original trilogy, especially "Star Wars" and "Return of the Jedi", take on a reputation of perfection that was quite exaggerated.  After recently revisiting the original trilogy, it was clear that, while Uncle George was a genius at inventing new worlds and characters, he was not the best at dialogue and, being the sole screenwriter of Episode I, he was clearly going to bring this flaw to the prequels as well.  

The prequels did, however, manage to build a genuine sense of dread and they were, each and every one, triumphs of special effects, creative designs, and fantastic set pieces.  Not perfect, but not horrible either, but "not horrible" is not enough to overcome almost two decades of expectation.  There wasn't a child that grew up with the originals that didn't wonder how Darth Vader became Darth Vader.  The fact is, even if TPM had been perfect, it would still have been likely to be viewed as a disappointment.

I believe that the most maligned film to suffer from F.A.S. was "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."  Sure, the CGI monkeys were awful and belief is called upon to be suspended on multiple occasions, but the same could be said of the original sequels (I don't include "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in this comparison, because it is pretty close to being a perfect film).  There were moments of weak special effects in those sequels and the character of Willie Scott from the 2nd film is 50 times more annoying than anything in KotCS.  Plus, the argument that the sci-fi elements found in the film's ending weren't faithful to the spirit of Indiana Jones doesn't hold water because Indiana Jones is inspired by the action/adventure serials of the 50's, which often incorporated similar elements in their plotlines.  If anything, it was highly faithful to the source material.

I think the problem comes down to this:  When you're passionate about something and you put it on a pedestal, any level of disappointment seems devastating, but it's important to remember that that disappointment is not as much a commentary on the quality of a film, but on the level of expectation associated with it.  These films, as well as reviled sequels such as "Spider-Man 3" (too many villains), "X-Men: The Last Stand" (too many deaths), "Shrek the Third" (too few laughs), or "Cars 2" (more disappointing when compared the whole of Pixar films rather than the original "Cars"), are remembered as being among the worst films ever made, but they weren't.  They were just disappointing.  Recently, I heard a film critic refer to "Cars 2" as the only Pixar film universally considered bad by critics.  Really?  According to Metacritic.com  (http://www.metacritic.com/movie/cars-2)  there were only four out of 38 reviews from top critics that were negative.  In fact, there were more positive reviews than there were mixed.  However, "Cars 2" is remembered as truly awful because it was the least sparkling film in Pixar's crown.  

F.A.S. can lead to misinterpretations to the positive as well.  I was recently called out by a reader for saying that last year's delightful "Brave" was a bad movie.  I never said that (here's the original review for reference ).  I said it was disappointing when one considers how great it could have been.  I gave the film a "B+" grade.  As a school teacher, I can assure you that a B+ does not indicate horrible work.  Possibly slightly below the capability of an exceptional student, and that was what "Brave" was for me: slightly below the capability of the most creatively electric film studio around.

None of the films I've mentioned actually received mostly bad reviews.  Most of them received largely mixed reviews, aside from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which actually received mostly positive reviews. 

So, it is with a sense of professional integrity that I promise I will try not to let my status as a self-proclaimed Fanboy lead me to bouts of F.A.S., neither positively or negatively.  Plus, I'll try to post picture of my new nerd lair (a.k.a. home office)  once it's done.  :)