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Fanboy War on Fox?

Posted August 25th, 2008 at 21:37 by Cyric the Mad

For those among you who do not feel your breath catch in your throat due to the awesomeness that overcomes you when I say "Watchmen", I offer you this link, and this movie.

Now that that's out of the way, I can continue.

I've been waiting for this movie for many, many moons. My oldest brother introduced me to the world of Watchmen when I was a mere eight years old. Being the artist that he is (and it being the 80's), he enjoyed painting the backs of his denim jackets rather than relying on the back patches so popular at the time. One such incarnation of said jacket was a rendition of this image, and was complimented on the front of the jacket by a smiley face button with a spatter of human bean juice across it. When I asked him what these images were, he showed me the original books. When I tried to read one of them, I was promptly made aware that I was not allowed to touch them, though he was kind enough to share parts of the story with me.

I didn't actually read the entire story for myself until a few years later when, while ditching class at the Rockin' Dragon (a comic book store across from my Jr. High School in Santa Fe), I saw the compiled graphic novel and humbly begged the guys running the shop to be allowed to read it. Did my 12 year-old brain fully comprehend the depth of the material? Absolutely not. But the parts I did comprehend combined with the compelling characters and amazing artwork saw me hooked. In the years since, I have read the book at least 100 times, each time coming to appreciate the story more and more.

Like many Watchmen fans, I have heard the buzz of movie rumors circulating for years now. It seemed like Paramount was really going to push the movie forward, but they later pulled the plug. If the leaked scripts were any indication of what the movie would have been, I'd say it was for the best. But then a while ago I heard a new buzz. It sounded like the old buzz, but this time it had a different sound to it. And that sound was Zak Snyder. Coming off the success of the movie "300" not only did his addition to the project lend it a greater possibility of being released, but all of us fanboys felt a twinge of anticipation that our beloved story would enjoy the same faithful attention to detail that Snyder gave to 300.

For over a year now we faithful fanboys have been desperately clinging to every rumor, every video journal, and every released image from the movie. Like a squirrel with a nut in our cheeks, we have savored these morsels to sustain us through the cold wintery months until the movie's release. And then, on July 18th, the reward for our patience began. And 'lo, there was a Watchmen trailer before The Dark Knight! Even now, the memory of me and my friend being given a private showing of The Dark Knight on the day of its release pales in coolness next to the rapture that was seeing this trailer on the big screen! Those of you who know me can attest that I am not normally an animated person, but this trailer had me twitching in my seat with watering eyes and open-mouthed glee. It was pure fanboy rapture. It was years of patience and anticipation vindicated.

So when I heard that Fox is seeking an injunction barring the release of Watchmen, my heart sank. The essence of the issue is that Fox claims it retained the rights to distribute the movie from a previous contract it had secured in one of the previous failed attempts to turn the books into a film. Rather than recap the issue myself, I'll lean on this article which does it better justice than I can.

Now, I am normally a staunch supporter of copyright. But in this case, I'm giving Fox the finger. I support copyright when it is used to protect an artist's rights – not when a company that cares nothing for the original creator of the work uses it as an excuse to squeeze another company for some extra cash. Although Fox has claimed that it seeks to kill the film completely, this seems like posturing to me. I have little doubt that they are simply after a share off the flood of revenue this film is sure to generate. If nothing else, the issue is as simple as this: Warner Brothers wants me to have it. Fox wants to keep it from me… Yeah, I'm on the side of WB here.

The current fanboy buzz in retaliation to this lawsuit involves several steps, including boycott of Fox films, illegal reproduction and distribution of Fox's upcoming Wolverine: Origins film, and vandalizing the posters and promotional materials thereof. Of that, I think I can get behind a boycott. As for the illegal activities here, I can safely say that my mother taught me well – two wrongs do not make a right. Infringing on Fox's copyright in response to them filing a copyright infringement lawsuit doesn't actually accomplish anything and is, frankly, pretty childish.

I have some appreciation for the pure fanboy vehemence that this issue has spurred, but I would implore these folks to maintain some semblance of reason in their anger. The simple truth of the matter is whatever intrawebz power we imagine ourselves to have in these events, whatever action we can take will impact Fox minimally. And the (in my opinion) poor form shown with this lawsuit should not be overshadowed by the poor behavior used in retaliation. I think at this point, making our opinions known on the issue is really the best thing any of us can do about it.

Do I think the film will be killed? I think it's possible, though highly unlikely. It would be a damn shame for the fans to be deprived of such a work of art due either to the bumbling or greed of either of the involved companies.