It was easy to get psyched up and think about how great Paper Girls might be since the idea of a group of 12-year old girls that are involved in a conflict between two groups of time-travelers already sounds like a great hook, until someone says they want it to have ‘heart’ and starts making comparisons to Stranger Things and saying that it’s more efficient in dealing with various themes. It might be that some folks might think so, but making such comparisons between properties is kind of a strange way to look at things when one has already become a hit TV show and one is an award-winning comic series that hasn’t done anything else yet. Plus, the whole idea that anyone thinks that Amazon will treat this in a manner that’s going to please everyone is kind of easy to smirk at in a good-natured way since no matter how sensitive a show is, there’s going to be a point or two that some people don’t like and will call out as going against their wishes for the property. It’s a pretty common thing when transitioning a comic book to the big or small screen, people are going to take issue because a director will have a different vision for the story, or will cater to the most common denominator while trying to maintain the integrity of the story, or will do as people want, and the show will tank. Those that want to say that this isn’t so really need to take a long look at the last decade when it comes to movies and shows that are trying to be ‘woke’ and take on various societal issues that people want to see represented don’t always do that well.
Some of them go off without a hitch, and there’s no doubt that it can and does happen. But the risk involved has a lot to do with what people want to see versus what people want to show, meaning the fans of the comic series might want to see it recreated faithfully and without any hiccups, but they need to realize that stuff is going to happen and they might not get their way entirely. The premise of the story sounds like something that could be fun and engaging for the audience, but digging in too hard to some of the societal issues that apparently get covered in this comic is a risky proposition largely because the perspective being used might not translate as well to the audience as one might hope. There are a lot of different responses that could come from a project such as this, and while many of them are bound to be positive, there are plenty that will fire back with more than just a cross comment. Putting it honestly, this could be an intriguing series, but it does feel as though it’s being given the wrong hype by several articles already and might even be feeding off of that as it continues to gain momentum. One of the best ways for a new series to promote itself, at least from a consumer’s perspective, is to be plain, simple, and to the point when saying what’s coming and when giving a little of what can be expected. Going past that is a risk that can blow up in a person’s face.
But hey, I’m not a marketing exec and I’m certainly not a director, so whatever does happen with this series is likely going to be something that will gain the attention of the people and will be aimed in one direction or another when it comes to getting the attention that is desired. In today’s market just getting noticed is something, so if this show has any chance of making it then it’s going to have to come with it in a big way to get the attention and the interest of the people when it comes to releasing on Amazon. So far it doesn’t sound as though the cast has been chosen, but one can bet that this won’t take too long, even though it sounds like the people in charge are looking for those without a lot of acting experience and will no doubt be making a careful selection in order to get the best young people for the job. That should be interesting really since a group of hopefuls looking to get into acting or to further their career are bound to make their way to the set in order to make this happen.
This could be a successful project so long as there isn’t too much hype attached to it. So far it sounds like a fun story that could stand on its own, but we’ll have to wait and see what happens as it continues to develop.
