It’s particularly irritating when a movie is marketed in one way and then released in another since for one thing, audiences are expecting something completely different from what they get, and it feels like a giant bait and switch by the studio to drum up interest and then tell the audience “this is what you paid for, enjoy it”. If that’s not a slap in the face to some folks it’s usually because the level of apathy that’s been created by the entertainment industry over the years has become so great that people are going to do what they can to find the positive in a given movie or they’re going to piss and moan about it to those that are like-minded or those that don’t care and will end up doing nothing for the most part since the movie has been released and there’s not much else that can be done. Sadly, some of these movies go on to be called inspirational, mind-bending, and even award-worthy for one reason or another, when in truth they managed to strike up interest in some of the most duplicitous ways. But that’s show business, it’s about getting people to watch, it’s not always about integrity.
Here are a few movies that were marketed in misleading ways.
5. Legally Blonde
This movie is thought to be inspirational in a big way since it shows a woman that’s essentially an underdog in life since all that’s really thought of her is that she’s a hairdresser and not much else. Obviously, the idea that anyone is ‘just’ something is a false one that movies tend to push in order to heighten the narrative, but the fact that Elle managed to get into Harvard and didn’t think it was that hard kind of undermines the educational system in a big way. While some folks were impressed and thought ‘why not me?’ after this, those of us that have gone through the process of getting into college, no matter how hard it was, were rolling our eyes wondering if the filmmaker knew the kind of damage the movie was capable of doing.
4. Passengers
The trailers made this movie look like a romance story, which it was after a while, but the understanding was that Aurora had been awakened by the same glitch that woke Jim up, when in truth it’s Jim that was awakened, and in his loneliness, he condemned Aurora to the same isolation he was experiencing since he felt the need to have someone to talk to. The need for companionship is perfectly understandable, but at the same time, one has to think that Jim’s inability to see past the wrongness of his actions and only think of how he could make it right once he’d done the deed is kind of hard to get past.
3. The Cable Guy
From the trailer, this looked like yet another genuine comedy from Jim Carrey that might take off in a big way since he was on a roll at this point. The trouble with it is that this movie came crashing down in a big way since it took on such a serious cast thanks to the antagonistic nature of Carrey’s character and his obsession with his new best friend. Looking at things from that perspective it’s very easy to think that there was something inherently twisted about this movie since it didn’t really pull back at any point in an attempt to save a bit of face, since it was all or nothing by the time things got rolling.
2. Bridge to Terabithia
This movie looked like it was going to be another huge stretch of the imagination that kids would enjoy, didn’t it? The downside is that while the imagination part was correct, it didn’t last all that long and the majority of the movie was kept in the real world while the make-believe portions were kept as a means of coping and dealing with the issues that came during the course of the movie. This is almost the same as the disappointment one might feel as a kid when they realize that the magic of Santa Claus is real enough in their minds, but in the real world, things have to be carefully set up to make it appear a certain way.
1. Godzilla (2014)
It did appear that Bryan Cranston was going to be a big part of this movie, didn’t it? People were excited for this since Cranston has been a big deal for a while now and seeing him pop up in anything is kind of a treat. But the fact is that Godzilla felt like an extra in his own movie, and Cranston was only there for so long before he was no longer needed for the movie. After that it was kind of like watching an updated version of an older Godzilla movie.
As I said, Hollywood sometimes forgets its integrity back in the writing room.
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