Bill Murchinson Knows What People Want!

Yep. And one thing people don't want is comic book movies. I know you might be thinking, hey didn't the X-Men and Spiderman and Batman movies do pretty good at the box office? Even Fantastic Four did alright. But you'd be wrong. In truth the movie going public wants adult movies (not that kind of adult movie, but movies made for adults), like they used to make.

Adults tell stories; juveniles crash cars and fixate on their childhood heroes and hang-ups. Juveniles, in terms of maturity if not chronology, run the motion picture industry, telling the "stories" juveniles enjoy -- not about life but about hang-ups and rude noises and bad language.

And comic books! If 10 percent of the money spent on bringing comic book characters to cinematic life found its way into the telling of honest stories about the human condition -- love, fear, ambition, hatred, sacrifice, etc., etc., etc. -- half-empty theaters might fill once more.

Well first off, Mr. Murchinson doesn't know much about Comic Books if he thinks they don't cover ambition, hatred, fear, and sacrifice (although, admittedly, comic books don't do as good a job with love (superhero comics I mean)).

The truth is that in every generation a lot of crappy movies get made. That's kind of the way it is. The other truth is that since the 70s (at least) movies appeal to a younger generation. There are plenty of smart films that older people can enjoy, but they aren't the target audience anymore.

I think Murchinson assumes that if a significant number of movies were made that catered to older generations, those generations would start going to the movies as regularly as the younger generation. I don't think that's necessarily true. The older you get the more you value your time; it takes more for a movie to get older people in the theater. And even then they are less likely to see a movie multiple times and more likely to say "well that looks good but I'll wait for it on DVD." So which generational group do you aim your movie for? Assuming you want to make a profit of course.

Also how do you tell a story about rude noises or bad language?