So far, it's obvious from my previous entries that Intellectual Property laws play a key role within the industry, as they essentially decide who is allowed to create an adapation and how they create it, depending on who owns the rights. But saying this, after the Marvel and Sony incident, its obvious that fans must have some influence in how strictly we follow these IP laws, especially if the interest of the fans outweigh the legalities. With this in mind, I'm lead to this next question: how much control do fans have over an Intellectual Property?
It initially appears that fans opinions can actually have a key role to play within the current industry, as they are dedicated and active spectators during the production of franchise adaptations. In other words, if their opinion is voiced enough, they will be heard by the filmmakers. This was the case with Marvel and Sony incident, as audience's gratifications were highly regarded throughout the entire ordeal. Unlike many other Intellectual Property disputes, money wasn't a driving force behind this new alliance, as the recent Spiderman films were still a big box office hit, (as mentioned in my second post). Instead, these studios decided to collaborate in order to create a new direction for Spiderman, as it was agreed that a reboot was necessary due to the critical decline of the iconic character, and because audiences had been speculating for years whether or not Spiderman should be part of the Marvel Universe. So, as we all now know, this long battle ended in favour of the frans, giving them an influence over studios and essentially overruling the basis of Intellectual Property Laws.
But in the news this week, events could actually contradict this conclusion, as the power of the fan could be once again up for debate. A casting announcement for the new Dreamwork's live-action adaptation of Ghost in the Shell (2017) has caused a lot of tension and uproar its fan community, as they are not happy with Scarlett Johansson starring as the leading role. The original manga version is set in Japan, with all of the characters being Japanese, and so fans have accused Hollywood of "white washing" the forthcoming US remake by casting Johansson. As Ollie Barder from writes:
Whether anything comes from this petition remains to be seen, but its obvious that there is an overall sense of displeasure throughout this fandom's community. So far Dreamworks hasn't offered any comments on the matter, showing no sign of recasting the role anytime soon, and ultimately ignoring the fan's cries. For now it appears that the control of the Intellectual Property is entirely in the hands of Dreamworks and so it's essentially a situation of 'what they say goes'. It's worth mentioning that the reasons behind Dreamwork's controversial casting decision could be down to the fact Johansson is a likely persona to attract a wider audience, and thus ensuring a box office hit. The "US star has risen following standout turns in Lucy and Marvel Studio's Avengers series of superhero films" (Child, 2015), and so the studio is ignoring the fans on the basis of star power.
There are other numerous examples of fans lacking power over the industry, such recent famous examples including Michael Bay's producer decision to change the backstory of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles mythology, despite an online backlash of protests by fans. In a statement prior to the release of the film, he explained:
Another famous example of fans lack of power over an IP, was during the online petition to remove Ben Affleck from the role as Batman, in Zack Snyder's upcoming adaptation of Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). Although almost 100,000 signatures were recorded to the site, the petition as dismissed by Warner Bros. Studios and the Daredevil (2003) actor still remains on the cast list, according to Imdb.
The most recent example of a similar incident was the petition against the Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) opening weekend, which drew criticisms from different organisations across the US, including feminists, religious groups and parents alike. Although this didn't necessarily the involve fans of the bestselling sadomasochistic novel, more than 60,000 individuals signed the petition in an attempt to boycott the film, arguing that the Valentines release date used "...a romantic holiday to promote a movie abuse and degradation" (as cited in Fox News). The movement pledged to take a stand for true love and true romance by trying change the release date and by avoiding seeing the film in an attempt to make 50 Shades of Grey the worst box-office flop in history. Needless to say, the petition itself was a flop, with distributors ignoring the petition and the is film currently becaming a box office success!
With all this in mind, we live in a current age of signing online petitions and having keyboard wars across social media, which really don't make a difference. These petitions keep appearing every day, becoming a modern trend that isn't showing any signs of stopping, and although they might appear to give the fans hope to control the hegemonic media industry, it's obvious that this certainly isn't the case. Unfortunately, the control and power of Intellectual Properties remains in the hands of the profitable studios that own them, and so it's ultimately up to them whether they want to listen to the fans or not.
References and Bibliography:
Jeremy Renner Gif
Dancing Spiderman Gif
Snow White Gif
Scarlett Gif
Ben Affleck Gif
Shut Up I'm rich gif
"...people in Hollywood need to get their act together when it comes to dealing with manga and anime related properties. It was obvious to anyone who understands the host work that Scarlett Johansson was an incredibly poor choice." (Barder, 2015).In an angered response, fans have petitioned over the casting choice via the Petition Site, which currently holds over twenty-nine thousand signatures, calling for Dreamworks to replace her with an actor of Asian origin. It's also not clear how much the studio is planning to alter the original story, but as they acquired the IP rights to produce a live-action film adaptation back in 2008, they ultimately have the freedom to change as much as they please. It's also worth mentioning that the director lined up for the chair is Rupert Sanders, of Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), and so fans are already gearing up for disappointment after the Snow White adaptation was considered a failure by both fans and critics alike (see Imdb for reviews).
Whether anything comes from this petition remains to be seen, but its obvious that there is an overall sense of displeasure throughout this fandom's community. So far Dreamworks hasn't offered any comments on the matter, showing no sign of recasting the role anytime soon, and ultimately ignoring the fan's cries. For now it appears that the control of the Intellectual Property is entirely in the hands of Dreamworks and so it's essentially a situation of 'what they say goes'. It's worth mentioning that the reasons behind Dreamwork's controversial casting decision could be down to the fact Johansson is a likely persona to attract a wider audience, and thus ensuring a box office hit. The "US star has risen following standout turns in Lucy and Marvel Studio's Avengers series of superhero films" (Child, 2015), and so the studio is ignoring the fans on the basis of star power.
There are other numerous examples of fans lacking power over the industry, such recent famous examples including Michael Bay's producer decision to change the backstory of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles mythology, despite an online backlash of protests by fans. In a statement prior to the release of the film, he explained:
"These turtles [in the reboot] are from an alien race, and they're going to be tough, edgy, funny, and completely lovable" (as cited in screenrant, 2013)This new creative decision to alter the history of the franchise within the upcoming adaptation was met with much disapproval from fans, and so it seemed the film was on the rocks with the fanbase. Despite this, Bay dismissed their cries, responding with "we are just building a richer world" (as cited in screenrant, 2013), and considering the negative reviews of the film, it could be argued that Bay should have listened to the fans of the franchise...
Another famous example of fans lack of power over an IP, was during the online petition to remove Ben Affleck from the role as Batman, in Zack Snyder's upcoming adaptation of Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). Although almost 100,000 signatures were recorded to the site, the petition as dismissed by Warner Bros. Studios and the Daredevil (2003) actor still remains on the cast list, according to Imdb.
The most recent example of a similar incident was the petition against the Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) opening weekend, which drew criticisms from different organisations across the US, including feminists, religious groups and parents alike. Although this didn't necessarily the involve fans of the bestselling sadomasochistic novel, more than 60,000 individuals signed the petition in an attempt to boycott the film, arguing that the Valentines release date used "...a romantic holiday to promote a movie abuse and degradation" (as cited in Fox News). The movement pledged to take a stand for true love and true romance by trying change the release date and by avoiding seeing the film in an attempt to make 50 Shades of Grey the worst box-office flop in history. Needless to say, the petition itself was a flop, with distributors ignoring the petition and the is film currently becaming a box office success!
With all this in mind, we live in a current age of signing online petitions and having keyboard wars across social media, which really don't make a difference. These petitions keep appearing every day, becoming a modern trend that isn't showing any signs of stopping, and although they might appear to give the fans hope to control the hegemonic media industry, it's obvious that this certainly isn't the case. Unfortunately, the control and power of Intellectual Properties remains in the hands of the profitable studios that own them, and so it's ultimately up to them whether they want to listen to the fans or not.
References and Bibliography:
'‘Spider-Man’ Is Officially Joining The Marvel Cinematic Universe!'. Intellectual Properties in Current Film & Television 2015. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.
Barder, Ollie. 'Fans Petition Dreamworks Over 'Ghost In The Shell' Movie Casting'. Forbes. N.p., 2015. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.
Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn Of Justice. Zack Snyder. film.
Change.org,. 'Warner Brothers: Remove Ben Affleck As Batman/Bruce Wayne In The Superman/Batman Movie.'. N.p., 2013. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.
Child, Ben. 'Dreamworks Accused Of 'Whitewashing' Ghost In The Shell By Casting Scarlett Johansson'. the Guardian. N.p., 2015. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.
Daredevil. Mark Steven Johnson, 2003. film.
Fifty Shades Of Grey. Sam Taylor-Johnson, 2015. film.
Ghost In The Shell. Rupert Sanders. film.
Girdusky,. ''Fifty Shades' Is Not Going To Ruin Your Daughters'. Fox News. N.p., 2015. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.
IMDb,. 'Snow White And The Huntsman (2012)'. N.p., 2015. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.
IMDb,. 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)'. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.
'Let's Start At The Very Beginning, A Very Good Place To Start... By Looking At The Facts And Figures!'. Intellectual Properties in Current Film & Television 2015. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.
LifeSiteNews,. 'Say No To Abuse. Boycott 50 Shades Of Grey, The Movie: Sign The Petition'. N.p., 2015. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.
Lucy. Luc Besson, 2014. DVD.
Schaefer, Sandy. 'Michael Bay Says No Alien Origin Change For ‘Ninja Turtles’ Reboot'. Screen Rant. N.p., 2013. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.
Snow White And The Huntsman. Rupert Sanders, 2012. film.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Jonathan Liebesman, 2014. film.
The Avengers. Joss Whedon, 2012. film.
Thepetitionsite.com,. 'Petition: Dreamworks: Don’T Whitewash Japanese Characters!'. N.p., 2015. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.
Jeremy Renner Gif
Dancing Spiderman Gif
Snow White Gif
Scarlett Gif
Ben Affleck Gif
Shut Up I'm rich gif
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