NeverRants: How Marketing is Spoiling ‘The Dark Knight’


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NeverRants: How Marketing is Spoiling ‘The Dark Knight’

Posted by NeverWanderer | June 20th, 2008 at 2:32 pm

NeverRants

DISCLAIMER: I hate spoilers and the people who spout them. I most especially hate the people who spout them without acknowledging that there are other people in the world who might not want to have every detail of a movie revealed to them before they even buy their ticket. So, for anyone who has not been following the advertising campaign for the Batman Begins sequel, The Dark Knight… For anyone who may be visiting Geeks of Doom for the first time and maybe hasn’t seen all the headlines…

And for anyone who may still be in denial, unwilling to acknowledge the great big character spoiler that everyone else seems so eager to shout out at the top of their lungs… I advise you to read no further.

Don’t let the bastards ruin it for you, too.

(also, if you haven’t seen either of the X-Men sequels, you may want to avoid the first paragraph)

Remember the first time you saw X2? How it was this really good, heavily anticipated summer blockbuster sequel that in NO WAY advertised or even hinted at the possibility of killing off Jean Grey and setting the stage for the Phoenix Saga until your ass was in the seat and you were watching her burst into flames for the first time?

Remember how that felt?

What’s the name of that feeling…? It’s been so long since I’ve felt it that I’ve nearly forgotten… but it’s right on the tip of my–

Oh yeah. SURPRISE.

Remember what a surprise is?

It’s that thing a good story is supposed to provide a little bit of before it’s over. That little something extra that gets you EXCITED and makes you EAGER to watch/read/listen to something again and again! It’s the reason movie studios number and name their scripts. It’s the thing production assistants with loose lips get FIRED for.

Surprise is the lynchpin of good storytelling.

But here’s the rub… You can’t have a good surprise without a secret.

A seeeecreeet.

You know. That thing marketing firms build their entire careers off of DESTROYING!

I mean… Jeebus H. Fuckity Christmas, I can at least SOMEwhat understand Marvel/Universal’s insistence on revealing 90% of their new Hulk flick in tiny “sneak peek” snippets all over the internet. The first movie didn’t do well. People were worried this one would be a repeat performance. The studio wants to make sure everyone knows the new movie is a different creature entirely… so, naturally, they go to great lengths to OVERSTUFF every entertainment outlet imaginable with over-informative trailers and clips from every exciting moment in the entire freaking movie, just to PROVE how much better this one will be.

(Which is sort of like watching a 13-year-old repeatedly yell the word “FUCK” just to prove he’s a grown-up now.)

Needless? Maybe.

Overkill? DEFINITELY.

But not entirely without reason.

Batman, though?

The Dark fucking Knight??

I mean, seriously, what the fuck?? Why is the name “Two-Face” even being SPOKEN in this marketing campaign?!?

They have the Joker! They have Heath Ledger’s LAST PERFORMANCE ON FILM, and he’s playing one of pop culture’s most ICONIC villains — for which he apparently turns in a brilliant performance!

The marketing for this movie was CLINCHED the minute the first teaser hit the airwaves! This is the Batman/Joker showdown EVERYONE has been waiting eleven years for! It’s the ONLY conflict anyone has been aware of, and it’s all they needed! I can guaren-fucking-TEE you that by the end of that first full-length trailer, anyone who wasn’t already 100% sold on seeing this movie, wasn’t gonna see it at all. Nothing short of a Batman/Joker LOVE scene was going to net this movie any more viewers…

And yet, the marketing department couldn’t stop there. Noooo, their grand epic of a campaign to convince the world The Dark Knight might actually be worth seeing wasn’t done yet! They needed to show us more. More drama, more action, more characters…

They just needed to show us Two-Face.

They just needed to confirm his presence in the film.

Just giving us Harvey Dent wasn’t enough. No, that would be too subtle. It would only get people talking and give the fans who UNDERSTOOD the significance of his name an excuse to get even more ravenous about the movie than they already were. It would only plant a seed of curiosity that would have audiences screaming in their chairs if and when the big moment finally happened and this character’s significance was revealed. Or, better yet, for those who had NO expectations whatsoever, who weren’t automatically anticipating the big transformation, it would be the DC movie universe’s equivalent of putting Jean Gray outside the blackbird at the end of X2.

But no. Not even making sure that he was played by an A list actor with a strong following — pretty much GUARANTEEING that his role would be more than just a quick cameo — caused enough buzz for the marketeers, no sir.

They just couldn’t leave well-enough alone.

And now that the cat is finally out of the bag… now that Two-Face has been confirmed… now that everyone can get used to the idea that there is a second villain in The Dark Knight, LONG before the movie’s release date…

Now, these people who, I swear to you, think they’re doing you a fucking FAVOR by leaving no secrets for you to discover on your own… now these fuckers have gone and done the ONE thing they never should have done.

They’ve gone and taken the spotlight off of the villain that SHOULD be getting all the press.

Congratulations, geniuses. Way to honor an artist’s final work.

This is the reason I close my eyes and plug my fuckin’ ears fifteen minutes before the movie starts in a theater.

Rant over.

Topics: Features, Movies | 15 Comments »

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Anthony

Nice post, and I agree with most of it (despite the fact that I frequent a site for TDK news everyday…). However, the ONLY thing I will contest is that you claim the fans are the ones who took the spotlight off of Ledger. Not true. The marketing studio shifted their focus on the villain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Knight_ %28film%29#Marketing) when Ledger died.
WordSlinger

Whoa… well, I can see your point here but I both agree and disagree about various aspects of it.

I agree that marketing often spoils films. Take X3, how the commercials and trailers implied we’d be seeing Angel play a signifcant role. What really happened? He made 2-3 extremly brief appearances in the film that were almost completely shown in the commercials, which led me to believe he was put in the film soley< for the purpose of marketing. The idea that we were somehow being teased with glimpses of a new character were quickly dashed by the reality that these “teases” were, in fact, the entirety of his performance… lame.

However, I have to disagree with you here about the Two-Face footage. Any real fan of the series knows who Harvey Dent is and like you and I would surely know right away we were going to see Two-Face show up. Not to mention Eckhart talked openly about the fact that he is going to be playing Two-Face in this movie for well over a month now (see his interview with the Los Angeles Times in early May). So for fans who have been following this film’s production closely, I really don’t see this ruining anything.

And really, showing us less than a 10% of his face from behind for 3 seconds is, in my opinion, what a teaser really should be. Besides, I strongly disgree than this is LONG before the movie is released (only 28 days now by my count) and the only people who are going to see this “leaked” clip are the obsessive fans who spend time googling studio leaks to see anything they possibly can beforehand.

I don’t think is does anything to dishonor Ledger’s work either. Ledger knew Two-Face was part of this film when was alive, it’s not like they changed the plot after his death. If anything, the marketing shifted away from the three-way war between the Joker, Dent (Two-Face) and Batman and focused instead almost entirely on Ledger after his death, so a clever mention of the third major player here doesn’t diminish that for me. Make no mistake, this is not the same as Batman Forever where we’ll see the villians teaming up… the early promotions make it pretty clear this is going to be a triple-threat match, not a 2-on-1. If anything, this has made me want to see it more. I don’t feel anything has been spoiled for me.

Reply rant over. :)
Henchman21

Yeah, I don’t know if this bit of marketing does anything to dishonor Ledger’s work, but by the same token did they really need to show that footage? Anyone who is really (and I mean fanatically) following the production of THE DARK KNIGHT knew the info revealed this week from other sources (production art and shots of the toy) and this just kind of lets the cat out of the proverbial bag.

On the other hand, I checked out that footage as soon as I heard about it and it got me pretty excited for the movie again, so maybe I’m not the best person to ask.

Now, what the heck’s a rant?
Maura

I hate spoilers and sometimes the marketing does reveal too much at times. People are still going to see The Dark Knight no matter what. Then again, not everyone followed the viral marketing. You do make a valid point, but either way people are undetered(I hope I spelled that right) and will see the movie. Also, the studio will definitely make money one way or the other.
Sean

You seem to be under the impression that every potential attendee of this film will be disappointed with this knowledge and will enjoy The Dark Knight less because the marketing campaign revealed Two-Face’s existence in this movie. I’d wager that 95% of all potential attendees don’t have a damn clue that Two-Face is going to be in this film. I mean, this isn’t some Two-Face television promotion they gave us; this was a well-hidden clip that has –largely– only be viewed within fan groups. I mean, c’mon, you’d have to go fucking /looking/ for this clip, or at least spend a significant amount of time in The Dark Knight social circles that are intent on finding clips like this, if you wanted to actually watch it. So:

1. Don’t complain that the marketing campaign revealed something about Two-Face when the only real way to see this clip is to frequent places where shit like this circulates.

2. “Congratulations, geniuses. Way to honor an artist’s final work.” Belligerence doesn’t beget an intelligent opinion. Okay, so you claim that they dishonored Ledger’s performance: how? I mean, months and months of nearly non-stop Joker hype was not enough for you? They didn’t dishonor him at all–they merely gave a little clip to whet obsessive fans’ appetite. C’mon, grow up. Reading this rant espousing unsubstantiated claims is like watching that thirteen-year-old yell “fuck” over and over:

Needless? Maybe.

Overkill? Definitely.
http://facebook idiot

im just an idiot….but even i know that two face was in the film, cmon dude just cause ur angry dosent mean u have to go bazooka over it, chill out and watch the movie when it comes out( i don care if u plug ur ears with popcorn throughout the whole movie ;p) cause its gonna kick ass and fans and non fans alike will enjoy this…..\m/ rock on DARK KNIGHT
Man on the Moon

Real movie fans do not care about spoilers because they are smart. If you really think you are going to be surprised, especially by a summer blockbuster, then you should not even be writing about film.

P.S. I only read the first three words of yuor article.
mo

I ignore any reports on this movie…for a reason… hell i hated seeing the preview before another movie..

BUT knowing the movie is loosely based around the long halloween, and if you’ve read the comic..then why wouldn’t you expect to see two face?

my only question was whether it would be like the brief glimpse of zsaz(sp?) or alluded too like the joker card at the end of the first…
mike

When Heath died, so did the marketing campaign. It’s hard to tout the performance of Mr. Ledger’s homicidal Joker without people either feeling bad about his demise (not good), or somehow linking his death to drugs and then to the movie (Very bad). It’s a terrible situation for the marketing people – a $200 million film that’s about a dynamic character who is no longer available for marketing.

They’ve gone into quiet mode for sometime now, seeing what played out. Now they’re too close to the finish line and are getting antsy. Two-face has become their “Plan B” because he’s an interesting looking bad guy and the actor who plays him is not dead. Look for this angle to be pushed more and more toward the final few weeks.

This sounds callous, right? It’s all about the money, friends. If Heath’s death would have helped marketing the film (i.e. a drama), you would have heard his name in the news every day. Now, they’re just hoping to show you a new face to forget what happened. Even if that face has two sides to it.
???

What’s with all these complaining? We haven’t seen The Riddler yet, so theres not enough spoiler yet.
SaadAli

Out of the 2 and a half hour of the movie they showed clips of abt 3 mins, and saying all the movie is spoiled its wrong. We dont knw the plot and half of 90 % of the people arnt aware of two face clip going around.
http://www.comicspace.com/neverwanderer/ NeverWanderer

Thanks for the replies everyone! ^_^

Okay… ::CLAP… rubrubrub::

@Anthony – I was referring to the marketing execs in that last volley, not the fans. I’ve heard it from many a professional’s mouth that when a marketing firm takes on a movie, no matter WHAT movie it is, their perspective is always, “Okay. How do we save this?” Which is what leads to many a shitty marketing campaign. I don’t blame the fans. I’m for the fans! I’m of the fans.

@Wordslinger – Anyone who knows the name Harvey Dent will know the name Two-Face, yes. BUT… how did we know that was going to happen in THIS film? How did we know we wouldn’t be seeing Two-Face’s debut in a third movie? There was a plausible deniability with Two-Face’s involvement because we don’t know the plot of the movie. We know what it’s *based* on. We know they have actors in place… but it doesn’t mean we knew for a fact the movie would go down that path. Batman Begins did a good job of establishing bit roles with amazing actors, just for the sake of making the whole movie stronger. Why wouldn’t Harvey Dent be the same? Why wouldn’t it just be a background cameo like he was in the first movie, setting things up for a sequel? See… these are all the questions one COULD ask, still not knowing exactly how things would turn out, and I feel like that is shattered once the marketing campaign gets involved. Then it goes from “I wonder, I wonder” to “Oh… well, now I know.” And I may just be speaking for myself here (but then, all this rant ever was was me whining about my own views), but that is highly disappointing to me.

@Henchman21 – A rant is what happens when I get a bug up my ass about something nobody else likely cares about and decide to scream at the world about it. :D

@Sean – Well comebacked. ^_^ I assume nothing about the general attendees of this movie, except that some of them might be like me. You’re right that this is only a small clip hidden within a viral site, and that there have been no trailers of TV ads broadcasting Two-Face…. yet. If it never happens, I’ll be pleased as punch. But I’m wary. I wont at all be surprised if/when he starts making his way into the broader public marketing campaign, and it is THAT possibility… THAT foresight… that fuels much of my rant.

And I believe that covers your first point.

For your second point… I would point you to Mike’s comment further down the page. He says exactly what I would say, except he says it with a little more even-handedness and less of that pesky belligerence. ;)

@idiot – Wouldn’t be much of a rant if I didn’t go atomic. ;) Hell, this article’s gotten more replies than any of my reviews have! I call this a success! I don’t mind that people don’t agree with my viewpoint, but it’s kind of silly to call someone on being overly negative in an article entitled “NeverRANTS”, wouldn’t you think…? I’m much nicer when I’m in reviewer mode.

This is about being an angry fan.

@ Man on the Moon – GOOD! DON’T read the article! Don’t even read this reply!

That said… I’m one of those people who refuses to accept the way the entertainment industry works when it comes to these things. I think there SHOULD be an element of surprise in ANY movie, but ESPECIALLY a big summer blockbuster. Just because the system works a certain way doesn’t mean it’s the RIGHT way, and I think that if more people were able to experience the sort of surprise I’m talking about, they might get behind me in this. The fact that I can ONLY point to X2 as an example of the sort of surprise I’m talking about… is kinda disappointing in itself, really.

@mo – I would point you towards my reply to WordSlinger earlier. The knowledge is always there in the back of our minds that the story could go a certain way, but once it’s officially confirmed, I think it takes a part of the movie’s enjoyment away — even if it’s a small part that most people have already resigned themselves to losing.

@Mike – Well said. But I still hates it. I HATES IT! ;)

@SaadAli – Again, that’s the case right now. In my deeply rooted objection to marketing companies, I think this will not always be the case. If I’m wrong? I’ll be happy as hell to admit to it. Right now, I’m still jadedly watching what their next move will be, venom-filled shotgun clenched tightly in my hands.
http://www.myspace.com/gtavc94 Don

Trust me when I say this. TDK WILL NOT BE BASED OFF THE “LONG HALLOWEEN” IN ANY WAY! I read the graphic novel and the joker does not play a major role in the book and the story is not even close.
WordSlinger

@ NeverWanderer

I see your point, but like I mentioned, I knew we would see him as Two-Face after reading his comments in last month’s LA Times article where he talks about the make-up work involved.
http://geeksofdoom.com Empress Eve

@Don
While I wouldn’t say that TDK is an adaptation of The Long Halloween, there’s supposedly parts of that graphic novel that make up TDK. For instance, TDK is rumored to have the storyline of the pact with Batman, Dent, and Gordon. And the Joker does play a role in The Long Halloween, but again, TDK is not a straight adaptation of TLH or any other Batman comic.


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