If you pay close attention to the work of self-proclaimed iconoclasts, you start to notice something very ironic: for all the effort they undertake to set themselves apart from the rest of the world, what many of them really crave is, in the words of the poet, "Dolla-dolla bill, y'all." And that fact is never more evident when the vicissitudes of circumstance conspire to blunt their plans.
That's what Hostel Part II director Eli Roth is facing after his movie ended up making something of a disastrous bow, finishing in sixth place in the box office rankings. What went wrong? Well, according to Roth, it's everybody else's fault.
However, piracy has become worse than ever now, and a stolen workprint (with uninished music, no sound effects, and no VFX) leaked out on line before the release, and is really hurting us, especially internationally. Piracy will be the death of the film industry, as it killed the music industry, and while it makes a smaller dent in huge movies like Spider Man 3, it really hurts films like mine, which have far less of an advertising and production budget. Not only that, critics have actually been REVIEWING the film based off the pirated copy, which is inexcusable. Some of these critics I have actually known for a few years, and while I wouldn't dignify them by mentioning them by name, I know who they are, as do the studios, and other filmmakers, and they will no longer have any access to any of my films.
Even excepting the (perhaps intentionally) unverifiable claims, that's a pretty insane allegation, when you think about it. Movie piracy has been rampant for the better part of a decade now--and it didn't hurt Roth's previous efforts (and as far as the music industry goes, an early leak of Radiohead's Kid A during the Napster-mad early-aughts didn't keep that record from debuting at the top spot during its first week of sales). As far as critics go, hasn't the press been largely favorable? Entertainment Weekly, an influential enough tout, gave Hostel Part Two a pretty good review.
Venturing over to another part of the media world, we have arch-conservative firestarter Michael Savage. He was recently honored at Talkers Magazine's New Media Seminar with a "Freedom of Speech" Award. Unlike Roth, it sounds like a pretty hunky-dory day for Savage. But, when C-SPAN, who broadcasted portions of the event, opted to not include Savage's acceptance speech, he went ballistic, accusing the cable network of censorship.
Again, that's a pretty insane allegation. Accusations of censorship in an age where just about anyone can post whatever content they want on a blog or YouTube just seems silly. This isn't China . The marketplace of ideas is still alive, even if it's not in perfect health. Why, I lay you odds that at this very moment, you can go to your local Barnes and Noble and find both The Nation and The American Spectator sitting on the shelves. If Savage's "brownshirts" exist, they're certainly doing an inept job.
Both Roth and Savage seem to be willfully ignoring the obvious, and wholly innocent circumstances that have led to their predicaments. After Los Angeles exploded in outrage over the billboards for the Elisha Cuthbert terror-porn vehicle Captivity, you needn't have been the Amazing Kreskin to see that the sun was setting on that particular horror-film subgenre. And Savage's beef is with something even less ephemeral--CSPAN opted to not broadcast his acceptance simply because it was submitted pre-recorded on a DVD.
But, beyond the "reality-based" flaws in their allegations, it's really hard to get too worked up in a lather of pity for either Roth or Savage. Immediately following the above-quoted commentary from his MySpace page, Roth issued a pity-baiting plea to his fanbase: "What I'm saying is, this is your last chance to see one of my films for a while. If you haven't seen it, go now, because after next weekend the film will be gone from theaters... If everyone on my friends list went to see the film this weekend and brought a friend, it would make a huge difference." And, in Savage's case, it would appear that he's rebounded nicely from all that nasty censorship--he's pimping copies of his acceptance speech for $20 a pop (one shudders to think that Savage may have known in advance that C-SPAN wasn't going to air his remarks!).
I guess it just goes to show: these days, leveraging your personal complaint for a cash payoff may be the most iconic thing you can do.
Related:Eli Roth Reacts Badly To Hostel II Failure; Says R-Rated Horror In Serious Jeopardy [Deadline Hollywood Daily]C-SPAN Gets Savaged By Right-Wing Radio Listeners [ThinkProgress]
Previously, on Eat The Press:Finally, The Chance To Ask "Why Do You Hate America?" And They Blow It