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Here's a controversial opinion: Celebrities, please stop badmouthing your own work.
This is something I've thought about a couple of times in the past week in relation to superhero movies, when, for example, I noticed that Ryan Reynolds added a special Easter egg to the latest Deadpool vs. Wolverine promo: Three seconds into the video, you click on a QR code hidden between Wolverine's legs, which leads to a private video in which Ryan Reynolds issues a tongue-in-cheek warning about the film itself.
“I'm super excited to join you all on July 26th, and I know you're all super excited, but let me start by saying, this movie is about as shallow as a Battlefield Earth sequel,” Reynolds said with a straight face in a video titled “Disclaimer.” “We're mostly going to be beating each other up, antagonizing Disney, making dick jokes, making jokes about me, making jokes about Hugh, and avoiding the Marvel-mandated after-credits scene entirely. In case you haven't noticed yet, the after-credits scene is always a commercial for another movie, and it always ends with a commercial for another movie. So sit back, relax, and let your IQ go down, your heart rate go up, and we'll keep you hooked while we journey to an empty dreamland, a place where grown men and women walk around in tights and act like it's not a giant cultural cry for help. This is the movie.”
On the one hand, what we all understand is that Deadpool, and increasingly Reynolds, is known for the kind of self-reflective, metatextual humor that pokes fun at potential critics of the film before anyone else, making it seem as though they're in on the joke, clawing away at potential (legitimate) complaints about the film. very It's what everyone is hoping for when promoting a Deadpool movie, but in that case, who cares…?
on the other hand: Stop badmouthing your jobIf the new movie is so terrible even as a joke, there's no way I'd want to pay for it, no matter how much he could pretend to rebel without Marvel's permission and speak truth to power (just like no one believes Reynolds actually hates Deadpool and Wolverine as much as that disclaimer states, right?). right? )
I was reminded of the press tour for Madame Web, where the attraction was more to do with star Dakota Johnson's seeming disdain for the film than the film itself. Madame Web is certainly not a good film, and it's not a “so bad it's funny” film. Honestly, the most surprising thing about the film is how In reality, it's a humorless, terrible film, but the promotional tour did absolutely nothing to build goodwill for the project beforehand, instead it primed the audience for early criticism and use to make fun of it. Imagine what would have happened if Johnson hadn't sweared. that If the movie was that bad, would it have just seemed like a bad movie, rather than a movie so terrible that it deserves praise?
And again, I understand that Deadpool and Wolverine and Madame Web are very different movies with different tones and, frankly, different levels of quality, and I also understand that “sarcasm” is ingrained in Deadpool's DNA in a way that Reynolds barely manages to do. do not have Fans have way too much expectation from this production at this point to make fun of their own movie. With the Deadpool project, sincerity is reserved for very specific purposes, and hype is not one of them.
But at a certain point, instead of laughing self-consciously at your own work, you inadvertently find yourself laughing at the people who are making it into a work. I actually like it I can't help but feel that your work, and the desperation to keep Deadpool still edgy and relevant now that he's firmly established at Marvel Studios, means that both Reynolds and Marvel are on the verge of crossing that line at any moment.
After all, there are two more months until Deadpool and Wolverine hits theaters; two more months when promotional activity will ramp up and all involved will have to simultaneously portray themselves as out-of-control comedy voices and corporate spokespeople for their latest sponsorship deal. How far can Deadpool go to feel countercultural when it's the most anticipated release from the most mainstream movie studio today? And really, how far is too far in this context?
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