If the trailers pay accurate testimony, Starship Troopers looks to be a uniquely terrible film. A Heinlein adaptation framed as a send-up of '50s sci-fi, minus the send-up, the film nonetheless has generated a surprising level of positive anticipation among fans of garbage cinema - a not-inconsequential target audience, it should be said. But whether for reasons of unfranchisability, low expectations, or general indifference, Sony Pictures is taking a promotions risk of a magnitude it would never consider when it comes to the film's plot. At long last, a major entertainment conglomerate is encouraging unofficial fan sites.
It's about time. Few Web diehards need convincing on the point that fan sites are, if anything, overgenerous in their larding of free publicity on typically undeserving subjects. But where the gift economists see harmless zealotry, attorneys see trademark dilution and reach for their red pens. What persuaded them to treat this instance differently? It's just possible that in Starship Troopers, they found a film with heroes, villains, props, and a title so generic as to be unprotectable. If so, that would make blandness the true action hero in this far-fetched caper.
But at this delicate juncture, perhaps such criticism should be silenced in favor of a stirring salute to the Federal Network. Or, as Entertainment Weekly commented, "The picture is like Aliens, Star Wars, Top Gun, and Jurassic Park all jammed together ... sensationally exciting!" And so on and so forth. Our pals in Hollywood are slow learners and need all the support they can get. Maybe aspiring enlistees should cut their plans for Trooper satellite sites and just build fan pages for Sony instead.
This article appeared originally in HotWired.
