The Work Itself

As we close out the second weekend of Serenity, in the midst of box office numbers which continue to be less than hoped, I personally now have seen the film thirteen times, if you include the three advance screenings and the two press screenings.

Sometime during Saturday evening's show, I realized that it was becoming a little difficult to watch the film with audiences -- because those audiences, Browncoat or otherwise, inevitably went along for the ride.

What I mean by that is this: Since it's become clear that the question isn't whether or not people will enjoy the movie, but whether or not they will walk in the door to begin with, watching the film with an appreciative audience in a weird way serves to remind that -- for whatever reason -- people aren't walking through the doors in sufficient numbers.

But then something strange happened while at the movie on Sunday night. I stopped worrying about the fact that there weren't enough people going to the movie in general, and focused solely on the fact that, once again, I was admist an audience that had gotten hooked and was along for the ride.

Very recently, I shut down a project I had been faithfully engaged in for nearly three years (for reasons of burn out not worth going into here). When considering simply the work itself, that project was an unqualified and complete success. But the market for it never was enough to make is self-sustaining.

I mention this because it echoes what was in my mind while watching Serenity on Sunday night.

When considering simply the work itself, the film is an unqualified and complete success. I have yet to see the film with any audience, Browncoat or otherwise, which did not go along for the ride.

It's unquestionably a disappointment that -- for whatever reason -- not enough people are walking through the door.

But in this instance, on Sunday night, I was satisfied to be in a room with people who were enjoying the work itself, whether or not they know what they were walking into, whether or not they knew beforehand who Joss was.

There's the success of the work itself and the success of the work as a product. It's anyone's guess where Serenity ultimately will land when it comes to the latter.

But when it comes to the former, to the success of the work itself, there's no need whatsoever to guess. Those audiences who have walked through the door have answered that question in no uncertain terms.

Posted by The One True b!X on 10 Oct 2005 at 12:56 AM

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