RECENT POSTS
- Oprah, Health Care Lobbyists, Among Recent Visitors to White House
- An Obama Thanksgiving Menu, with an Extra Serving of Pie
- White House Thanksgiving Traditions: Broken and Observed
- Obama, GOP Air Differences Over Jobs, Economy In Thanksgiving Addresses
- White House State Dinner Party Crashers
- Obama to Lay Out Emissions Goals in Copenhagen
- Free Bird
- The "Good" War
- The Presidential Planner
- Under the Stars, Obama Toasts India’s Prime Minister
MONTHLY ARCHIVES
« Previous | Main | Next »
Snakes on a Plane
June 29, 2006 9:14 AM
In Hollywood, it's called "high concept." Meaning the premise is the film. Such as the pending New Line Cinema release of "Snakes on a Plane."
COURTESY NEW LINE CINEMA
The Los Angeles Times has a GREAT PIECE TODAY that describes the way Snakes On a Plane (or SOAP) director David Ellis, responding directly to feedback from fans on the internet, "went back and reshot scenes to make the attacks more violent, the sex more explicit and the language more profane — including adding an expletive-laden line of dialogue for (actor Samuel L.) Jackson." (That would be the now-famous "Get these motha------- snakes off the motha------- plane!!")
The LAT piece gets into the various ways the internet changed the film, starting when screenwriter Josh Friedman first described SOAP on HIS BLOG, writing "It's a concept. It's a poster and a logline and whatever else you need it to be."
So as I sit here in the ABC News White House booth, "substitute guy" (once again) for our regular White House correspondents Ms. Jessica Yellin and Ms. Martha Raddatz, why would I be thinking about Snakes On a Plane?
Because high-concept is an important art in politics as well.
It is likely that no one will ever confuse Samuel L. Jackson's angry eruption (re-shot specifically due to fan feedback) with more lofty cinematic comments such as "rosebud" or "plastics" or "I am big! It's the pictures that got small!" or any of the other movie dialogue considered THE BEST EVER. It is also quite possible that Snakes On A Plane will be a big summer hit.
The White House political brains are experts on high-concept. To wit:
BUSH AND KOIZUMI GO TO GRACELAND! (A story that will be covered Friday by the media....)
THE MEDIA ARE MAKING THIS NATION MORE VULNERABLE TO TERRORIST ATTACK! That's going on right now; the President last night at a Missouri fundraiser, referring to the NYT LAT and WSJ disclosure of the CIA/Treasury monitoring of the database of the European bank consortium SOA-- , er, SWIFT, said: "This program has been a vital tool in the war on terror. Last week, the details of this program appeared in the press. There can be no excuse for anyone entrusted with vital intelligence to leak it, and no excuse for any newspaper to print it." (Standing O from the GOP crowd)
DON'T BURN THE FLAG! (Democratic response -- Well, we don't want it burned either, but we don't support amendming the Constitution to do so, that would be an abridgement of our rights....)
MARRIAGE IS ONE MAN AND ONE WOMAN (Democratic response -- Well, shouldn't that decision really be up to the states? And maybe, yes, marriage is between one man and one woman, but perhaps gay and lesbian couples should be able to enter into some sort of civil union agreement so the state recognizes their medical rights, ability to file joint tax returns, etc......)
Please note: I'm not judging the accuracy of the message -- just its consumability.
And what's the message coming from the Democratic Party?
To be charitable, let's say it's more "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." It might be quality, it might be interesting, but it's complicated and perhaps not as easily consumed.
more later
jt
June 29, 2006 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (2)
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
I've always thought "Snakes on a Plane" referred to a Bush, Rove, Mehlman, and Hughes flight back to Crawford. Isn't if always fun to watch the President pander prolifically and profligately to his partisan pols and pals at participatory parties? (Try saying that really fast three times!) I'm sure that he's doing this because of that rascally Rasputin Rove to reenergize ragtag, rowdy Republicans, also known as his "base." Quite frankly, I'm just tired of Bush's predictability, just as much as I am of the Democrats' inability to form a coherent response. "I say it's spinach and I say to hell with it," to borrow from Thurber.
Posted by: chuck | Jun 29, 2006 12:18:59 PM
what happened to Samuel L.? Remember when he was quoting Corinthians 3:16? Was Ice-T all booked up?
Posted by: crazyvirgo | Jun 29, 2006 11:49:36 AM
Post a comment
