Because I just can't stop myself from pushing the same buttons yet again - I'm like one of those test mice who keeps electrocuting itself for food - here's marketing exec and photographer Tom Palen - the man responsible for that "Eli Roth's Cock-a-palooza" photo I posted yesterday - on why his ad campaign for Hostel: Part II, featuring a hung-upside down Heather Matarazzo and a naked, beheaded Bijou Phillips, is not as "vulgar" as those highly criticized, and subsequently removed, billboards of Elisha Cuthbert for Captivity, via Defamer:
I get what Palen's getting at; I honestly haven't been offended by the posters for Hostel - I think they're pretty nicely done - while I did think the marketing for Captivity crossed the line... whatever "the line" consists of, they crossed it. A how-to manual on murder as advertising? Way over on that side of the line.
But, all that said, I think Palen's totally full of shit; while I'll argue to my dying breath that I think Eli Roth has got actual purpose behind his work, I will never, not in a billion years, argue the same of someone in marketing.
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"The poster of a naked Phillips holding her severed head in her hands, he says, "is completely inappropriate to be on a billboard on the street or even in the lobby of our offices." But he says it is suitable for theaters in foreign markets -- where people are far less concerned about sexual images -- and for hard-core horror fans.
"It's for the boys in the backpacks at these comic conventions, waiting in line for hours to get the posters signed..."
... But what about his severed-head poster? Why isn't it vulgar too? "There's a way for Bijou to hold her head in her hand and do it elegantly instead of gratuitously," he says. "It's the flourish and technique brought to it that makes all the difference.""
I get what Palen's getting at; I honestly haven't been offended by the posters for Hostel - I think they're pretty nicely done - while I did think the marketing for Captivity crossed the line... whatever "the line" consists of, they crossed it. A how-to manual on murder as advertising? Way over on that side of the line.
But, all that said, I think Palen's totally full of shit; while I'll argue to my dying breath that I think Eli Roth has got actual purpose behind his work, I will never, not in a billion years, argue the same of someone in marketing.
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5 comments:
Well...the guy's a photographer, right? Not just "in marketing." I mean, I think he's full of shit, too. The whole "yeah, she's holding her head in her hand, but look at the lighting!" thing. But I don't think he's any less credible when discussing art than a director like Roth who -- much as I love his personality -- is I think often guilty of applying too much artistic meaning to the sharp end of a cleaver meeting squishy flesh.
Yeah, I was mostly just being a smart-ass with the "in marketing" swipe. It was sorta an in-joke for myself - my real-life job, I work at an advertising agency, so I am surrounded day after day by the utter bullshit these salespeople will attach to seomthing when just shoehorning their personal fetishes into their work.
And here I was being humorless. Feel free to sever my head and photograph my holding it sumptuously. (Sorry!)
I've been researching movie posters for a project on my blog and I've looked at, quite literally, over 20,000 movie posters and while it's true foreign markets frequently have much more nudity on their advertising, it doesn't necessarily make it good. It just means they think throwing a naked woman on a poster will sell it to every horny 15-year-old boy.
That Captivity billboard was one of the worst I've seen. It gives me the heebyjeebies. Much more than the Hostel 2 ones, actually. Although I think this one (for Captivity) is quite good. I'm not sure what makes it instictively "better" because it's sort of the same thing as the billboard, but said billboard just crossed a line.
And considering everyone and their dog seemed to think the billboard was a retched waste of space I hope it's a long while before we see something like it again in the open like it was.
As much as I dislike the Hostel 2 posters and can't imagine wanting to have the Bijou one hanging for display at my place, history is full of alternative posters for films that pushed the limits of what they can show. But throwing it up out the front of a cinema with NOW SHOWING! in lights above it seems a bit nauseating.
ja,
Good to hear you're in advertising. You got me a little heated with the marketing comment. But now that I know it's context, I feel your pain for I too work at an advertising agency.
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