My friend refuses to watch Spiderman
 

He's been a big fan of Spidey since he was 3 years old (now 24) and he claims to be a fan of the 60s, 70s, and 80s comic books and the early versions of the cartoons (not the 90s one or the Mtv one). He says he's into details and the new movie got so much of it wrong that he's boycotting it. I spent far too many hours trying to convince him to watch the film. I think that as a fan, he's obligated and should feel compelled to watch anything and everything related to his obsession regardless of how bad it might be.

Among the things that pissed him off - putting Mary Jane in as the love interest instead of the first girl, putting Mary Jane together with the Green Goblin and Spiderman origins, having the Green Goblin look like a robot suit instead of pink and orange tights, etc... Anyone else a huge fan of Spiderman and thinks the movie was a pile of shit? Is he justified in his refusal to watch the films?

I'm an "old school" Spider-Man fan myself, and loved the films.

Tell your friend to SUCK IT.

I'm not an uber Spider-Man fan, but I know enough of his major storylines from the comics and from the 60's/70's cartoons.
I liked the first movie. The only problems I had were certain CGI shots were sub par and the Green Goblin design could have been better (mostly the mask), but neither killed the movie for me.

Well, he just sounds like an obsessive fan. They're fun movies (I think the first one is soso, the second one much better), but quite frankly I don't undersstand the logic behind boycotting a film because it changes things from the story. Watch the movie for itself. Just tell him if he wants the story exact, reading his frickin comic books. If he wants to see live action Spidey, well, there's only one way...watch the damn movie. In the end, his loss.

Actually - there were live action tv-movies of Spidey a few decades back. There was also a Japanese series that was more like Power Rangers.

Spider-Man was also a regular on "The Electric Company." Remember that, true believers?

He was too young to remember the Electric Company and I only remember the pinball machine credit sequence and the Bloodhound gang - the rest is a blur.

i refused to watch the hulk

The Bloodhound Gang was from 3-2-1 Contact, n00b.

Oh yeah... well, what the fuck then? I can't remember EC. I'm only 30, I'm not 55 like you, hippie. ;)

But how strong in your convictions were you? Did you end up seeing it at some point? See, he refuses to watch it to the point where he would kill himself before watching it clockwork orange style. He said he'd leave my house if I put it in the DVD player. He said "I'd rather take a bath with a dude than watch the Spiderman movie"

I personally think it's ludicrous for anybody to boycott a comic book movie because it's not like the comic book. I have a friend who won't shut up about how much he hated Hellboy because it wasn't like the comic book. I said to him, "Then why didn't you stay home and read the comic book?"

I don't go to comic book movies expecting them to be EXACTLY like the comic book. That would suck royally. I already read those stories a thousand times, show me something different. If it works, it works for me on a different level than if they got all the details exactly right.

And, personally, I liked the Hulk. It reminded me of some of the better movies from the 70s I have seen. Compared to the comic, I suppose it sucks, but for what it is, stand alone, it's pretty good and I think unfairly trashed.

In comics, there are often many, many different retellings of origins and the basic stories of the main super heroes. Spider Man, for example has been through a few. If in comics they can have different versions of the original stories, then they should be allowed to do some reimagining for the movies.

Tell your friend flat out that many things don't translate well from the comic book pages to the big screen. A Green Goblin in tights would have looked stupid. Killing off Spidey's love interest in movie one would have been lame. Et cetera.

Well, every person chooses their own special "cause" to support. Unfortunately, your friend chose a stupidly laughable one. It's his right and his choice. It's also his loss. I wouldn't spend any more time trying to convince him if I were you.

Smart decision. :yack:

Should I be the one to break it to Trigger?

Not everyone is gay... quit projecting. :p

I agree that green goblin in tights would've looked dumb, but that's what he wanted. He wanted someone to have the balls to do it right.

Making a film based on a comic that is 100% faithful is practically impossible. They are two different mediums and there has to be some concessions made. I used to be a huge comic book fan, and I thought that the Spider-man films were excellent. But I have to admit that I don't like the Green Goblin costume either. I know that having him wear tights would have been dumb, but they could have come with something better than having Gobby look like a Power Rangers villain reject.

I'm having a really difficult time reconciling these two statements. :D

how does he know what to boycott if he won't watch what he is boycotting?

I agree, but they surely made up for it in SM2, as they nailed Doc Ock.

Nonetheless, anyone expecting an exact translation of any medium to film is gonig to be sorely disapointed as, well, it's not going to happen, and even if it did it wouldn't be pretty.

I'm a big comic book fan and while the details of the movie may have been different than in the 1960's comics, the characterization was very true to the books. Spider-Man II was particularly good, with several of the images taken directly from the comic books. In regards to your friend, why try and force him to watch something he doesn't want to? It's his loss.

If I were a purist, I'd refuse to watch Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones or the 97 Special Editions of ANH, ESB and ROTJ.

But I watched them anyway. :shrug:

I liked Spiderman as a kid, and I didn't think much of the movies. So I don't think he's missing much. If the guy doesn't want to watch the movie, let him be