Sarah thanks her fans - Cast&Crew

Being an old cynic, my first thought was, "this isn't her handwriting". It then occurred to me that I have no idea what her handwriting actually looks like! As you say, it's a nice gesture and I'm sure it is much appreciated by the fans who visit SMGfan, which I've always found to be a well run and sensible site (a bit like WHEDONesque, really, but with a much more limited remit).

alien lanes | October 18, 15:10 CET

I get where she's coming from, I met Eliza Dushku at London Epo, I saw so many fans, I wonder she had the energy all day to do it, she must of writ 1000 autographs, and over 400 photo shoots over the 2 days, I told her I loved her work as Faith, she did very well trying to make every fan happy.
I mean the fans are apart of Sarah'sr career, there no reason not to like them really, you might get a disturbed fan now and again, but I hope they realise most of us adore them, like them, wish them well, exactly what I said to Amber benson as well.

When you meet them, your not looking at just words, but facial expressions, smiles, you can see them enjoying themselfs at making their fans happy etc, I had a wonderful time at London expo.

Be nice to see Sarah do some more conventinos, she has alot fans, especially me in the UK.
[ edited by SeanValen on 2004-10-18 13:26 ]

[ edited by SeanValen on 2004-10-18 13:34 ]

SeanValen | October 18, 15:25 CET

dashboardprophet wrote:
Being an old cynic, my first thought was, "this isn't her handwriting". It then occurred to me that I have no idea what her handwriting actually looks like!"

The note was computer-generated.

edgy | October 18, 16:04 CET

I went along to London Expo. It's my first time at one of these events and I had great fun. I didn't, I will admit, speak to either Amber Benson or Eliza Dushku. Although very tempted to queue for autographs, I realised that I would turn into a "bibbling idiot", as Jesse once so eloquently put it. I'm 45 years old and I still feel like a 15-year-old in these situations! The best I could manage was to lurk at the back of the audience during Amber's Q&A session.

alien lanes | October 18, 16:05 CET

edgy: Thank you. This is what I get for being a complete techno-phobe. I will eventually join the 21st century!

alien lanes | October 18, 16:08 CET

Being an old cynic, my first thought was, "this isn't her handwriting". It then occurred to me that I have no idea what her handwriting actually looks like!"

The note was computer-generated.
So you're saying it was from the Buffybot...?

Sorry...

zz9 | October 18, 17:20 CET

dashboardprophet: Don't worry about being technophobic; technophobes remember how the world is really supposed to be. The only way I know the note was done on a computer is that the "handwriting" of repeated words (like the two occurrences of "For me" in the first paragraph) are absolutely identical.

zz9: (LOL) Exactly! That must be why the note is so polite! "We're very pretty!"

edgy | October 18, 18:25 CET

I'll be so glad when Nov. 2 is past us. I hate to see politics enter in Whedonesque. There's much things to talk about. Now, that was a nice token from Sarah, don't you think?

Madhatter | October 18, 18:42 CET

It's a plug for The Grudge, nothing more or less.

Chris in Virginia | October 18, 18:47 CET

I agree with Chris. Whether this came personally from Sarah, from her 'people' or if its really a hoax, it doesn't say anything of substance and encourages fans to go see her new movie. I don't think it was a nice token. It's calculated exposure, wherever it came from.

ZachsMind | October 18, 18:49 CET

I would agree that it's calculated. However, I'm sure the fans at SMGfan appreciate it, anyway. Being that it's on that particular site I would say that it's also genuine, be it from Gellar herself or from her 'people'.

All publicity is cynical in one way or another, and that includes making appearances at conventions and the like. I'm sure Gellar has no particular interest in her fans and she simply wants them to go to see her movie so that it's a hit. We could go around in circles debating the whys and wherefores of her 'message' (or whatever we want call it), but does it really matter all that much?

[ edited by dashboardprophet on 2004-10-18 17:26 ]

alien lanes | October 18, 18:58 CET

All publicity is cynical in one way or another, and that includes making appearances at conventions and the like.

I would tend to agree, being as how we saw nothing of the like pre-Grudge(more pointedly, circa Buffy).

But then, I'm a cynical person by nature.

Rogue Slayer | October 18, 19:47 CET

So I'm sitting here this morning drinking coffee and watching my morning Buffy on FX (today its The Gift!), when who pops up in a promo but SMG! "Buffy will be right back, so stay tuned, and don't forget to see my new movie, The Grudge, that opens this Friday."

WOW!

This movie is going to do great. They are promoting the hell out of it. And they are SO targeting us. Yeah baby that letter was calculated! "I love you guys, come watch my new movie!" But oh well, that's the way it goes.

Sarah is on every mag cover these days. I've never seen someone work so hard to promote a movie. I can imagine that her hard work is going to pay off bigtime.

Speaking of pay... I saw Freddie Prinze Jr. on Boston Public last night. He was not of the good. Acting-wise, I mean. C'est la vie, I guess its a paycheck.

Willowy | October 18, 19:51 CET

Willowy, The Gift in the early a.m.? I'd have to add liquor to my coffee to deal with the throat lumpy ending. You're a strong woman.

The "note" on smgfan is plain old publicity as others have noted. Nothing particularly "nice" about it. That doesn't mean that SMG herself isn't nice and doesn't appreciate her fans. I believe she appreciates them immensely. But as Willowy points out, SMG is promoting the heck out of her new movie. This little note is part of the publicity machine.

phlebotinin | October 18, 20:06 CET

Sarah is on every mag cover these days.

Yeah, she was on the cover of my Cosmo. I'm kind of sick of her mug by now. Maybe I'm just a little bitter....

And she did a plug for FX Buffy??!!! But oh, it wasn't really for Buffy, was it...no, I'm not bitter....

Rogue Slayer | October 18, 20:07 CET

Yeah, I'm also getting SMG over-exposure. OTOH as she does plug BtVS in virtually every interview these days, maybe this will turn out to be a good thing from the Whedonverse perspective. Does she get royalties from DVD sales?
Another thing - I don't follow other actor's careers as closely as I do Sarah's (I'm waiting for AH and AD to get bored staying home with each other and start working, for God's sake...) so is this publicity blitz so unusual?

WWBD | October 18, 20:15 CET

For an actor of Gellar's stature (no pun intended) this kind of publicity blitz is not unusual. There is obviously an expectation that 'The Grudge' has a good chance of being a big box office hit, which is exactly what Sony wants, and what Gellar wants. Bearing in mind that the budget was relatively small there is a big profit potential here.

I don't have any problem with Gellar being on every magazine cover and all the other stuff that's going on. However, I can understand why it will start to get irritating for some people. I am a fan, but even I am getting a bit sick of it. I just want to see the film, which I am still looking forward immensely.

It's all very cynical, but that's the nature of the game. Gellar is a big time actor (not in the Julia Roberts league admittedly, but still a bankable commodity) and this is what it's all about. It's a cut-throat business.

I'll be glad when the film is out and it's all done and dusted. In the meantime, she does what she needs to do, and she does sometimes come in for unfair criticism. She isn't the most fan-friendly actor around, but she's just taking care of business and good luck to her.

alien lanes | October 18, 20:32 CET

It does have that generic and calculated promotional vibe, but she doesn’t really have any choice but to play that game, I’m afraid. She also has walk a fine line in her publicity to distance herself from Buffy enough to move on to other things, but not so much that she alienates the fans she made because of it. At least it doesn’t say something like “I’m Sarah Michelle Gellar and I approved this message” at the end of it. ;-)

I think a lot is riding on The Grudge because her name is above the title and as she said in a link from a few days ago, she had had to fight for the part to prove that she’s more than Buffy. I do think it’s a ‘make or break’ for her because she’s not a big enough star yet to falter and still be given quality opportunities. Luckily, I actually want to see the film (I'm not enough of a fan to watch her in everything, no matter what) because seeing her on so many magazine covers—and she’s still hasn’t made the talk show appearances yet—is verging on overload. Enough already!

bloodflowers | October 18, 20:35 CET

phlebotinin, I watch it every morning, because my baby girl gets up early and it makes getting up a bit easier. I wonder if I'm not warping her, instead of Barney or Teletubbies, she gets Buffy. Heh heh. She wiggles around slapping the carpet whenever she hears the theme. Well? At least she'll have good taste! :)

And yeah, it was hard seeing it again. It surprises me how hard it still is to take, even after all this time.

Rogue, I know! She would never come out with a new promo for Buffy...but the Grudge now? "Lets suck in those unsuspecting BtVS fans..." Only we aren't so unsuspecting...

*edited to add*
It reminds me of when Cordelia was campaigning for homecoming queen and she was talking to the nerds about the Vulcan Death Grip. Oh, ok Cordy, we'll vote for you now.

[ edited by Willowy on 2004-10-18 19:35 ]

Willowy | October 18, 20:46 CET

It's a nice gesture from Sarah.

Angel TheVampire | October 18, 21:35 CET

Rogue, I know! She would never come out with a new promo for Buffy...but the Grudge now? "Lets suck in those unsuspecting BtVS fans..." Only we aren't so unsuspecting...

Now, do we suspect that there may be some kind of connection between SMG's media blitz and The Grudge? ;)

It reminds me of when Cordelia was campaigning for homecoming queen and she was talking to the nerds about the Vulcan Death Grip. Oh, ok Cordy, we'll vote for you now.

LMAO!!

I do get the distinct feeling of "If you liked me as Buffy, you'll LOVE me as (whoever she is) in The Grudge!" with those Buffy promos!

Rogue Slayer | October 18, 21:49 CET

Willowy, very funny (the Cordy Homecoming Queen campaign, I mean.) But, Go see my movie? Yecch.

I will stay away from this movie. And DVD.

Of course, when I see Serenity in April it will mark the first time I've been in a movie theater in about a half-decade...

Chris in Virginia | October 18, 22:56 CET

Personally, I can't wait for this movie. I am huge fan of Japanese horror (both in movies and video games) and the original films are awesome. I don't see her thanking her fans at SMGfan.com and telling them to see the movie as anything negative, it probably made their day, so good for them.

Karen | October 18, 23:07 CET

I'm utterly shocked that a celebrity is doing something to promote their career. Shocked, i tells you. No celebrities do that. It's all about the love of their work and never about money.

I do find it amazing that even with a kind gesture, she is torn down as well. Oh, i understand...it's because of the motivation. I see. Cause, again, celebrities, especially those that are so utterly worshipped in these boards, do it alllll for the fans and such. Yep. They are *never* thinking of their careers or figuring out the way to get their fans to be more loyal. Especially not those who attend conventions, nope...

I guess it's damned if you do, damned if you don't. And in this fandom, SMG is always playing the villain. How utterly...boring.

[ edited by syd on 2004-10-18 21:12 ]

syd | October 18, 23:10 CET

Wow, I like sarcasm as much as the next person, and I do see your point, after sifting through said sarcasm. ZachsMind and dashboardprophet, among others, made the same point. We know it's calculated, and normal. I sometimes feel like SMG ends up in a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation as well, but no one's slamming her here.

And with all due respect, I tend to avoid that which bores me and allow others to have their fun.

Angela | October 18, 23:35 CET

I did make, basically, the same point, but perhaps not quite as forcibly!

Gellar does seem to be an emotive issue. Personally, I like her. I like her acting, I like what she did in BtVS and I like most of her her films. For all I know, she might be a decidedly unpleasant person. I don't actually care, to be honest. It makes no difference to my life. I tend to believe that most of the rumours about her are untrue.

In the end, it doesn't matter. We can choose to like her or not to like her, and she will, no doubt, continue to make her films and live a lifestyle that we know little or nothing about.

alien lanes | October 18, 23:54 CET

Too much SMG? SMG overload? Not posible in my book :)

herb | October 19, 00:46 CET

I should probably clarify: I'm a fan of the Buffy tv series, but that doesn't necessarily mean I'm much of a fan of SMG herself. I respect her as an actress. Outside Buffy, her choices in material leave me cold. I'm have no opinion of her acting in Cruel Intentions or Harvard Man, because I can't bring myself to watch them. I did see Scooby Doo, and her portrayal of Daphne was vain and disrespectful to the source material.

"The Grudge" looks promising, but I said the same about "Wrong Turn" for Eliza Dushku until I saw it. That just left a bad taste in my mouth. I also wanted to like "Tru Calling" but again it fell short of my expectations.

I'll go see Grudge because it looks like it's in the realm of entertainment that happens to interest me; not because SMG is using her Buffy fanship to try and bump her opening weekend. I saw "Darkness Falls" both because it looked like I might enjoy it and because Emma Caulfield was in it. God that sucked. The tooth fairy? What were they thinking??

ZachsMind | October 19, 01:39 CET

ZachsMind, just had to say: I thought it was funny that you felt a need to clarify. You haven't been exactly reticent in sharing your feelings on this and other subjects ;)

I will offer that "Harvard Man" is really an interesting movie. A failure, I think, in the end, but quite a bold one. And SMG's character is quite different from any other that she's played, it seems to me. "Cruel Intentions", on the other hand, is pap, but glossy, fairly enjoyable pap. If you like that sort of thing. (I actually read "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" in the original as an undergrad, and I've seen most of the adaptations. In that respect, CI wasn't the worst revision in history. Of course, that's the opinion of someone who thought Luhrmann's "Romeo + Juliet" was terrific . . .) For a truly bad SMG-film (not that you're seeking one out), I "recommend" "Simply Irresistible". I know some will disagree, but for me it just didn't work on any level. Nice to discover that even my SMG-love had clear and discernible boundaries . . .

SoddingNancyTribe | October 19, 02:27 CET

Actually, SNT, I kind of liked "Simply Irresistable". It didn't work completely, but it had its moments, and I loved the dance scene at the restaurant, when Sarah smiled that insanely happy, giddy, well, irresistable smile.

Chris inVirginia | October 19, 02:38 CET

I really liked Simply Irresistible as a fun, feel good fluff piece. Plus, I can watch The Food Network for like, hours, and come up with my own take on the recipes and...I like food.

I liked that aspect of it and I loved that dance scene as well Lizard. I bought this movie, albeit at the Walmart $5.99 price. Good fun fluff, and I think she's adorable in it. Haven't seen Harvard Man. Given recent comments about it, I'll have to check it out. Can't stand not being able to have an opinion on something. :)

Angela | October 19, 02:54 CET

Wouldn't it be funny if this turned out to be a hoax?

Silent Night | October 19, 03:11 CET

Don't get me wrong, I like feel-good fluff. When it, like, makes me feel good and fluffy. "SI" just bored me to tears. And that "leading man", whatisname, Sean Patrick something?, was just awful. I spent the entire time that I wasn't fidgeting at the screen yelling at SMG's character, "what on earth do you see in that schmuck?" To me, it was a misjudged blend of "You've Got Mail" (is that the right title? That Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan vehicle), which I disliked, with "Like Water for Chocolate", which I did like. As if the studio had seen those two movies and said, "quick, let's roll out our own romantic comedy involving a small business and a big corporation, throw in some magical realist food element, and really cash in!" Feh.

SoddingNancyTribe | October 19, 03:19 CET

SMG has said herself that SI needed more work on it which I suppose is the polite way of saying even she knows that it sucked

[ edited by garda39 on 2004-10-19 01:28 ]

"Wouldn't it be funny if this turned out to be a hoax?"

SMGFAN have contacts with her "people" and I presume the message was passed on through them

[ edited by garda39 on 2004-10-19 01:32 ]

garda39 | October 19, 03:27 CET

SNT, I can see SI would bore many to tears. Like I said, it hooked me with the fun food presentations, cuz I love fun food presentations. Sean Patrick Flannery I believe is the guy's name. I did notice that he wasn't pulling in an, oh, Oscar-caliber performance, gotta agree with you there. But, I'm a girl, he's cute, and in a movie that I pegged for fluff right away, you know...lower standards. I actually thought they had a good chemistry too. I think I'll wrap this discussion up, you didn't even like the movie, and I didn't like it so much that I need to keep yapping about it. :)

Angela | October 19, 03:35 CET

Ah, Angela, it's called *displacement*. The more I yap about stuff, even stuff I don't care for, the less I have to think about the weighty problems of work . . . Another good ruse foiled, methinks.

SoddingNancyTribe | October 19, 03:55 CET

You know, *displacement* is exactly right. I've got plenty of work woes going on right now as well. To change careers? Not to change careers? Oh god, my head has surfaced from the sand...Unfortunately, I don't think I can spend all that long analyzing and dissecting SI.

However, we can surely move to a different topic and I can yap away. :)

Angela | October 19, 04:13 CET

Well Sarah's 'thank you' is pretty much nothing but promotion for the Grudge. And while I don't have a big problem with that, (how the game is played. she has a lot riding on this) I also don't really see how this should get a 'oh my god she's so great' for this. It's an ad. Pure and simple.

If she gave a thank you to the fans while nothing new is coming out yet and there's no plug for anything, I can see it as a genuine gesture. Right now it simply isn't.

I will go see The Grudge because it looks promising. I really enjoyed The Ring, and american horror movies haven't worked for me in....oh...many years...can't even think of the last time.

"It reminds me of when Cordelia was campaigning for homecoming queen and she was talking to the nerds about the Vulcan Death Grip. Oh, ok Cordy, we'll vote for you now."

LMAO! That's the best comparison I've seen!

EdDantes | October 19, 06:21 CET

May I just be allowed to butt into the lively discussion bwteen SNT and Angela? 'Simply Irresitible' is not, I will admit, a particulatrly good film, but I rather enjoyed it. Gellar is very engaging in it. 'Harvard Man' is a wonderful film, a particular favourite of mine. I am a big fan of James Toback, so it's hardly surprising. That aside, I think it's Gellar's best film to date.

alien lanes | October 19, 12:31 CET

The thank you was basically another plug for the movie,a "thank you for your support, now come see my movie", This movie is extremely important to her,unlike Scooby Doo etc her name is top billing, so I can see SMG and her publicist pulling out all the stops to promote this, this movie will be a test to see if she can pull people in to see her headline a movie post Buffy, if The Grudge tanks it could mean a one way ticket back to a tv series.

Nuke | October 19, 17:42 CET

This also could be in response to them sending her something. It's mentioned above the note about the fans supporting her and sending her gifts and the "Thank You" is in large, bold letters. I honestly don't think she'd need to drum up support and viewers from a SMG fan club website. But, all the celebrities are expected to go out and "sell" the movies they are in so even if that's the case, it's no big deal and if the fans enjoyed getting the message, I'm happy for them.

Now, if she suddenly came out with an ad in Variety thanking all her fans, that would seem much more calculating. As this was just directed to a SMG fan website, and one that openly goes to everything she does, I think I'll give her the benefit of the doubt that it's a heartfelt thank you.

Firefly Flanatic | October 19, 17:51 CET

October 18 2004