Didn't see any spoilers either. Nice writeup.

zeitgeist | May 29, 19:41 CET

A thought just occured to me: telling your friends to see a movie may be important, but maybe not as important as HOW you tell them.

I think, in order to make the word-of-mouth campaign successful, that the Flan Community™ may need to tone down our religious fervor just a bit. Fanatics can be scary to the uninitiated; that's why we Mac users have such a damn hard time getting people to believe that our machines are better than theirs. I' going to practice a more sutble sales pitch:

Me: "Have you seen Serenity yet?"
Them: "No. What's that?"
Me: "This amazing little sci-fi movie. I couldn't believe how great it was. Can't believe more people haven't heard about it."
Them: "Huh. What's it about?"
Me: "This crew of smugglers on a rinky-dink space ship...it's kind of hard to explain but it was just so wonderful."
Them: "Sounds weird."
Me: "Yeah, I was kinda skeptical at first too. You know, after those last 2 STAR WARS movies didn't live up to my expectations, I was ready to give up on sci-fi altogether...."

Remember how people sold their friends on My Big Fat Greek Wedding? By telling them how good it was and how surprised they were at how good it was. We can do that too, can't we?

wren | May 29, 19:59 CET

Good points, Wren, I will avoid your mac/pc religious discussion bait, however ;)

zeitgeist | May 29, 20:13 CET

Whenever I engage in Buffyvangelism, I preface my pitch by saying that I was initially dismissive and derisive, but gradually came around.

My tactic with Serenity will be to say that I expected a lot, got it and more--a particular (unnamed) aspect of the show that always seemed just a bit peculiar and difficult to explain is in fact explained, and brilliantly. Shockingly, and brilliantly. And just leave it at that.

Chris inVirginia | May 29, 20:39 CET

I think THIS reviewer GETS IT--maybe just show them this review.

[ edited by SoddingNancyTribe on 2005-07-31 06:31 ]

rivergirl | May 29, 21:47 CET

Guess I should take off the Captain Tightpants uniform, unstrap the Serenity replica off of my car, and stop singing "The Hero of Canton" at the top of my lungs every 5 minutes. Gotta remember that what I consider beautiful devotion others look at as scary obsession! Been fantasizing since seeing the screening about doing things like skywriting "Serenity" above the skies of Washington,DC or spelling out "Firefly" with flares in 25ft characters in the middle of the National Mall......Perhaps I'll try Wren's suggestions first.

fastestbarista | May 29, 23:20 CET

Sky writing! I always thought that the Save Angel campaign needed a blimp. Now I think Serenity needs a blimp. But I guess blimps are too expensive. Oh, and too fanatical.

Right there with you, fastestbarista.

[ edited by electricspacegirl on 2005-05-29 21:41 ]

electricspacegirl | May 29, 23:39 CET

So maybe I'm overdoing it with my spam campaign:

W/tch S e r e n i t y N0W

I was talking to you on meetpeople.com last night and i recommend th e new S e r e n i t y movie for sci fi fun!!! I had a friend who watched S e r e n i t y and mollusks were mollified by th e film!!!

Caleb | May 30, 00:07 CET

LOL @ Caleb

zeitgeist | May 30, 01:17 CET

Maybe you can stop the signal afterall - by shutting down the site - anyone else having issues with getting on the boards at the Universal site?

RavenU | May 30, 01:42 CET

RavenU -- Having trouble getting to browncoats.serenitymovie.com at all. Just plain serenitymovie.com is reachable, however.

zeitgeist | May 30, 01:43 CET

That's kinda good to hear - at least it's not just me. :)

RavenU | May 30, 01:45 CET

Now that you mention it, RavenU, yes, I am also having problems reaching the OB.

jewel | May 30, 01:46 CET

Errgh...me too, no go. Wonder what's up...

johnsmusicbox | May 30, 02:12 CET

Perhaps they are redesigning the site to let us know that those of us who have not been able to see the preview, now can and there will be a guaranteed BDH or Joss or Chris at each showing.
What? I'm a Whedonesquer. I can't believe in fantasy?

Lioness | May 30, 03:24 CET

Same here, RavenU. No luck linking with the site. Who knows? I like Lioness' view.

Madhatter | May 30, 23:27 CET

Nice writeup. I'm getting anxious to see non-Firefly fan writeups, though.

Hmmm. I'm having no trouble connecting to the browncoats site. Still, I hope that Lioness is onto something....

I like your skywriting idea, fastestbarista. Kinda seriously, I like it. Okay, okay, I get the "scary fanatic" argument made by many. Agreed. But just getting the title "Serenity" into people's brains, the sooner the better, can't hurt. Not lengthy rants about how great Firefly/Serenity is - that's the fastest way to seeing eyes glaze over and/or downright fear. But planting the title here and there? It's a time-honored advertising trick. Bumper stickers, t-shirts, that kind of thing. Then when people finally see trailers for it they'll have an almost subconscious flicker of recognition. They'll mark it more in their heads. Hosting Firefly viewings or giving Firefly as a gift or loan to friends and family is a great thing to do, too. No need to get ultra-ranty in these situations, either. It's all in the presentation. Yet how can a soft humming of "Hero of Canton" hurt? Heh.

Apropos of not much of anything, has anyone seen Firefly previews on the SciFi channel? I wonder when they're going to start advertising it.

phlebotinin | May 31, 00:40 CET

Wonderful, phlebotinin. Perhaps you could share that site....

Madhatter | May 31, 00:52 CET

Very nice piece. Very...crisp, and to the point. And nice to point out what I've been saying too in reaction to the few negative reviews that complain it was 'confusing': it really isn't. Especially not if you just...you know, pay attention to what is being said in the movie. And shown. I know, a lot to ask these days, but really, it's all up there.

And yeah we've been trying to convert friends and family with varying degrees of success. (my family: mostly converted. wife's family: anything with the word 'spaceship' in it will be instantly shut down with that little word 'oh...') I have to say that the much used description of 'it's like a western in space' doesn't really work on people in my experience. You just get weird looks and the words 'Sci Fi Channel' come flying out, and not in a good way.

The words 'canceled TV show' are usually not helpful in that case either. Although that can be helped a bit with 'got a big following after cancellation' and 'huge DVD sales and now it's a movie. That's never happens!' That usually at least gets some hint of curiosity in their eyes.

And as many others have said 'I was skeptical too at first' is a must. I personally also point out how damn funny it is and to people who don't like SF, that it has no aliens and doesn't really focus on the SF aspects that much. Toss in the word 'original' a couple of times. But not too much. Can scare them off too even though they don't want to admit that.

EdDantes | May 31, 19:03 CET

I find the word "intelligent" works for some people. And yes, funny.

Lioness | May 31, 21:18 CET