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Sims: the Movie
By Corvus | May 29, 2007
I was informed, via e-mail, that one of my regular readers was eager to hear my opinion on the recent acquisition of the movie rights for the Sims (link).
You ready for it?
*nwwwaaaaaay*
Seriously… a movie version of the Sims? Don’t we already have enough media telling us that the road to happiness is the pursuit of material goods? Aren’t there enough movies and television shows touting the importance social status? Given that the sole theme of the Sims is one of crass consumerism, I hardly think it’ll make for a compelling movie.
But wait! I see that the sharp wits behind, Scary Movie XVII, that paragon of comedic social commentary, will be writing it! How, oh how, can it go wrong?! How many penis jokes can we look forward to? How many racial and gender stereotypes? How many stale jokes and references to the last year’s most popular movies?!
It seems to me that in generous moments we could consider the Sims to be a parody of the commercial world presented in our media. Of course, that irony is lost on the Evil Aempire’s marketing machine and, no doubt, the majority of the loyal audience who buys expansion pack after expansion pack after expansion pack after expansion pack…
To attempt to translate this sandbox game, which is delightfully devoid of any traditional storytelling devices, into a traditional, linear media is so ludicrous as to be aggravatingly futile. I have a hard time believing this movie will be worth watching and it’s almost enough to make me want to watch the disastrous Wing Commander movie in protest… almost.
Tagged:Film. | 2 Comments »
May 29th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
As Mr. Ebert once said, “It makes you kind of nostalgic for that movie where Chevy Chase turned into Benji.”
May 31st, 2007 at 12:46 pm
On the opposite side of that spectrum, they’re trying to make Neuromancer into a movie.
I had kinda a similar reaction:
*nwwwwaaaaay*
But for a different reason: There’s entirely to much subtlety in the storytelling to even attempt a translation into some two hour CGI romp. We allready proved this twice with Keanu in Jonny Mnemonic, and even our faithful Christoper fell just a little short in New Rose Hotel (look it up if you’ve not seen it… it’s -truly- awful).
Good thing we get to vote with our dollars!!!