I recently went to see Watchmen at the theater (which I mentioned previously). In short, I really enjoyed it and would gladly go watch it again and will likely rent it (or even shell out the cash to buy it) when it comes out on DVD. I’ve since read a few articles about the opening of this movie that have left me shaking my head. It seems that a good number of people who had opted to go see this movie ended up walking out of it before the end. Confused and curious, I felt compelled to read on only to find that the cause was what I should have expected – poorly informed consumers.
It seems that despite the bleak economic times we are living in, there are thousands (if not millions) of Americans out there who have the financial means to spend $8 to $20 a head to see a movie about which they know little to nothing. From what I’ve read, some of these clueless viewers were simply not aware that this movie just wasn’t their cup of tea, but too many of them were clueless parents. Yes – apparently scores of parents out there didn’t expect that an R-rated comic book movie that has been billed as being darker than Dark Knight might contain levels of violence and nudity unfit for their young teens and tweens. Again, I’m not really all that surprised – I’m a cynic. But being a parent of two impressionable young ones, I have a hard time imagining myself making such a mistake (I spent a week debating letting my daughter join me in seeing Iron Man).
I think the part that takes me a little bit aback about this is that the information is readily available. For one, the source material has been around since the mid-80s. Secondly, the movie rating system is not new or confusing and the reasons for ratings are often listed on the same sites where many of these patrons likely bought their tickets. Finally, in my recollection, many of the previews did show as much of the violent nature of the movie as they could without requiring elevated ratings themselves.
But I’m not complaining. I actually find it somewhat amusing – especially in light of the fact that all of said people paid for tickets. The movie enjoyed a successful opening weekend and has made decent box office numbers given the March opening and the R rating. Whether those ticket sales were from customers who made it through the entire film is somewhat less important. I will point out to anyone who is unaware, though – the DVD release will supposedly be about 45 minutes longer and include MORE violence and nudity that was cut from the theatrical release. So if you are at all squeamish, I suggest you don’t watch.