Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Production!!

[Cousin_Barnabas]

The Michelle Pfeiffer interview was very refreshing.  It was very nice hearing her describe the experience - and I do hope this means that Liz makes it out alive and well.   

As for the HBC hate group...  I would suggest to these individuals that they find one of the multitudes of worthy causes out there and dedicate their time and energies to that.   

[borgosi]

I think that anything that has a "fandom" following has extreme fans that get out of control like these "real" fans have. I think we should expect this kind of reaction from them. I see no reason to take it personal. They may even cause some people that have never seen the OS to watch it just to see what all the talk is about.

[Nancy]

There is a FB page I was invited to join called Dark Shadows 2012 and the members of the group are fans of all ages who think many other fans have overreacted to HBC and other things since the movie was announced.  The members enjoy being able to talk about the movie without the atmosphere of hysteria that pervades some other pages, much like the one you describe below.  

Nancy

over on facebook a group of...you guessed it..."real fans" have started a HBC hate group.

[Nancy]

Yet another of your posts I heartily agree with, Cousin Barnabas.  It's one thing to kick back and discuss topics related to the show we all love, including the new movie, but quite another to organize a negative group for the purpose of negative discussion all because an actress involved with the new DS movie didn't care much for the original series.  It does boggle the mind.  Why not use the negative energy for something else indeed.

The Michelle Pfeiffer interview was very refreshing.  It was very nice hearing her describe the experience - and I do hope this means that Liz makes it out alive and well.   

As for the HBC hate group...  I would suggest to these individuals that they find one of the multitudes of worthy causes out there and dedicate their time and energies to that.   

[madscntst]

Thanks for the info about the fb page, Nancy- I might check that out.  I belong to one of the larger ones but rarely check it out anymore because there is so much whining.

I don't mind people criticizing HBC or other aspects of the film.  Many opinions are very interesting to hear even if I don't always agree.  But there is a difference between criticism and hate, and some folks seem to be getting so bent out of shape without realizing that the original series isn't going anywhere, and it will never be negated by the film, no matter what.

As for HBC, maybe because I've seen some of her other interviews, it didn't bother me that much.  I'm kind of used to the sarcastic spin she tends to put on everything.  I actually did think she made a mistake in saying some of the things she did on camera, and not too surprised that folks would criticize that, but I am surprised that people reacted as strongly as they did.  Glad Michelle has weighed in to show a more cheerful perspective, and that KLS is out there making a pitch for the film and for her book 

[Gothick]

 Exactly, Cathy.  I thought that tone and temper had a lot to do with what Helena said, and one always has to take into account the classic British tradition of "taking the piss" (making sarcastic fun even of one's nearest and dearest), of which she is clearly a mistress.

If you listen to both interviews, she is really saying that the new movie is extraordinary, even by Tim Burton's standards.  She said it is very subtle.  I remember in an interview before the filming started she commented on how unusual it was going to be because the focus was overwhelmingly going to be on interactions between actors, as opposed to big box FX sequences.

In her own mind she may have been saying that DS was a "so bad it's good" cult classic.  As MB and others have commented, we're used to hearing this from others, including the stars of the original series.

I remember at a Brooklyn festival a few years ago, there was a moment where Selby and Karlen sat while a clip sequence played of their scenes together on the series (mostly Desmond and Quentin from 1840).  I remember Selby saying something like "that dialogue!  Sam Hall, you have a lot to answer for!"  But then subsequently he stated:  "I'm really amazed at how good this is."  It was his first time seeing the show, apparently, in many years.


G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

What still continues to baffle me is how some fans believe HBC has said negative things about the film when so far as I can tell, she hasn't said a one. In fact, she's said things like she loved working on the film, she loved her role as Julia, and she's really hoping the finished film turns out well. OK - she made one offhanded remark that the original series is "hilariously bad" - but she's also said other complimentary things about the original (though granted. many of them have been relayed through KLS). So why focus on that one remark to the exclusion of everything else HBC has said. I've touched on this before when other derogatory remarks have cropped up, but fans should really take what's said by Burton, Depp, HBC, et al. as a whole because that's what really gives the true picture of their feelings. Given the reasoning the FB hate group is employing against HBC, there should also be FB hate groups against both Burton and Depp for offhanded remarks that they've made against the original series. But we're not seeing them. So why single out HBC when these same fans would seem to have forgiven/forgotten what Burton and Depp have said? The logic escapes me.  

154 days 11 hours 30 minutes 49 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

For me, the irony is that many of the fans who were faulting the movie before they saw it now are annoyed that HBC is dissing a show she's probably not seen in its entirety.

That would seem to be amazingly ironic as well as quite sad.  

154 days 11 hours 24 minutes 25 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Another DS 2012 star speaks -

A very nice interview. Thanks so much for sharing the link, Nancy.  

154 days 11 hours 20 minutes 9 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Nancy]

There was one or two of those back when the movie was first announced.  I don't know if they are still around or not but they were in existence for a time.  

It baffles me too that KLS took umbrage over HBC' remarks, and claims Lara Parker did as well.  Both of them have at festivals talked about the bad elements of DS, even talking about actors on the show they claimed were bad actors.  Jonathan Frid has said same thing HBC said.  What is the big deal?  

Nancy

Given the reasoning the FB hate group is employing against HBC, there should also be FB hate groups against both Burton and Depp for offhanded remarks that they've made against the original series. But we're not seeing them. So why single out HBC when these same fans would seem to have forgiven/forgotten what Burton and Depp have said? The logic escapes me.  

[Mysterious Benefactor]

There was one or two of those back when the movie was first announced.  I don't know if they are still around or not but they were in existence for a time.

I stand corrected then. Though to me, having hate groups for Burton and Depp back then makes even less sense than if they had them now - and having one for HBC now.  

It baffles me too that KLS took umbrage over HBC' remarks, and claims Lara Parker did as well.  Both of them have at festivals talked about the bad elements of DS, even talking about actors on the show they claimed were bad actors.  Jonathan Frid has said same thing HBC said. What is the big deal?

Exactly. So by that standard I suppose that means that either practically everyone involved with DS should have a FB hate group against them or not one of them should. The latter certainly makes the most sense to me...

154 days 11 hours 10 minutes 27 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Nancy]

Also, Frid and Edmonds both said at fests and in the press they think there is something wrong with fans who are obsessed with bloopers.  I don't see hate groups against them for "insulting fans." I think fans who fall into the category of being fascinated with bloopers take such criticism seriously and don't have ill feelings towards the DS actors who say such things.  It all comes down to if you are looking for a reason to be offended because only can logic be dismissed since it never had a role to play to start with.

[Nancy]

I tried to modify my previous post to add something but evidently I didn't do it in time -


One example comes to mind similar to this whole HBC business -

Back in 1987 or so, Jonathan Frid was interviewed while on a national tour of "Arsenic and Old Lace."  During the interview, while talking about DS, he told the reviewer those fans who were into the occult should be "spanked and sent off to find something better to do."  I was flabbergasted when the sh&t hit the fan on that one.  But it really did.   OMG, I can't even begin to tell you . . .

The full quote was in reference to a question about people into the occult  as in practicing it (which most DS fans do not seem to be).  Frid's reply was clearly referencing people into the occult, not people who watched DS.  But many fans read otherwise.  It's as if they by-passed his specific reference to the occult and its practice.   I remember reading the interview over and over and trying to figure out how anyone thought he was knocking fans who watched DS.  Are fans oversensitive about what they love because it gets knocked elsewhere? I don't know.   I suppose if you are a fan who has to treat your love of a TV show as a dirty little secret, maybe that creates a sense of over-defensiveness - I don't know.  I remember Frid was surprised that his remark was taken to mean what it did because the context of comment was included in the printed interview.

Go figure.

This business with HBC conjures up such memories and curiousities as to why some things will offend a fan and something else will not. 

Nancy

[Cousin_Barnabas]

I suppose if you are a fan who has to treat your love of a TV show as a dirty little secret, maybe that creates a sense of over-defensiveness - I don't know. 

This is a really interesting observation, Nancy.  I guess these fans are deciding to take a cue from the DS playbook.  They are putting themselves in the role of Barnabas Collins.  And the show, to them, fills the part of Angelique.  Talk about overdoing it!   

[Nancy]

Kathleen Cody has two FB pages and is upset that HBC called the OS DS "junk."