Upcoming movies and games - the two forms of creative media I sustain interest in - are saturated with it. I'm getting tired of it, and I want it to stop influencing my opinion so much.
Mind you, I'd still watch for new releases and check critical opinions before buying a game or ticket to a film. I'm sure you'd agree that those are sensible practices to sustain. These are just the blockbusters I'm talking about, with their months-in-advance trailers, viral marketing campaigns, E3 demos and what-have-you.
I don't like them because they cause me to formulate unfounded and inaccurate opinions on an entire product based on a heavily sliced-and-shrunken version of it. Over time, those opinions become so ensconced in my mind that I'm bound to be slightly underwhelmed and taken aback by the finished product, one way or another.
Is it possible, though, to tear myself away from nitpicky, trailer-analysing, heated-discussions-in-the-forums websites like Ain't It Cool News? Can I learn from my mistake of scouring Smash Bros Dojo every weekday (when it was active) and avoid similar hype machines? Could I possibly detach myself that way, without giving in to curiosity?
I think it was Steven Spielberg - or, at least, someone involved in the new Indiana Jones - who recently said that a movie has the best effect on someone who's walked in off the street, with little to no prior knowledge of what they're about to see. I totally understand what he's saying.
I'd certainly like to give it a shot. What do you think?
Mind you, I'd still watch for new releases and check critical opinions before buying a game or ticket to a film. I'm sure you'd agree that those are sensible practices to sustain. These are just the blockbusters I'm talking about, with their months-in-advance trailers, viral marketing campaigns, E3 demos and what-have-you.
I don't like them because they cause me to formulate unfounded and inaccurate opinions on an entire product based on a heavily sliced-and-shrunken version of it. Over time, those opinions become so ensconced in my mind that I'm bound to be slightly underwhelmed and taken aback by the finished product, one way or another.
Is it possible, though, to tear myself away from nitpicky, trailer-analysing, heated-discussions-in-the-forums websites like Ain't It Cool News? Can I learn from my mistake of scouring Smash Bros Dojo every weekday (when it was active) and avoid similar hype machines? Could I possibly detach myself that way, without giving in to curiosity?
I think it was Steven Spielberg - or, at least, someone involved in the new Indiana Jones - who recently said that a movie has the best effect on someone who's walked in off the street, with little to no prior knowledge of what they're about to see. I totally understand what he's saying.
I'd certainly like to give it a shot. What do you think?