Is The Word ‘Porno’ Dangerous?
USA Today has some early scoop on Kevin Smith’s next flick says FirstShowing.net. But, aside from the photo I’ve included above—which is quite amusing, I must admit—color me disappointed. Most of the article focuses on how calling the film Zack and Miri Make a Porno could be damaging at the box office.
Seriously? We’re worried about the American public staying away from a film with the word ‘porno’ in the title. It’d be one thing if it was Zack and Miri Shoot a Gangbang or Zack and Miri Film a Circle-Jerk. But Zack and Miri Make a Porno? We’re seriously worried about that? Didn’t the Academy Award for Best Screenplay just go to a former stripper. Do we not live in a world where a sex-tape actually increases the popularity of a somebody who should still be a nobody? Red light culture has been on the rise since at least 2003. Porno is not a naughty word. The word piques interest. It’s not going to drive people away, not any more. It’s going to bring them in. As that dude from the Men’s Wearhouse commercials says, “I guarantee it.”
On the other hand, USA Today’s Dispatches from the set feature is well worth checking out. Topic #1 is “Preparing for a sex scene,” and both Banks and Rogen offer some amusing thoughts on the subject.
Comments On This Article
Carps Lionel says:
We are attacked daily with such words and no one seems to care. But when in the position of actually choosing a film with that word in it we all suddenly become puritans and the chances are that not many people will chose to see it.
ChrisClark says:
It’ll be interesting to see if you’re right. I think it will all depend on the marketing. Seth Rogen is a pretty powerful force in Hollywood right now. If they focus more on him and less on Kevin Smith as director, then I think the film will do well.
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