"Big Trouble in Little China" was going to be a very different movie, according to what I'd read of it. Originally, it was going to be set in the old west, and the truck driver was going to be a cowboy instead. Trouble was, the producers thought that was too many steps of removal from normal reality. Old west? That's one step of removal. Old west with SUPERNATURAL elements? That's another step. Old west, but it's Chinatown, so the supernatural elements are from the ORIENT? Whoa, whoa, whoa there, pardner! That's just TOO DADGUM CRAZY!
So it got changed to "modern day" (circa the 80s), our pseudo-hero is a truck driver, and so on. It's a campy movie, worth the watch just for fun awfulness ... or at least, I THINK it is. Honestly, I haven't seen it in ages, so I can't be sure whether it's aged well.
Ahem. Anyway, nowadays, "western with supernatural elements" might not seem quite so crazy, perhaps because "western" is becoming more mythic the further it slips into the past.
I can see how some stories are basically going for the same thing someone goes for in fan fiction when they try to latch onto a familiar genre. That is, if you choose "western epic," you expect most of your audience to already have at least some basic understanding of what to expect there, and what issues there might be to explore. It's just that it doesn't require the offense of grabbing someone else's creative work and laying claim on a recent name ... and you might actually have to do some sort of research so you don't end up a laughing-stock. (Again, my intimidation at writing Deadlands fiction on account of the historical element. I have enough trouble getting pegged on historical inaccuracies when I [i]draw[/i] WW2 soldiers and cowboys and such.)
By comparison, rip off Harry Potter, and the only "research" you need is to read all the books ... though an American author might embarrass by knowing little about the UK, unless the story is suddenly transplanted to America (which in its own way can be embarrassing). And Star Trek? It's ALL made up, and most folks don't "understand" the technobabble anyway. Small wonder it's a popular route to get going. ;)
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2010-05-18 07:18 pm (UTC)So it got changed to "modern day" (circa the 80s), our pseudo-hero is a truck driver, and so on. It's a campy movie, worth the watch just for fun awfulness ... or at least, I THINK it is. Honestly, I haven't seen it in ages, so I can't be sure whether it's aged well.
Ahem. Anyway, nowadays, "western with supernatural elements" might not seem quite so crazy, perhaps because "western" is becoming more mythic the further it slips into the past.
I can see how some stories are basically going for the same thing someone goes for in fan fiction when they try to latch onto a familiar genre. That is, if you choose "western epic," you expect most of your audience to already have at least some basic understanding of what to expect there, and what issues there might be to explore. It's just that it doesn't require the offense of grabbing someone else's creative work and laying claim on a recent name ... and you might actually have to do some sort of research so you don't end up a laughing-stock. (Again, my intimidation at writing Deadlands fiction on account of the historical element. I have enough trouble getting pegged on historical inaccuracies when I [i]draw[/i] WW2 soldiers and cowboys and such.)
By comparison, rip off Harry Potter, and the only "research" you need is to read all the books ... though an American author might embarrass by knowing little about the UK, unless the story is suddenly transplanted to America (which in its own way can be embarrassing). And Star Trek? It's ALL made up, and most folks don't "understand" the technobabble anyway. Small wonder it's a popular route to get going. ;)