Posted by Poseidon at cas02.elkrdg01.md.comcast.net on January 20, 2002 at 03:55:51:
In Reply to: Why's Kevin been so insecure lately? posted by L-train on January 20, 2002 at 02:18:03:
: Ever since Dogma failed to become the breakout hit Kevin wanted it to (it's
: still a good movie) it seems like Kevin Smith has been suffering a crisis
: of confidence. J&S Bob Strikes Back could have been such a great F*@k you
: against Hollywood. Instead it played like American Pie meets Mallrats
: (virtually ever important character from both films shows up in it). It was
: still a fun movie but, again, he could've really made a hard core slam
: against Hollywood. Instead, it was like he was trying too hard to make a
: big movie hit (which backfired at the box office). In most of his
: interviews he seems to obsess what people say about him on the net
: (Entertainment weekly listed him as part of the TOP 5 worst internet
: influences this year). It's like he's trying to break the mold of his
: outsider status. Yet, it's his outsider point of view that make him so
: refreshing. So who cares if he doesn't have the number one movie of the
: week? Anyhow, I want a return of the hard hitting Kevin Smith of Dogma and
: Chasing Amy (great film). Not the big Hollywood player wanna-be he's trying
: so hard to be right now (Mallrats sucked and J&S Bob Strikes Back was
: lacking...we don't more awful attempts at mainstream co
You make some good points. By the time he wrote J&SB Kevin had simply run out of interesting things to write about. When one draws so heavily from one's own experience (Kevin seems virtually oblivious to anything which doesn't involve himself centrally) one is bound to have a few lame ideas. If you sit around on a webboard reading fan criticism and are obsessed with what people say about you, you'll write about it. While you can debate J&SB's comedic merits (tastes vary, obviously), its basic premise is rather petty and small. "People write bad things about me!" That kinda stuff only works as merciless self-satire, which this wasn't.
Kevin's problems stem from the fact that there's sometimes little in the way of quality control for his ideas. Dead-end job employees and jealous boyfriends have universal appeal; even a comedic fantasy about a crisis of faith has it to some degree -- but a revenge fantasy about people writing crap about you doesn't quite cut it. Certainly family-oriented themes are a better way to go.