Pulp Friction

They definitely should have kept the of Mars in the title. It sets the tone. Apparently all kinds of surveys revealed this would turn off a certain demographic (women), so rather than commit to the pulp origins of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter series right from the get-go, the movie PTBs decided to try and lure folk in under if not false pretences, then some deliberately ambiguous marketing.

I can understand why they didn’t go for the even better title of Princess of Mars (apart from the fact that surveys showed that blokes are turned off by the “Princess” in that title), what with the Traci Lords as Dejah Thoris film of 2009 by the same name, but I wish they’d had more faith in their pulpy product. In for a penny, in for a pound. Anyway, the generic title and uncertain expectations might explain why we were the only ones laughing at the session we attended today.

Relax, people, pulp is supposed to be over the top. Pulp is supposed to have a cast of thousands. It’s supposed to be fun, and full of action and intrigues and, if it's SF, aliens and monsters and stuff. And honestly, it’s really not that hard to follow the plot. It’s sci-fi of ye olde B-grade matinee sort that just happens to have cost a lot of money, most of which went into the amazing special effects. Just dive in and revel in the gorgeousness of it all.

As an addendum, there's a good interview here with Michael Chabon, he of the works of mainstream literature who also enjoys and writes SF, and who happened to co-write the screenplay for John Carter (of Mars).