By: Dave Clark
I am, by no means, a professional journalist. I have some education in journalism, but I don’t have a degree. I am hardly a good writer. I make grammar mistakes from time to time (they always drive me crazy when I spot one of my own) and I need a lot of practice when it comes to reporting and interviewing. What I am, is a fan. I love the genres that we cover here at Atomic Geekdom, and it brings me great joy to discuss the topics that we do on our podcasts. I’m truly blessed to be surrounded by the people around me (the fine Atomic Geekdom staff) and they help elevate my writing and my podcast hosting. We’ve had some amazing guests on our show as well, Matt (2 Broke Geeks) and Amelia (The Geekly Planet and The Marvel Report), help bring us two amazingly opinionated and smart voices to our shows when they appear. One thing we will never be, is a “breaking news” site. It’s just not important in the landscape of things we talk about on our site.
All due respect to those sites and blogs and social media outlets that strive to get the scoop on all things in the entertainment world. They work endlessly to be the firsts to report on the latest casting news, plot reveals, and spoilers from the set. But, in my humble opinion, do you really want to know all those things? Casting news is fun. I love to speculate on who could play my favorite comic book characters. Discussing our opinions on who gets cast as Batman or as Doctor Strange is a fun aspect of our podcasts. But do you really need to know what the main plot line of Batman v Superman is going to be? I mean, we get the synopsis from the studio but do you need photos and reports from the set telling you that Jena Malone was seen with red hair walking around? Isn’t it more fun to be surprised when it’s revealed that she’s playing Carrie Kelley or maybe Barbara Gordon? Think of how cool it would’ve been to be surprised to see Batman gripping the roof of The Joker’s car in that Suicide Squad trailer. It would’ve came out of nowhere, like “Luke, I am your father.” (Spoiler alert…sorry.) It’s moments like those, in cinema and in books and on television, that truly made me a fan of the mediums.
If you enjoy reading spoilers, or being the first to know who was cast to play Amanda Waller, that’s awesome. I’m glad you find joy in those sites, and they all exist for a reason. They wouldn’t be working so tirelessly to get the scoop if there wasn’t an audience for their reporting. Again, I give respect to those sites and those reporters, but in all honesty, we know why scoops are important to those sites. Notoriety. You get the clicks, the likes, the retweets, and you get the attention. Once you have that attention, then you get the sponsors, advertisers and who knows what else and I totally understand the importance to all of that.
We know that the internet and social media plays a huge role in all of this. We have insane quality cameras in our pockets and we have 24/7 access to the world on our phones. News is everywhere around us and it gets difficult to not want to report on things we see and be the first to post a picture of the Suicide Squad set filming on our streets. It makes sense.
Let the storytellers tell the stories in the way they want them told. When you see an image out of context without the post production effects and lighting, it may not look as great as the finished product causing an unnecessary internet community outrage. Let’s get back to being surprised! Let’s all take joy in the unexpected from our movies and shows. Have fun in the unknown of it all. Be patient. It’s important to be surprised with our storytelling. If you knew what was going to happen every week on The Walking Dead, what would be the fun in watching? Sure, you’d get to see all the cool ways that a Walker can attack a person or vice versa, but the suspense and the thrill and the drama is gone from that hour of television. Finding your Christmas presents before they’re wrapped and put under the tree can be fun, but then the thrill of not knowing what’s been wrapped and thoughtfully placed under that tree is now gone. The mystique has been washed away.
I’m not sure if the majority of you will agree with this opinion. I’d be willing to bet there’s a LOT of people that wanna know every detail before the movie or episode comes out and that’s okay…for them. I’m not one of those people and I hope I never become one because I love being surprised. Whether you agree or disagree on this point of view, one thing we can all agree on, we love the product. Respect each other and enjoy the movies and shows that you crave so much. But also respect the people who create those movies and shows.