Alan Bell's comment about trailer ethics was interesting.  I was so swept

up by MIB I didn't catch the fine point that he did, but he's undoubtedly

right.  Are people generally aware that trailers for films are not only

*not* made by the people who make the films, but very often not made even

by the production company which makes the film.  There are creative

boutiques in Beverly Hills, which specialize in lobby cards, film

posters, newspaper ads, trailers, etc.  For a package price you can get

all of it.  You give them footage.  Period.  They don't have to know what

the film is about, they just have to know who's in it and when it's being

released.  We might here in fact be talking about boutique ethics, but it

honestly doesn't shock me much to see that Sonnenfeld had his film cut

one way and the trailer came out another.

 

One more quickie.  I often these days go to a film and think to myself,

"Jee, the *entire* film was in the trailer!"  (Or: You didn't need to go

see it, you sucker!)  And that's really an interesting case of unethical

misrepresentation to my feeling at least, given that I come from the

"old(er)" days, when there was no question about it: you made a point of

NOT showing much of what was in the film in the trailer, because the

point of the trailer was to tease you into the theater.  I think the

trailer now is not so much trying to tease you into the theater as to

dare you to stay out of the theater.  In the 50s, then, we were being

courageous in going to see the film.  Now we are being timid.

 

Murray

 

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Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the 

University of Alabama.