Just Harmless

One of the reasons that I like to get the theater early is that I don't like to miss any of the pre-show entertainment. Last night, I was struck by the fact that all of the previews seemed to be for Kid Movies.
I can only draw two possible conclusions for this:


1. Hollywood thinks that only the little ones can pack out a theater in the coming months and that grown-ups will watch their stuff on cable or from the video store.

2. H2G2 is perceived as a kiddie flick.

If option #2 is accurate, this troubles me for a number of reasons.

First, I would hate to think that the true guts of the story - the thinking parts - had been ripped out to make it more palatable to an audience that thinks that "The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lava Girl" is good cinema. Adams had a fantastic ability to be insightful about the dull parts of our lives; though as Dar pointed out, many of the good bits would be difficult to transfer to film.
Second, conclusion #2 may also have been drawn based on the credit to Jim Henson's Monster Factory among the titles. I think those responsible for the film made a mistake here. Though I acknowledge that Mr. Adams was most likely involved in picking how the Vogons looked, I have always thought that the disgust we feel towards them stems more from the flaws in their character than the fact they were cow-shaped.

If they had been portrayed visually as say, Cardassians; (which I'm sure would have been cheaper) we could have focused more on the guard that is concerned that he doesn't sound menacing enough and skipped all the business with the walrus impersonations and ill-fitting uniforms. This single element brought much more of the old BBC movie in that was needed. Seeing Marvin in queue on the Vogon home world was enough.

Thirdly, and I find this the most distressing - is the happy ending. After reading Adams for 15 years, I can tell you that it's not about happy endings. Arthur DOES NOT get the girl. The dolphins DO NOT come back. And those folks in the pub with paper bags on their heads (If they so chose) did not come back to life. "The Guide" was best when positioning the senselessness of the universe up against our desires and pre-conceived philosophies.

The Count Down to Life Cycle - (a nod to Adams passionate environmental commitment) is at complete odds with the bowl of Petunia's "Not Again". While he is wrong on many existential topics - God does not disappear in a poof of logic; we do Adam's work and his memory a disservice by making the story fit another boy-saves-world-gets-the-girl flick.