Due to the advent of the internet, the world has become a much smaller place. Information is disseminated nowadays with no filter. Is this good, or can it ruin things for us because there is no context for news or images or audio or anything?
The example I'd like to use is the upcoming Man of Steel movie. I could use a slew of other movies but this is what I'll go with. Despite the movie being 2 years away, we know almost the entire cast, and have been flooded with images from the set from people that have managed to sneak in (thanks guys!). We know what the costume looks like (insert bulge jokes here), and we've even seen Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) riding a bike without his glasses (oh no!).
Now certain pieces of information we can take at face value and not much explanation is required: Amy Adams does not appear to be going brunette, Perry White will be portrayed by Laurence Fishburne, Ma and Pa Kent are younger than what we've seen in other versions. This type of information can be interpreted how the fanboys and audience want to interpret it. If you hate it, ok. If you love it, SUPER! Sorry I had to put that word in here somewhere.
But a lot of negative comments have been offered based on gleaning a handful of pictures or set shots, and some complaining is outright unfounded. I'll cite a few examples. Henry Cavill's Superman promo shot. He is crouched in front of a damaged vault (a bank safe?). The forums were ablaze with negative comments (not that there weren't positive ones). "Where's his spit curl?", "It's too dark, Superman's costume should be lighter.", "Have they gotten rid of the red trunks? 'Cause those are iconic.", "It's too scaly looking." I won't go on but I could because there was so much more.
His spit curl. It's a promo shot. We have no idea if we're gonna see the curl or not, so why speculate based on a single photo? One could argue, though, that combined with other set photos, we aren't going to see the spit curl. But this promo pic came out before the set shots did, so it seemed premature. I personally think Superman would have to be pretty vain to keep that spit curl intact all the time. "Hold on Zod, my hair isn't properly coiffed yet."
Any comments I have about the costume I will keep to myself for fear of starting a revolution. But I will say this, We haven't seen the finished product yet. Let's wait for a trailer, at least! I'm of the mind that I will reserve judgment for when I actually see the movie.
As for the glasses, we have no idea what the context of these pictures are. Could he be without the glasses? Maybe. But we have no idea. These scenes could be before he becomes a star reporter or dons the suit. WE DON'T KNOW. Yet I've actually read people's comments swearing off the movie before it has come out. "That's it, that was the tipping point for me".
We live in an age of information which can be a beautiful thing. I would argue that for a lot of highly anticipated movies, it's a bad thing. I think movies can alienate people before the final product even comes out. Now, I do think that the amount of hard core complainers is a small percentage (with absolutely no statistical evidence to support this statement, though), but the fact that so many message forums have so many negative comments about something that hasn't even come out yet, shouldn't we just relax a little? I'm not going to tell anyone what to do, because everyone is entitled to say what they want. But can we at least wait until we get better context or see the final product that relates to set pics? Believe it or not, movies looks different than rogue set pics taken by random fans. They will make it look better for the big screen. I promise.
I know that security has been tight for this movie, but perhaps it needs to be a little tighter. Or perhaps it's unrealistic because to control it to that level would not be cost effective, which is my guess.
My suggestion to anyone who reads this that disagrees with me, just take whatever information you receive and consider the potential explanations before forming an opinion. To anyone that agrees with me, my efforts to brainwash you have been successful, so I thank you.