2011 entertainment is already bad

I’ll admit it. Last year when Julie Taymor announced that she would be directing an epic, action-packed musical stage production of Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark, I was peeing with excitement.

Such an ambitious project to take on was sure to involve pyrotechnics, fly systems, elaborate costumes and a fantastic rock ’n’ roll score. With the perfect intersection between geekdom and gaydom, the production was set to reel in nerds and theatergoers alike.  

With a $65 million budget, Taymor has yet to deliver as months of delays have stemmed from technical fouls, monetary issues and stuntsmen dropping like flies.

Taymor has bitten off more than she can chew, and, furthermore, she has taken colossal, artistic liberties in trying to make something that’s big even bigger.

“I’m not changing the story, I’m trying to make it better,” she said in an interview with The New York Times.

Now, the term “Icarus complex” comes to mind as this “Spider-Man” director flies just a bit too close to the sun. I’m no expert, but when you’re trying to embellish a classic comic series that has already proved itself more than worthy, I feel like you may be milking the cow dry.

In all honesty, as of late there seems to be a pattern in entertainment to overreach boundaries, expanding on something that could be monumental, and then ultimately disappointing the public. Not that America is so foreign to the concept of not getting things that were promised to us, but entertainment for 2011 has carried through with some poorly made choices.

“Skins” is getting railed for child pornography when it should be criticized for — let’s face it — bad acting. Starbucks has shamelessly hopped on the obesity bandwagon with its upcoming trenta size. Even Oprah and her endeavor for TV domination isn’t doing so hot in ratings.

This year may also turn out to be the year of bad sequels with another movie for “Mission Impossible,” “The Hangover,” “Pirates of the Caribbean” and even “Cars,” which has the potential to be Pixar’s first dud. Can’t Hollywood let its productions die in peace and dignity?

Even worse, Lady Gaga revealed a rather disappointing synth-beat, German-chanting song from an album that is supposed to be “the greatest album of the decade” (her words). Meanwhile, Britney Spears is taking over our billboards again and Justin Bieber is on the cover of The New Yorker.

We cannot succumb to this topsy-turvy madness.

Our first glimpses of 2011 are telling us that the year is not all that promising, but I still have some high hopes for what the arts have to offer. I mean, if anything, we still have the Harry Potter finale, right?


E-mail: ftirado@indiana.edu