10 Reasons Why Marvel Studios Fans Don't Like John Carter

3. John Carter Wasn€™t Part Of My Childhood (Or Adulthood) Commercialism Indoctrination Processes

9_indoctrination

John Carter may be cool in theory, and the movie may have been adapted from somebody else€™s work instead of an original script, and the book series may have been near-plagiarized in countless ways over the 20th and 21st centuries to influence almost everything that I like, but I didn€™t see him on TV when I was a kid. No cartoons, no live action shows, no toys, no trading cards, no bubble gum, no toothbrushes, no macaroni, and let€™s not forget, the greatest travesty in a long line of travesties, no John Carter underwear to put over my non-existent John Carter pajamas. John Carter was a play in Hollywood€™s book I could never see, and that€™s what killed it. I hardly knew a thing about him before he came up on screen, and even worse, I didn€™t have cool nerd friends to explain all of his story and world to me (only lame John Carter nerd friends). I was totally lost and had to actually learn about the story in real-time, paying attention to the movie. Disney didn€™t need to just market John Carter. It needed to go back in time and make it a cornerstone of my childhood. But it€™s perfectly fine by me that almost every other popular story out there has already taken things from the John Carter books without me knowing. Ignorance is bliss. I might as well just not know about John Carter at this point, because it has become too much for me to be introduced to a new character all at once in a single movie. It needs to be gradual. Candy, video games, trailers, more video games, and then the movie. After the post-credits scene. This is the core of Marvel Studios€™s success. Because of its brand familiarity and its solid product and public relations infrastructure and influence, many of us know who is what in the Marvel Universes and will put our unwavering support behind them. And the constant whispering in our ears from ads and critics certainly help. A toy is a toy is a toy is€ hmm, this is awesome! But even more than being indoctrinated, another element keeps us watching Marvel Studios and not John Carter.
Contributor
Contributor

Ian Boucher is many things when he is not writing for WhatCulture.com -- explorer, friend of nature, and librarian. He enjoys stories of many kinds and is fascinated with what different mediums can bring to them. He has developed particular affections for movies and comic books, especially the ones that need more attention, taking them absolutely seriously with a sense of humor. He constantly strives to build his understanding of the relationships between world cultures, messages, and audiences.