In the risky Hollywood biz, where budgets frequently reach nine figures and a film’s fate is determined by the willingness of film-goers to part with their dollars, Warner Bros.’s “The Bride!” is serving as the perfect cautionary tale on how ill-advised it is to mix woke politics with general entertainment fare.
Written and directed by actress-filmmaker Maggie Gyllenhaal, a movie that is supposed to be a re-imagining of the “Bride of Frankenstein” film has only managed to scrape together a minuscule $7 million domestically in its debut weekend.
Because it has a humongous $90 million production budget hanging over it, the project is on track to lose north of $100 million, once marketing and distribution are factored in.
This was no misfire, but rather a full-blown box-office disaster, joining the ranks of other infamous
flops that have hemorrhaged cash while favoring cultural relevance over entertainment.
But why did this star-studded vehicle, which features an Academy Award winner and two Oscar nominees, fail so spectacularly?
The answer lies in the film’s heavy-handed injection of a political agenda, which transforms what could have been a respectable remake of a horror classic into a hack D-level flick.
Gyllenhaal’s film relocates the story to 1930s Chicago, where a girl, who gets possessed by the spirit of Mary Shelley dies, is resurrected, and ultimately becomes the monster bride of Frankenstein.
This bride isn’t just brought back from the dead, she’s brought to life in order to rage against patriarchal oppression. She does so with awkward homages to modern gender politics, which has the feel of having been shoehorned into the dialogue.
The script relies on graphic depictions of gratuitous violence. Men are consistently characterized as evil, and the plot eventually devolves into a contrived revenge fantasy.
Shelley’s “Frankenstein” novel, published in 1818, is among the most well-known works of English literature. Over the years it has had a significant impact on literature and popular culture, spawning its own genre consisting of stories, films, television content, plays, and even music.
The original tale is one of a mad doctor and his experiment gone wrong, with Shelley delving into thought-provoking themes such as the scope of scientific ethics, the nature of monstrosity, and most importantly, the consequences of playing God.
The lessons of Shelley’s parable are essentially ignored in the Gyllenhaal version. Subtlety is abandoned and the movie quickly degenerates into a lengthy diatribe, with multiple scenes being devoted to chastising the viewing audience.
Folks are not inclined to spend their time and/or money on a film that feels as if they’ve been corralled into participating in a feminist studies seminar.
Entertainment, yes. Escapism, yes. Sanctimony, a definite no.
“The Bride!” is no isolated agenda-ridden film. It’s the latest in a string of politically-charged missteps that have alienated mainstream viewers and consequently tanked at the box office.
Disney’s “Star Wars” sequels stand as the granddaddy of such disasters, illustrating how sermonizing over storytelling swiftly alienates audiences, leading to both losses in revenue and long-term damage to brands.
The “Star Wars” sequels feature content in which diversity and girlboss tropes overshadow coherent plots. They, along with Marvel’s recent offerings, favor identity politics to a such a degree that a billion-dollar franchise has now become damaged goods.
Disney has responded by scrapping projects, canceling trilogies, and shifting its focus to television. And although CEO Bob Iger cited over-saturation and fatigue as possible causes, everyone pretty much knows that this is code for audience rejection of the agenda-driven direction.
Last year’s “Joker: Folie a Deux” from Warner Bros., which is a bizarre big-budget courtroom musical, resulted in a $200 million loss for the studio, which prompted entertainment execs to rethink high-stakes experiments.
It’s a truism that the box office doesn’t lie. Woke content just isn’t able to fill seats when so many in the audience feel as if they are being lectured instead of entertained.
Hollywood’s lesson here is crystal clear and long overdue: Forcing political agendas into movie and television fare is destined to result in failure.
Studios that have insisted on pouring fortunes into woke projects have been placing their bets on prestige while chasing golden trophies. Unfortunately, far too many times they’ve ended up with neither.
The cardinal rule is “First entertain.”
Without this priority brands will continue to be tarnished and shelves will remain empty.
Hollywood knows better.
So does the patient public.
James Hirsen 