“Extras” are ruining the movie experience
COMMENTARY
Josh Deitz

Movies used to be so much simpler.

You went to the theater and sat down. The movie ran. When the movie was over, it was over. Stories were self-contained and limited to a few hours. Technology provided a physical restraint on creativity.

That restraint is long gone. Traditional movies still exist, but a number of franchises have gone beyond the theater into a variety of other media. While this allows creators to flex their artistic muscles, it can backfire quite dramatically.

“The Matrix” trilogy is the best example of this phenomenon. With the success of the original movie, the Wachowski brothers, the creators of “The Matrix,” immediately expanded into other media. There are now dozens of Matrix stories in various forms.

To understand “The Matrix” movies, you have to read the online comic books (in bookstores soon), watch the animated episodes on the Animatrix DVD, play the “Enter the Matrix” video game and keep up with “The Matrix” Web site.

That’s a lot of work for an action movie franchise. Most of the stories are irrelevant, but some add critical information to the movies. Most people don’t have the time or energy to keep up with everything the Wachowskis release.

George Lucas is doing something similar with the final “Star Wars” prequel. Lucas collaborated with Cartoon Network to release 20 five-minute animated shorts. The micro-series will run through next year on Cartoon Network and the episodes are available on its Web site.

This is all well and good for “Star Wars” fans, but it creates the exact same problem for casual viewers. For the third movie to make sense, viewers now have an additional 100 minutes of “Star Wars” to catch up on. That’s an entire additional movie to watch.

The fun doesn’t stop there. DVDs have allowed directors to add hours of additional footage to their movies. The movie theater cut is essentially incomplete. For example, the “Lord of the Rings” special editions have up to an hour of extra footage tacked on to movies that are already around three hours long.

For fans and creators, these developments are excellent. Fans get more of the movies they love and creators have more room to express their ideas. Movies become brands. Studios release dozens of different editions and everyone makes lots of money.

The problem is that going to the movie theater and watching a movie becomes just one part of a larger process. The novelty of going to the movies diminishes. And ultimately, the movie itself can suffer. The backlash against “The Matrix” sequels is the best evidence of this. The movies just don’t make much sense without its accessories.

It takes discipline on the part of directors to present a complete story that leaves viewers fulfilled. Those few hours in the theater should be self-contained. Homework and movies just don’t mix.

Josh Deitz is a senior political science major from Atlanta, Ga.