Full disclosure: I haven’t seen the movie.
But… that being said, SyFy has come out with dozens of these stupid horror and/or sci-fi B-movies for the better part of a decade, with each more absurd than the last.
What’s so special about “Sharknado”?
Why is it getting such buzz, when “Mansquito”, “Mega Python vs. Gatoroid”, “Blood Monkey”, “Chupacabra vs the Alamo”, “Dinocroc vs Supergator”, or “Sharktopus” didn’t?
because - well - its sharks in a tornado.
Moved to Cafe Society.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
The phenomenon of events breaking into the national cultural consciousness has been studied for a long time.
Here’s what we know about it: nothing.
It kills any notion of psychohistory dead, though. Cultural events are all “mules” and yet have enormous effects on society. Asimov didn’t understand this because Asimov understood nothing about any of the social sciences. It’s a remarkable omission.
Other than that, “stuff happens” is the only comprehensive answer we have.
I think it’s because it has a vaguely nightmarish quality. Just like a nightmare, things are “off” just enough to be scarey and disturbing but still close enough to reality to be scarey and disturbing.
There’s also the interesting tangential discussion that hasn’t really been examined (that I’ve seen)…
As much as the media got ecstatic over the social media buzz for Sharknado… not that many people watched it. The ratings were pretty low, even adjusting for the fact it’s a cable channel some can’t even find on their dial.
Nothing about that movie was scientifically feasible.
I think it just clicked and got traction. It was obviously going to be terrible but, unlike “Snakes on a Plane”, it didn’t cost any money to see it air and actually hit the ‘so bad it’s good’ sweet spot. That’s not easy – most things are just so bad that they remain bad and not really fun. I have no desire to ever see it a second time but it was fun to watch and make fun of the once.
Beyond “Snakes on a Plane”, I think another example would be that Lindsay Lohan biopic about Elizabeth Taylor. People tuned into that to see the train wreck and it was mainly just unwatchable so everyone dropped out early. Sharknado stayed ridiculous and relatively watchable, provided you were watching to mock it.
Supposedly the social media movement it had while airing contradicted the ratings. It’s been suggested that the audience for it just wasn’t the normal Nielsen folks so the ratings were inaccurate. Or else small group of watchers just generated a whole lot of tweets and Facebook postings per capita while it was on, talking about it.
What?? Don’t come crying to me when a shark drops on you, chomping the whole way down.
sound advice from troutman…
It looked like they were constructing a beer can chicken, only bigger.
There was nothing nightmarish, scary, or disturbing in that movie. It was more cartoonish than anything. The only disturbing thing is that Tara Reid is still finding work.
I finally watched it last night and I certainly wouldn’t say it good, or even that it is so bad it is good. But it was strangely watchable, something I cannot explain why.
Well, now we know what got to her boob.
This is referenced in a
[quote from the original thread here]
(Don't miss Sharknado July 11th on Syfy - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board)and worth a look since it deals with this sort of issue; what is called the long tail effect (seriously)
In this particular case, the movie only cost about $1M to make and one report said they made that in ads the first night. Plus there is a Bluray/DVD on preorder (I got mine baby!) and you know kitschy merchandise has to next. Probably a comic . . . sorry, graphic novel/manga. Then anime no doubt. Fanfic spinoffs.
Oh yeah baby, this love train’s just getting warmed up!
Sharknado proves Psychohistory dead! Wonderful conclusion. You should publish it. I’m serious. Obviously you would have to add a couple of thousand pointless words, but it’s the type of remarkably simple logic the world is missing.
Blood Orchid and Supergator are much better SyFy Channel movies, but I guess they just weren’t over the top enough.
It was a perfect throwback to the old drive-in, B movies with cheesy effects, ridiculous plot and actors trying to keep a straight face while delivering idiotic lines.
We watched it all, loved the stupidity of it all, and it was great to add comments and laugh.
Sometimes a dumbass, stupid film can be quite fun to watch…and I would imagine watching this with a group of people who are, uh, “happy”, could be even more fun!
double post
Tara Reid is in it. Other than that, I got nothing.
This whole production reeks of “trying too hard.” I prefer unintentional badness to camp, though. Like The Room.