172
AdAptAtion in the Age of MediA ConvergenCe
franchises” – an incoherence and complexity not easily integrated into the
critical and corporate rhetoric of controlled world building. 36
I think there are two other things at stake here beyond possible worlds logic:
valorization and control. Parody wryly comments, “franchise adaptation can
be exaggeratedly haunted by the specter of the commercial and hegemonic
anxieties about the commoditization of art and entertainment.” 37 If there is an
economic motivation (which of course there is) or if that motivation is too blatant, critics and fans might consider the product as compromised, as “derivative,”
“imitative,” “advertising” rather than “interpretive” or “transformative.” 38 This,
I believe, shows a naïve notion of purity (not Parody’s). It also shows a notion of
hegemony and total control by corporations over their franchise, their media
products, and the fictional universes these create – and by implication their
audiences – which I find problematic and unrealistic. Obviously, participation
in and access to the creation, modification, and expansion of a fictional universe
is always unequal. But the impossibility of total control over storyworlds, and
even more so over entire fictional universes, should provide some solace in
that it implies a degree of interpretive freedom and cognitive participation that
is not to be underestimated and that has had, time and again, an impressive
influence over which storyworlds and universes last, and which do not.
Works Cited
Alien. Directed by Ridley Scott. Brandywine, 1979. DVD.
Aliens. Directed by James Cameron. Twentieth Century Fox, 1986. DVD.
Alien 3. Directed by David Fincher. Twentieth Century Fox, 1992. DVD.
Alien Resurrection. Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Brandywine, 1997. DVD.
Alien vs. Predator. Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. Twentieth Century Fox, 2004. DVD.
Alien vs. Predator: Requiem. Directed by Colin Strause and Greg Strause. Twentieth
Century Fox, 2007. DVD.
Alien: Covenant. Directed by Ridley Scott. Brandywine, 2017. DVD.
Aliens: Colonial Marines. Produced by Brian Burleson. Gearbox Software. Sega,
2013. Video game.
Alien: Isolation. Directed by Alistair Hope. Creative Assembly. Sega, 2014. Video game.
36 Felan Parker, “Millions of Voices: Star Wars, Digital Games, Fictional Worlds and Franchise
Canon.” In Game On, Hollywood!: Essays on the Intersection of Video Games and Cinema, edited
Gretchen Papazian and Joseph Michael Sommers (Jefferson: McFarland & Company, 2013), 156; 166.
37 Parody, “Franchising/Adaptation,” 216.
38 Ibid.
AdAptAtion in the Age of MediA ConvergenCe
franchises” – an incoherence and complexity not easily integrated into the
critical and corporate rhetoric of controlled world building. 36
I think there are two other things at stake here beyond possible worlds logic:
valorization and control. Parody wryly comments, “franchise adaptation can
be exaggeratedly haunted by the specter of the commercial and hegemonic
anxieties about the commoditization of art and entertainment.” 37 If there is an
economic motivation (which of course there is) or if that motivation is too blatant, critics and fans might consider the product as compromised, as “derivative,”
“imitative,” “advertising” rather than “interpretive” or “transformative.” 38 This,
I believe, shows a naïve notion of purity (not Parody’s). It also shows a notion of
hegemony and total control by corporations over their franchise, their media
products, and the fictional universes these create – and by implication their
audiences – which I find problematic and unrealistic. Obviously, participation
in and access to the creation, modification, and expansion of a fictional universe
is always unequal. But the impossibility of total control over storyworlds, and
even more so over entire fictional universes, should provide some solace in
that it implies a degree of interpretive freedom and cognitive participation that
is not to be underestimated and that has had, time and again, an impressive
influence over which storyworlds and universes last, and which do not.
Works Cited
Alien. Directed by Ridley Scott. Brandywine, 1979. DVD.
Aliens. Directed by James Cameron. Twentieth Century Fox, 1986. DVD.
Alien 3. Directed by David Fincher. Twentieth Century Fox, 1992. DVD.
Alien Resurrection. Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Brandywine, 1997. DVD.
Alien vs. Predator. Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. Twentieth Century Fox, 2004. DVD.
Alien vs. Predator: Requiem. Directed by Colin Strause and Greg Strause. Twentieth
Century Fox, 2007. DVD.
Alien: Covenant. Directed by Ridley Scott. Brandywine, 2017. DVD.
Aliens: Colonial Marines. Produced by Brian Burleson. Gearbox Software. Sega,
2013. Video game.
Alien: Isolation. Directed by Alistair Hope. Creative Assembly. Sega, 2014. Video game.
36 Felan Parker, “Millions of Voices: Star Wars, Digital Games, Fictional Worlds and Franchise
Canon.” In Game On, Hollywood!: Essays on the Intersection of Video Games and Cinema, edited
Gretchen Papazian and Joseph Michael Sommers (Jefferson: McFarland & Company, 2013), 156; 166.
37 Parody, “Franchising/Adaptation,” 216.
38 Ibid.