In a message dated 1/20/2004 5:42:45 PM US Mountain Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> The evident enthusiasm of a certain list member has given me cause to ask [Drool slobber run in cir--oh, wait. Taz comes later.] > myself whether Hoon, as a literary creation, might have broad-based apeal. > I > think the answer must be affirmative. Indeed, Hoon characters could have > such strong psycho-cultural charisma that they would be the key to super- > star > levels of comic, book, movie, and above all branding success. Dor-hinuf: If you try to put a brand on my husband then I'll... [She's held back.] > > The first item that strikes me about Hoon is the degree of psychological > identification that they can elicit. I am reminded of Stan Lee being > interviewed about kid sidekicks in comic books. He hated them, but the > readers identifed with the sidekicks and sales went up. More importantly, I > > am remined of tatoo artists who told me, in the course of researching a term > > paper in grad school, that the most popular subject for tatoos was the WB's > Tazmanian Devil. They couldn't explain why, but I think I can. > > Taz is both Archetypal -- representing the id driven oaf -- and a strong > reference for psychological identification. A lot of men and women, of whom > > many are given to tatoos, identify with the loutish, gooberish Taz. In a > sense, Hoon are Taz-Lite, though it is not fair to end the story there. Taz > > fans like professional wrestling, monster trucks and NASCAR. In constrast, > Hoon fans might like NASCAR but they also like soccer and do not like > monster > trucks and pro-wrestling. [Interesting. In the fanfic (that I'd rather have Brin finish) I had the Hoon play the human stage/production crew one game of soccer. They only did it once. --too lopsided.) > Hoon are not so much goobers as surfer dudes. [I > > say surfer dude because "yachtsman" rather limits our target audience.] > Good idea, dude. > Of course, Hoon are not merely laid back surfer dudes, they are surfer dudes > > trapped in cubicles. This introduces an element of Walter ? Mitty. (Walter J. Mitty --if I remember correctly.) Even > more, we get Arthur from the Tic. (Or Arthur Dent.) Hoon give us Dilbert meets Taz, or even > more, Dilbert realizes his inner Taz. But unlike Arthur, our Hoon Hero or > Heroes do not escape their nerdy existince merely to become hillariously > campy homosexual nerds in tights and capes. > > We may know that most nerds traped in cubicles are in cubicles because they > are nerds, and not the otherway about. Nevertheless, there is hardly a nerd > > who does not fantasize that he is a hero stuck in a nerd's cubicle. What's > more many of those cubicle drones long to realize their inner surfer dude. > Why not do both at once? > > The Hoon angle is even better, because everyone resents bureaucracy. Hoon > give you the merchandisible opportunity to pander to that anti-bureaucratic > resentment at every turn. > > So the formula is simple: > > Surfer dude (read Hoon) is traped in cubicle. > Surfer dude escapes cubicle. > Surfer dude realizes inner surfer dude. > [Realizing inner surfer dude allows] surfer dude makes a better world. > Surfer dude becomes ["human"] hero (ala Batman or the Shadow) > > > I [freely] advise you to produce a Hoon-based series of comic books. Tales of teen Jijo. This has been a list idea for over a year. But as a Sat morning cartoon. I do > NOT > believe that comic books are in themselves good business. I think comic > books are a great way to create merchandisible iconic brands. > > Unfortunately, I do not see Alvin and Huck as good candidates for the job of > > heroes. Mudfoot. Mudfoot sees himself as being a hero to the Rousit. He's the catalysist that sets everyone else into motion. When I imagine the adventures of Alvin, Huck, and Mudfoot I keep > comming up with Miss Marple or Murder She Wrote. Of course, Nancy Drew and > the Hardie Boys used to work with the highly desirable and perhaps an > updated > version could again. Mudfoot is the radical, Huck is the negotiator. Alvin is Sheriff Andy who never ever needed to draw his sidearm until something happens where he has to get the shotgun from the trunk. > > But teens should not be your target market. Teens have never experienced > cubicles, thus they have no need for cubicle emacipation. Men 20-50 do have > > the cubicle experice and emacipation need. > > One possible story starter would be a group of three or four Hoonish > reluctant > space pallidins in their hypespace surfing free-trader. The story starts > when our heroes: > -- win the lottery > -- get their hyperspace sailing vessel as a gift from mysterious retirees > -- win a lottery that was fixed by mysterious retirees. The Hoon win the (reinstated by their friendly taunting) America's Cup. > > They quit their accounting jobs, buy a ship and go sailing around the > Galaxies > being good natured laid-back louts, goofing off, buying and selling stuff, > and doing good. Maybe in a hundred years. Let's first stick to getting them to vacation on Hurumphta. It gets interesting when so many start to never go back. Along the way they might: > > -- Expose the corruption of an Enron-like > super-giant-pan-galactic-mega-corporation spoiling their plans for souless > globalization and saving small investors. The Rothen already have a deadly enemy--Tom. > > -- Disprove Jophur lies that Terragens are planning to develop nanotech > based > WMD. [Not for distribution in the USA....] What ever happened to Tug. He left Kazzkark with Alvin for Hurumphta, but he/it/they (whatever) didn't make the cut for Alvin's last journal entry. > > -- Stop religious fundamentalists from hijacking the post-Garth Gubru reform > > movement. > All this interferes with whatever our good Dr. Brin is going to have them do when the great Tandu War starts. I have been given free reign (?) to play around with the Hoon as long as it doesn't bring up conflicting interaction with anything already sketched out by our good Dr. I.e. Tom and Gillian do not meet on Hurumphta at the Rousit Uplift Cerimony. (He's got something much better. Don't know what. Just know.) But there was no objection to the Tymbrimi and Forski becoming the new Rousit cohorts. ---I have no idea who the current cohort is. Some totally unimportant race. William Taylor --------------------- And Hoon are all Kurosawa movie Japanese. Have you ever seen a peasant in one of those samurai movies walk with their knees fully extended? _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
