Highbrow Magazine - basketball films https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/basketball-films en ‘Space Jam,’ ‘Free Guy’ and the New Corporate Media https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/12546-space-jam-free-guy-and-new-corporate-media <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/film-tv" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Film &amp; TV</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Fri, 09/10/2021 - 12:38</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1spacejam.jpg?itok=YTV07zT6"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1spacejam.jpg?itok=YTV07zT6" width="480" height="270" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><div> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">References  are  the  pop  culture  fan’s  favorite  treat.  Nothing  is  more  satisfying  than  seeing  one  medium  you really  enjoy  reference  another.  It  humanizes  the  film  and  connects  the  audience  to  the  production  staff  in  a  new  way.  It  tells  the  audience,  “We  like  the  same  things  you  do.”   </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">While  references  and   crossovers  are  nothing  new,  they are  becoming  increasingly  common  and  much  more  mainstream.  Two  prime  examples  would  be  the  recently  released  <em>Space  Jam</em>  sequel  and  Ryan Reynolds’ <em>Free  Guy</em>.  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">While  <em>Space  Jam</em>  is, in  its  nature,  a  film  about  crossing  over  the  pop  culture  worlds  of  professional  basketball and  the  Looney  Tunes, <em>Free  Guy</em>  and  <em>Space  Jam</em> both  pull nods  to  other  intellectual  properties  that  are  about  as  subtle  as  the  destruction  of  Alderann,  or  a  man  that  can  leap  tall  buildings  in  a  single  bound.   </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">These  films  go  beyond  slyly  nodding  to  popular  media  and incorporate  popular  media  as  part  of  the  story.  <em>Space  Jam</em>,  for  example,  not only combines  Lebron  James  and  the  Looney  Tunes  characters, it  makes  its  production  company Warner  Bros.  (and  all  of  its  successive  properties)  a  character.   </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The  film’s  entire  setting  is  the  “Serververse”  or  the  Warner  Bros.  servers  that  house  all  of  the  intellectual  property  the  company  owns.  Warner  Bros.  isn’t  shy  about  dishing  out  the  fan  favorites  either,  showcasing  characters from  throughout  its roster  of  films  and  TV  -- showcasing  the  DC  Universe,  Harry  Potter,  King  Kong  and  countless  other  properties.  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2spacejam.jpg" style="height:338px; width:600px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Half  of  the  audience  for  the  basketball  game  at  the  climax  of  <em>Space  Jam</em>  is  made  up  of  fictional  characters  from  Warner Bros.  films.  The  film  revels  in  its  celebration  of  media.  However,  this  starts  to  feel  almost  disturbing  when you  realize  that all  of  these  famous  and  popular  ideas  are  all  owned  by  one  company.  A  celebration  of  media  and  a  nod  to  pop  culture  begins  to  feel  like  a  cheap  grab  at  recognizable  brands  as  promotion tool.  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Some  of  these  references  are  unique  and  inventive,  for  example,  the  new  <em>Space  Jam</em>  features  scenes  where  Lebron  James  and  Looney  Tunes  characters  are  inserted  into  scenes  from  Warner  Bros.  films like  <em>Mad  Max  Fury  Road</em>.  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Editing  existing  footage,  replicating  props  and  scenes are  genuinely  interesting  ways  to  combine  two  pieces  of  media. It  also  takes  significant  effort  to  do  this.  However,  for  every  interesting  scene  like that,  there  are  50  extras  standing  in  the  background  of  the  basketball  game  dressed  like  a copyrighted  character.   </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Cameos  like  this  are  cheap  and  easy  to  do.  While  there  were  some  interesting  deep-cut  characters like  Pennywise  from  the  1990  TV  miniseries  adaptation  of  Steven  King’s  <em>IT</em>  as  well  as  the 1 960s  <em>Batman</em>,  overall  this  inclusion  feels  like  a  cheap  way  to  draw  an  audience  in  to  see  which  of  their  movie  favorites  they  can  spot. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">While  <em>Free  Guy</em>  is not  as  audacious  as  Space  Jam  in  its  use  of  other  intellectual  property,  it  still  does  a good  job  of  reminding  you  that  its  production  company,  20th  Century  Studios,  belongs  to  Disney.   </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3spacejam.jpg" style="height:337px; width:600px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Overall,  <em>Free  Guy</em>  (which  is  about  a  non-player-character  from  a  video game  gaining  sentience)  lovingly  alludes  to  videogame  tropes without  smattering  videogame  properties  all  over  the  place.  However,  it  doesn’t  completely ignore  this  either.  Several  videogame -centric  Youtubers  and  Twitch  Streamers  show  up  as  part  of  the  story.  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">On  top  of  this,  towards  the  film's  finale,  <em>Free  Guy</em>  uses  both  music  and  props  from  Disney’s  Marvel  and  Star  Wars properties.  This  is  swiftly  followed  up  with  props  from  Epic  Games’  “Fortnite”  and  Valve’s “ Half  Life2.”  <em>Free  Guy</em>  somewhat  redeems  this  moment  in  its  willingness  to  pay  a  high -profile  MCU  actor  to  make  a  cameo  as  part  of  the gag.  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">However,  when  four  different  brands  show their  face  in  under  a  minute,  it's  hard  to  avoid  the  chagrin you  feel  when  corporations  shamelessly  rub  their  advertising  in  your  face.  It’s  the  same  feeling one  gets  when  seeing  a  painfully  obvious  Bud  Light  bottle  take  up  a  shot  in  your  movie  about  giant  robots  beating  each  other  to  hell.  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><em>Free  Guy</em>  is  an  interesting  movie  when  looking  at  the  crossovers  between  different  media -- primarily  because  <em>Free  Guy</em>  takes  place  in  a  video  game,  a  medium  which  has  had  these  same  types  of  crossovers  for  decades.   </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Videogames  haven’t  traditionally  crossed  over  with  major  mainstream  film  properties  (aside  from  the  movie tie-in  game,  which  tends  to  be  more  a  promotional  tool  for  the  film  than  a  truly  independent  game).   </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4spacejam.jpg" style="height:336px; width:600px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Games,  however,  have been  crossing  over  with  themselves  for  a  long  time.  The  most  notable  example  of  this  is  the  Super  Smash  Bros.  franchise.  This  casual  fighting  game  created  by  Nintendo  pits  some  of  its  most  popular  characters  against  each  other  in  battles  from  famous  game  locations.  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The  first  two  games in  the  series  featured  only  Nintendo  properties;  however,  beginning  in  2008, “Super  Smash  Bros  Brawl”  characters  from different  companies  began  to  show  up: most  notably  Sega’s  rival to  Mario,  Sonic  the  Hedgehog.   </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Guest  fighters  have now  become  a  major  part  of  the  series  with  fans  choosing  their  dream  guest  characters  and  theorizing  which  characters  Nintendo  will  bring  into  the  game  as  downloadable  content.   </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Nintendo  isn’t  the  only  studio  that  has  been  doing  this.  Capcom  (another  Japanese  game  developer)  has  had  its own  long-running  Marvel  Vs.  Capcom  series,  where  characters  from  their  game  franchises  go head  to  head  with  Marvel  heroes  and  villains.  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Similarly,  Nether  Realm’s  “Mortal  Kombat”  game  series  has  had  crossovers  with  DC  heroes  and  villains,  although  this  is  less  impressive  considering  Warner  Bros.  owns  the  development  studio,  as  well  as  the  rights to  all  DC  characters.   </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/5spacejam.jpg" style="height:600px; width:405px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">However,  it  is  fair  to  note  recent  “Mortal  Kombat”  games  have  featured  famous  film  characters  like  the  Xenomorph  from  <em>Alien,</em>  the  Terminator  and  John  Rambo.  All  of  these  are  owned  by  separate  companies.   </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Videogames  have  been  doing  this  a  long  time.  The  extensive  cross -collaboration  between popular  films  and  other  properties  is  a  somewhat  recent  development.   </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Normally  when  a  character  like  the  Xenomorph is  added  to  a  game,  it's  to  serve  the  fans  and  incline  more  people to  buy  the  game  or  the  downloadable  content.  What  we  haven't  seen  as  much  is  studios trying  to  promote  their  products  through  games..  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The  first  recent example  I  can  recall  of the  collaboration  across  companies  and  mediums  is  the  use  of  “Fortnite”  in  <em>Avengers  Endgame</em>.  “Fortnite”  was  featured  in  a  scene  in  <em>Endgame</em>  and,  around  the  same  time, there  was  an  <em>Avengers</em>-themed  event  in  “Fortnite.”  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Epic  Games  now has a  long-running  relationship  with  both  Marvel  and  DC  in  adding  skins  that  let  players  play  as  their  favorite heroes,  with  both  Marvel  and  DC  having  a  line  of  comics  tied  into  a  “Fortnite”  season.  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">It’s  a  truly  astonishing feat  to  get  rival  companies  to  agree  to  have  their  properties  viewed  next  to  each  other,  but  “Fortnite”  is  the  game  that  did  it.  The  list  goes  on  and  on  but  aside  from  just  superheroes,  “Fortnite” has  official  skins  from  the  <em>John  Wick</em>  films,  <em>Alien,  Ghostbusters</em>  and  <em>G.I  Joe.</em>  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/6spacejam.jpg" style="height:338px; width:600px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">That’s  ignoring  the several  TV  shows  and  musicians  they’ve  collaborated  with,  like  <em>Rick  and  Morty,  The  Walking Dead</em>,  Travis Scott  and  --  most  recently  --  Arianna  Grande.  Social  media  has  allowed  companies  to  quantify  interest.  Companies now  know what  people  like  instead  of  having  to  guess.  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">This  kind  of  fan  service in  games  isn’t detrimental  to  the  medium;  TV  and  film  may  suffer  greatly  from  forced  brand  integration.  Videogames  are  a  very  different  art  form  than  more  traditional  media. Videogames  have content  that  is  outside  the  primary  body  of  the  game.  Adding  a  popular  character  isn’t  a  problem  in  many  games because  it doesn’t  impact  the  story.  </span></span></p> <p> </p> </div> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Special characters  or  items  are  often  separate  from  the  story  and  function  as  additions  for  people  who  want  to  enjoy  the  game beyond  just  completing  the  story.  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">In  the  case  of  a  game  like  “Mortal  Kombat,”  the  primary  purpose  of  the  game  is  simply  fighting  with  others.  While  these  games  may  have  story  modes,  they  often  take  a  backseat  to  the  multiplayer  where  the  reason  why the  Joker  is  fighting  the  Terminator  is  less  important  than  seeing them  shatter  each  other's  bones. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">In  film,  however,  there  is  only  a  finite  amount  of  content.  You  can’t  just  watch something  unrelated  to  the  story.  The  film  <em>is</em>  the  story.  Bonus  content  and  features  are  sometimes  packaged  with  films,  but  this  optional  content  is  not  as  big  of  a  component  to  the  film  as  open-world  exploration,  multiplayer, or  arcade  modes  are  to  videogames. Anything over  the  top  than  a  sly  reference  will feel  like  advertising,  as  opposed  to  the  slight  nods  to  the  audience  they’re supposed  to  be.   </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">These  cameos  and  cross -promotions  serve  as  more  than  just  advertising  and  cheap  laughs;  they  are also a grim  reminder  of  how  few  companies  own  so  many  of  America’s  most  iconic  characters  and  brands.  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">  <strong>Author Bio:</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><em>Garrett Hartman is a contributing writer at </em>Highbrow Magazine<em>. He is a California State University, Chico student double-majoring in media arts design technology and Journalism/PR. A lover of pop culture, Garret enjoys a wide array of film, television, video games, and literature. However, as a drummer in a rock band and an alt-rock enthusiast, music holds a special place in his heart.</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>For Highbrow Magazine</strong></span></span></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/space-jam" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">space jam</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/free-guy" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">free guy</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/looney-tunes" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">looney tunes</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/nba" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">NBA</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/basketball-films" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">basketball films</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/cartoons" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">cartoons</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/sonic-hedgehog" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">sonic the hedgehog</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/mario-brothers" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">mario brothers</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/video-games" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">video games</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/mortal-kombat" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">mortal kombat</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/avengers-0" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">avengers</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/avengers-endgame-0" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">avengers endgame</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/film-studios" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">film studios</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/hollywood" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Hollywood</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Garrett Hartman</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Fri, 10 Sep 2021 16:38:17 +0000 tara 10628 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/12546-space-jam-free-guy-and-new-corporate-media#comments