Jonah Hex, Box Office Flop

It appears that the jury has reached a verdict regarding the recently released Jonah Hex movie, and the public has, by in large, given it a big thumbs down. I hate to see that happen whenever a new Western comes out, but by all accounts Jonah Hex really isn't a western. At least not as we know them.

I first heard of Jonah Hex at a book signing I did last fall in Mesa. I found out that Jonah Hex is a comic book hero. Don't know if it is DC or Marvel as I've never cared from comic books. (I prefer to read real books, but that is another story.) Nonetheless Jonah Hex is supposed to be a blend of the Old West and mysticism--something more in the genre of the old Wild Wild West TV show from the 1960s, which wasn't really a western either.  Nonetheless, I'm told that Jonah Hex is a big hit with the younger generation.

I went over to Yahoo movies, and in reading audience reviews, it seems that the reason the movie is a flop is because the script is so poorly written, and because Megan Fox has so little screen time. There was hardly any criticism at all of it being a western. The other issue that audiences seem to have is that the hero, Jonah Hex, has a badly scarred face.

It's a funny little quirk in human nature. We are naturally drawn to beauty and repulsed by the ugly. That's why throughout history in virtually all stories the hero is always handsome, while the villain is oftentimes ugly or even disfigured. Think Darth Vader or the Wicked Witch of the West. A "hero" who is physically unattractive, if not downright ugly, simply isn't someone we're going to root for. The only exception to the rule that I can think of is Quasimodo, the Hunchback of Notre-Dame.

I hope this box office failure doesn't discourage Hollywood from making anymore Westerns. My observation, time and time again, when I did my Tombstone Storyteller living history program for the schools was that the kids simply couldn't get enough of it. Today's generation didn't grow up watching Westerns like we did. For them westerns are something new and different and exciting.

My thought for the day.

GM