John Carter Sequel Talk | Geek Nation Radio Interview with Michael D. Sellers, Author of John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood

Michael Sellers John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood

We said we would start pushing John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood out to the media after we got 20 reviews on Amazon . . . . we reached that milestone yesterday (the results so far: seventeen 5 star, two 4 star, and one 2 star) and not coincidentally had the first interview of the virtual book tour.    Don’t expect a flood of these . . . . for a variety of reasons, both strategic and practical, this is a “slow build” campaign (!), kind of like when you release a movie in a few theaters and gradually roll it out.

Anyway — here it is, Mark Rahner of Geek Nation on KISW Rock in Seattle does the interview.  It was really a fun, relaxed, geek-t0-geek chat and I think a managed to maneuver around a few land mines, but probably stepped in a few others.

Click on the link below to listen:

Geek Nation Interview of Michael D. Sellers

7 comments

  • Other than this tiny moment when Carter, hiding under rocks with Dejah and Sola, seems to express awe when seeing the airship, he generally doesn’t want to be on Barsoom. This is odd considering how high seems in Stanton’s storytelling priorities the “sense of wonder” element. Fortunately, many viewers seem to have experience it in spite of Carter’s attitude.

    And when Carter throws away the medallion, I found it a very emotional and powerful commitment to Barsoom. In pure logic, yes, it’s beyond stupid considering how an asset this medallion could be in further understanding the Therns’ technology. It’s one of these cases when you have to choose between emotional and logical. Since for me movies are first and foremost emotional experiences, I was glad he threw the damn thing away! (I’m sure that as a good pet, Woola can always retrieve it later anyway…)

  • “Where are the moments (other than maybe the one moment near the end when JC chucks the medallion) when John Carter finds himself realizing that this planet is his spiritual home? …it seems to me that Stanton could have sprinkled in 4-5 moments throughout the film when John Carter finds himself falling in love with Barsoom in spite of his overt desire to get back to Earth. Where are those moments? Were they there, and I just missed them?”

    No you didn’t miss them. They weren’t there. Avatar had it-Jake Suly even says so, that he fell in love with the nature, the people and the princess. Dances with Wolves had it. Burroughs definetly had it in the Barsoom and Tarzan books. But Stanton’s film? Nope. Carter was too busy whining about his cave of gold and wanting to go home. He wasn’t John Carter of Mars, he was Sloop John B instead. He never expressed his love for Barsoom or his feeling that he was where he belonged.

    As for the moment of throwing away the medallion I said it before, it made him an idiot. It also didn’t show him in love with Barsoom.It was a plot contrivance to build suspense on how Carter was going to return after Shape Shifter Shang did his shtick.

    “Would it have been construed as cliche if Stanton did that ?”

    Considering we’re talking about the man who feels that dead wives and evil Emperors improve any story, no matter how cliched they are, probably not. The problem was that Burroughs made it clear in the books and as we know old Andrew was resistant in any way to this film resembling A Princess of Mars.

  • I saw “Avatar” when it was called “Dances With Wolves.” Did Cameron add anything to his remake?

    This reminds me . . . I happened to watch Dances with Wolves recently and I was struck by all the moments when Dunbar feels drawn to the environment around him . . . . it’s filled with the sense that he is finding his place in the world . . . that THIS is where he belongs. What is traditionally referred to as “conflict” in storytelling almost manifests itself as a yearning, a lack that is felt, a need that has to be filled. It seems to me that both Dances with Wolves and Avatar do more in this regard than John Carter does. Where are the moments (other than maybe the one moment near the end when JC chucks the medallion) when John Carter finds himself realizing that this planet is his spiritual home? As an viewer I really want that . . . .and felt a little robbed that I didn’t get it.

    Would it have been construed as cliche if Stanton did that ? It’s not unique to ERB … the idea of a person finding a home in a supposedly alien culture . . . but one which resonates more for him than his own culture . . . isn’t this a big part of the appeal of the Martian novels of ERB? I’ve always thought it was a huge part of it . . . . . Barsoom as a kind of Camelot, with John Carter as Arthur creating unity, etc — but without the tragic betrayal storyline.

    I’ve said this before . . . .it’s that damned Thern medallion that was like throwing a monkey wrench into the works. It completely altered the dynamic by which John Carter goes to Mars, and left him feeling he had been rudely kidnapped and dumped in an alien culture, rather than feeling that he had been miraculously saved at the moment of his death and given n opportunity at rebirth in the culture he was best suited for. What a huge difference that is? And yet Stanton and most of those writing about the Thern medallion seem to accept it as a necessary device to create a more scientific (?) explanation of why/how Carter got to Mars.

    Oh well . . . . even with the Thern medallion, it seems to me that Stanton could have sprinkled in 4-5 moments throughout the film when John Carter finds himself falling in love with Barsoom in spite of his overt desire to get back to Earth. Where are those moments? Were they there, and I just missed them?

  • Nah you did fine. I agree with Pascalahad, there was no land mines as far as I could tell. It was also nice that Mark Rahner knew about John Carter of Mars since I get the feeling most of the critics and reporters that wrote about it before just believed whatever bull Stanton and his minions told them. We’ll just have to wait and see if there is any “nerd on nerd violence.”

    Also “I saw “Avatar” when it was called “Dances With Wolves.” Did Cameron add anything to his remake?”

    He added blue people and flying ships. Beyond that no, probably about the same that Stanton did to his remake of The Outlaw Josey Wales, just renaming the characters. 😉

  • I saw “Avatar” when it was called “Dances With Wolves.” Did Cameron add anything to his remake?

    Here I am living in Seattle and didn’t even know of this show’s existence. I lead such a sheltered life.

  • Fine interview! It’s funny that Mark Rahner is also a writer on Dejah Thoris. Very appropriate. I didn’t spot any land mine. I agree with your comment about the long-term resilience of the Pixar team. I guess we’ll see if that’s applicable to John Carter one day.

    And I really have to see Avatar…

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