Over the weekend I pulled out the 1996 Doug McGrath-helmed, Emma, which stars the young Gwyneth Paltrow. It's not a great movie, but it's fun, and it's Austen, and it's probably Paltrow's best performance. Anyway, while gazing at the DVD case, I noticed for the first time how the film is plugged on the back:
This delightfully fun and lighthearted comedy is based on the story that inspired the hit movie Clueless! Dazzling Gwyneth Paltrow (The Perfect Murder) shines as Emma--a mischievous young beauty who sets up her single friends. Funny thing is . . . she's not very good at it! So when Emma tries to find a man for Harriet (Toni Collette--Muriel's Wedding), she makes a hilariously tangled mess of everyone's lives. You'll enjoy all the comic confusion . . . until Emma herself falls in love, finally freeing everyone from her outrageously misguided attempts at matchmaking!
Having to write that copy surely qualifies as the worst job in America.
2 comments:
The cop was probably writing back-of-DVD blurbs in the stall while waiting for wayward feet/wide stances. Gotta do something to while away the hours...
Without fail, those blurbs are the most embarrassing, stupid, or inaccurate thing you can say about a movie. I think someone must have done a study and determined the only time a sale is made by that text is when someone who wouldn't have already bought/rented based on true or fair information is reading the blurb. i.e. If the blurb is compelling, you will actually hate the movie; I'm sure they think blurb-readers must be lied to to make the sale. The front of the DVD is the jab, the back is the left hook.
This is somewhat true of all advertising, but something about those blurbs just gets marketing people to really aggressively lie. Lying to people can be a lot of fun for some people. I bet they like their jobs.
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