New Tarot Card Movie

MeeWah

arkgoth: As the other folks here, I also appreciate that ye seek to research & to determine the possible audience reactions to your venture.

The genre of horror movies what it is, its effectiveness is in shocking its audience with a new gimmick that in turn, will result in eager viewers. Word-of-mouth can be depended upon to generate more interest as can even negative publicity.

I reiterate what Khatruman said so well. Your target audience is basically a captive audience of youth who are highly impressionable; without the means to necessarily grasp the finer point(s) of your story. It sounds like it would call for the use of disclaimers. Indeed, I rather doubt that older members of the movie-going public would adroitly understand the implications either, as many are far more interested in the action or horror flicks for "entertainment" rather than for any inspirational, deep thought that moves them to foster changes in social consciousness. When speaking the same language does not prevent misunderstandings, I can see how a movie telling a story such as the one ye propose could produce misconceptions.

One side effect I could see would be in young folks flocking to tatoo parlors for Tarot tatoos. That in itself is not negative, but based on the premise of the apparent storyline, may not be such a desireable influence. Notwithstanding that, I am concerned that the essence of your message will be lost or smothered in the hype & the "special effects" & thus ultimately create more hardship for those of us who have worked to overcome the mis-conceptions concerning our craft.

I do not know at this point if I would want to see the movie strictly for its "reference" to the subject of Tarot. If I did, it would be for the same reason as Cricket mentioned. Personally, I have no interest in the horror movie genre per se (though I recognize your right to make such, & the right of others to popularize same). No offense intended to ye, but the bottom line is still making $--which is not necessarily at fault. 'Tis just the possibility of repercussions on the innocent that give one pause. The challenge lies in presenting a publicly controversial subject in an intelligent & sensitive manner despite the special effects or props.
 

Tarotphelia

This post will not contain potentially dangerous humor in any form:

Pardon my cynicism, but we really have no way of knowing if anything you say about your motives & intentions are true in the least. You have not been a member here long enough for such an assessment to be made one way or the other.

You want information, that seems clear. Whether you have become a member solely for your own commercial purposes is an interesting question.

No one can prevent you from making any statement you want to about the tarot, except whomever might be financially in charge of seeing that the film attracts as many viewers as possible.

Tarotphelia
 

allibee

DISCLAIMER: This post contains absolutely no humour whatsoever

arkgoth said:
To my knowledge, Harry Potter has never been well received.

Well that is just it isn't it. That statement truly sums up your complete lack of knowledge.

You claim to have a love for the Tarot, yet you are willing to try to turn the clock back fifty years to the days of Madame Arcarti and her bejewelled fingers and chandelier earrings with your 'film'.
I use that term very loosely here, as I see it as no more than you trying to make a few bucks at everyone elses expense.
What message will come across? Oh yes, tarot can be a bad thing.
Well I got news buddy, so can drugs, alchohol and anything else that's been done to death in the movies. You are doing nothing more than putting a new spin on a VERY tired idea. For what? Will people learn from your film what a wonderful tool the tarot is for living a fuller or more spiritual life. I think not. So I repeat.... for what?
Obviously to line your pockets. You should be ashamed.

Tarotphelia is totally correct in her cynicism

Fear is the first step to a very unsuccessful life.

You are joking in this premise I hope. Fear challenges us, and we grow from our challenges. The more challenges, the more we grow. So that is another misconception you seem to have. What exactly do you know about tarot because I can't see anything you have written as being knowledgable.


As you know, in a large community like the Tarot, we have so many people with different beliefs and values that I would not be able to cater for everybody

It seems clear from all the posts on this thread that you are not catering for anybody at all.
 

Diana

arkgoth is a big boy, and can defend himself, but I just want to give my opinion, which differs very much to most of those here. And you all know how much I love Tarot.

I have visited his web-site a few times since he joined. Each time I am deeply moved by the sensitivity and the integrity of what I see there. And god knows, I am not into anything gothic or stuff like that, so I don't relate personally to all the things on his web-site. I'm a middle class mother, housewife, and tarot enthusiast. Quite ordinary.

If he wants to use Tarot as a tool to get his personal message across (whatever it is), then that's quite okay with me. It's a free world. (And if it isn't, well then that's another topic and we'll have to start political discussions which is not really advisable on a Tarot forum.)

What I sense in the negative attitude towards his film here, is exactly what he mentioned in one his posts. FEAR. I sense that you are fearful of what will happen if he makes this film. Why? I don't quite understand. Unless the United States is even further along the path to dictatorship than I suspected. In which case, I am deeply sorrowful.

And some people have mentioned that the sniper caused a bad name for Tarot. Are you sure that you are not just making a mountain out of a molehill? How many people today do you think make a connection between the sniper and Tarot? 100, 200, 1000? How many do you think say "well, one thing is for sure, that guy just left the Tarot card for theatrical purposes"? I bet you that's the majority.

Is society so sick that a horror movie can destroy its sanity? I personally doubt it, for I have faith in mankind.

But if it is so sick, then let's just push it off the cliff and start anew.

P.S. And for heaven's sake, it is obvious that arkgoth came here to get information for his film, and if you don't want to give it to him, then don't bother to reply to his threads. He never pretended to come here to have a tea party with us. He was perfectly honest and direct right from the start. I for one will give him any information I can (which is probably not much. :laugh: )
 

allibee

arkgoth said:

I would like to know what kind of messages are important for a movie made about Tarot Cards.

Okay..

1) Precious few children....this is about a boy, right?..... have enough life experience to wield a life tool like the tarot with any accuracy.

2)Tarot brings to the surface what we need to know, but have hidden or lost in our subconscious for whatever reason.

3)From this raising of consciousness, we become self empowered to deal with the situation it refers to. It gives us options, where there may have visibly been none on the surface before.

4)The tarot is a thing of 'the moment'. A simple change of mind can and will negate everything that the reading may have revealed. This is called free will.


But seeing as you say the movie is already in post production and due for release, you are obviously not here to learn about any important messages of the tarot. It seems you are just looking for a juicy tag line for the trailer voice over.......

*the cinema is dark.... flashes of flesh and needles, blood, prosthetics, tarot images bang onto the screen, interspersed by screams and dramatic music. The music fades out, the camera hangs on a close up and the deeply dark voiceover begins......
"Prrrrecious few people can harness the POWER of the tarot, but when it's let looooooose in the hands of a child, noone is safe. Will you sleep well in yourrrrrr bed tonight????????"
The music builds to crescendo, the screen goes black and the lights go out.
A bunch of teenagers in the backrow go "whoa, yeah dude"*


.....pathetic
 

Khatruman

Diana, just offering advice that was asked for

Diana said:
What I sense in the negative attitude towards his film here, is exactly what he mentioned in one his posts. FEAR. I sense that you are fearful of what will happen if he makes this film. Why? I don't quite understand. Unless the United States is even further along the path to dictatorship than I suspected. In which case, I am deeply sorrowful.


Is society so sick that a horror movie can destroy its sanity? I personally doubt it, for I have faith in mankind.

But if it is so sick, then let's just push it off the cliff and start anew.

P.S. And for heaven's sake, it is obvious that arkgoth came here to get information for his film, and if you don't want to give it to him, then don't bother to reply to his threads.

Whoa, whoa, Diana. I am not witch hunting arkgoth and his film. I believe he made a call for opinions and I wanted him to note some possible implications, not ultimate truths. If I believed that he didn't want to hear all sides and be open to them, I would not have bothered to post him, or at least post anything thoughtful. I will give him as much information as I have in my limited store of knowledge (I, in no way, profess to be a tarot expert. I have much to learn).

However I do stand by my belief that a movie of this subject matter may lead to negative repercussions within the tarot community. It is similar to viewpoints on anything people have no understanding or experience with. To use a more extreme example (and please don't believe I am equating this with racism, I am just using the example). Many people who live in a homogenous environment (read: whitebread) may get a misconception about the nature of minority life if the only experience they have is from media messages that portray minorities as criminals, poverty stricken individuals, or just plain stupid. If a filmmaker was writing a movie with minority characters in all the evil roles, I would offer the same caution I do here, since it will feed into their perceptions. I, being a teacher in an urban high school which is 95% minority, would be able to see beyond the stereotype and realize this does not depict the true minority individual, but I know of others who would. Tarot is not known or understood by a great many other than storefront gypsy fortune tellers, Ms. Cleo, or the two major arcana cards Death and The Devil. If they hear another message about its evil powers and corruption of youth, it will feed the stereotype. These folks most likely will not see the movie, but they will certainly use it as an example of something evil.

I simply wanted to alert arkgoth to the possible implications. I do not want to burn him at the stake.

Sidenote: perhaps his tarot deck in the picture should be called the Hannibal Lecter Tarot. Hmmm, the suit of fava beans??? :)

Peace!
 

Macavity

arkgoth said:
Hey there guys,

Just wanted to let everyone know that there is going to be an independant movie made about Tarot Cards. Here is the info that I know about it at this point. [...] I would like to know what kind of messages are important for a movie made about Tarot Cards. Will post more stuff up on the movie as it is closer to release.

My emphasis added. Fair enough. Maybe it'd be clearer to start with something like: "WE are making a movie" (Is it WE?) "I would like to know" (As a member of the production team?) It just makes things a tad clearer, without this emerging as the thread progresses? ;) If you are researching the topic to directly influence undecided content then people can better decide what they want to say. Maybe indeed nothing is then a valid response? :)

Mac
 

Diana

Re: Diana, just offering advice that was asked for

Khatruman said:
Tarot is not known or understood by a great many other than storefront gypsy fortune tellers, Ms. Cleo, or the two major arcana cards Death and The Devil. If they hear another message about its evil powers and corruption of youth, it will feed the stereotype. These folks most likely will not see the movie, but they will certainly use it as an example of something evil.

I certainly appreciated your post, Khatruman. It made me think hard.

Well indeed, another example of the Atlantic Ocean divide. I think I will have to leave this thread, as it is obviously relates to specific American problems which I can only see from the outskirts, as a spectator. We don't have Ms. Cleo, and people in Europe are not very concerned about the Death and the Devil card. People are not scared of Tarot here, possibly because it has been part of the culture for hundreds of years now.

So I won't post anymore here. My point of view is too much of a European one and bears no relation to the terrible problems you people encounter, whether the problems be real, imagined or both.

arkgoth: you could try and market your film in Europe where it will probably cause less problems for people.
 

arkgoth

HI ALL!

Back in the mourning. And thank you for all your opinions. I have read them word for word and have absorbed it.

It is interesting to note that many of you assume that I 'LOVE' the tarot and that I may have put on a front that I know a lot about Tarot. Well, I DON'T! Which is why I come to this forum. And I have seen so many different opinions that the culture of Tarot certainly opened up to me.

I am not personally involved in the Tarot culture. I have had a few Tarot readings done in my life, but that's about as involved as I am. Hearing words from professionals such as yourself do me good as it helps open my views to the world.

However, one thing that that I aim to do in this films, as I did with my previous film is to not glamourize evil as many mainstream filmmakers do (george lucas does it too....anakin skywalker) but to expose evil in all its hideouness and ugliness. For every good, there is an equal evil. For it takes 2 hands to clap in a force like our world.

If you have seen my last film, I showed no pleasure and desire of any evil I portray in that film .eg. drugs, tattooed ouija boards, rape... I think that by being extreme, many people may misunderstand me and that is something that cannot be avoided. But if I can make just 1 person see the messages behind my films, I have done my job. But one thing for sure is, critics all agree that after watching my films, that there is an evil in this world, and it is nothing like what anakin skywalker or darth maul are....cool

The Tarot community does have some evil in it. Not in the whole. The majority of you belong to the path of white magick. Many of you use divinity to benefit the lives of themselves and others for the better. But there IS a small fraction of this community that choose to abuse white magick, hence turning it into black magick. And it is my personal values (based on experiences) to expose these people for what they truly are.

If you think my film is all about the path of evil, then you are wrong. In every evil, there is a good, and although my film acknowledges that and shows the other side as well, it also shows people that evil is more subceptible to win for now. Many people do not understand and treat evil lightly because of the misconception with mainstream popular beliefs that one day, good will prevail. Well, the truth is, evil prevails now, because our misconception has made us lazy and put too much faith in the intangible force of good to do our job for us. Unless we do something about it, evil WILL win. A battle is fought with 2 forces, not by 1 force and 1 faith. Ask yourself...what are you gonna do today?

And to answer Macavity, the body of the film has been shot, but the ending is still left to be done...