Reply #8: Don't be so sure this isn't part of the marketing...

[JackRiddler]

If the anti-Craig group is not astroturf (a bogus grassroots front set up by the corporation itself), it still serves the film's promotion. People will go just because they ask, will Craig be bad or good? Every single idiot involved with this group is guaranteed to buy tickets, and likely to go more than once even if they hate it and only desire to get more fodder for posting angry reactions to Craig around the Web.

You can be certain this group already figures in the studio's marketing plan, wittingly or otherwise. Controversy is manna for films, Hollywood has always been grateful to exploit it. Consider the Jesus Trifecta of "Life of Bryan," "The Last Temptation of Christ" and "Passion of the Christ." These became "must see" movies because of the perception (right or wrong) that they were under attack by censoring forces.

Brokeback Mountain was aiming for the same effect, and almost missed, as the expected yahoo backlash almost entirely failed to appear. The promotional forces mobilized in advance for its defense heaved it up to success anyway, orgiastically congratulating themselves for supporting it even before its release. This boring standard Hollywood genre fare has nothing other than a twist (the doomed lovers are gay) that would have been progressive 20 years ago but is effectively regressive compared to the pioneering queer films that made it possible. But the planned effect of appearing controversial has made it a kind of required Oscar vote for the Academy.

Anyway, not to get too far afield: I guarantee you the studio itself either created the Craig group, is thrilled at its appearance, or (at a minimum) has already incorporated it into its marketing strategy.