What is the worst demographic target for a movie?

[they don't love you like i love you]

So I just realized this. The knee-jerk immediate thought would be really young children as the worst for adults, but that's actually not true, far from it. Actually movies made mostly for really young children are often usually very good. Think of almost all of Pixar's output and the classic Disney films.

But as kids get older the tastes get worse. Movies aimed at teenage girls are almost always complete crap (Twilight series, similar sci-fi/fantasy crap, stupid romantic comedies, PG-13 horror movies) and teenage boys just as bad (either Adam Sandler-style comedies or Transformers type empty action.) I'd actually go and argue that teenage boys are the worst target demographic, since occasionally there's a girl-oriented teen comedy that comes up that ends up being pretty good (Easy A is a good fairly recent example.)

But on the flip side there is a female equivalent guaranteed to be just as bad: Movies aimed equally at teenage girls AND their moms. You know the Nicholas Sparks type stuff. So let's go with that and teen boys as the worst possible target demographics.

The best target demographic is probably well educated 20-30something women, since that's basically where things like Noah Baumbach's movies and quirky indie romantic comedies like (500) Days of Summer lie.

[Türkisblau]

The best target demographic is probably well educated 20-30something women, since that's basically where things like Noah Baumbach's movies and quirky indie romantic comedies like (500) Days of Summer lie.

*barf*

[YaBoyNY]

Fing teenagers with their shinny iPhones they didn't pay for and big mouths spoiling  the film for those of use who actually cared about what going on screen. It the reason I owned my 100 inch HDTV with my collection of 718 titles on Blu-Ray.

Yeah, those teenagers, am I right?

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

Teenage boys ala that quote from Michael Bay.  If some studio wants to make Twilight and leave all the seats soaking wet that's somehow, to me anyway, less destructive than making boys oh and ah and mindless crap like The Rock.

EDIT: what's the target of Seltzer and Friedberg movies?  (Date Movie, Epic Movie, etc.)?  Idiots?  Because that is literally the worst tripe I can imagine.  I'd rather watch Fly Me To The Moon.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Very young kids is the right answer. Pixar/Disney is cheating it because they were designed for family viewing, but media intended just for kids is always dreck if you aren't wearing nostalgia goggles.

[retromike22]

People who like "The Ham Clock." It's usually men (women find it weird) in their 20s-30s, the kind of guys who like quirky movies like the ones Wes Anderson makes.

Looking at the demographics from the channel, for some very bizarre reason the country with the second highest number of viewings (after the U.S.) is Israel.

So I guess it appeals to single young Jewish men.

[they don't love you like i love you]

Teenage boys ala that quote from Michael Bay.  If some studio wants to make Twilight and leave all the seats soaking wet that's somehow, to me anyway, less destructive than making boys oh and ah and mindless crap like The Rock.

EDIT: what's the target of Seltzer and Friedberg movies?  (Date Movie, Epic Movie, etc.)?  Idiots?  Because that is literally the worst tripe I can imagine.  I'd rather watch Fly Me To The Moon.

Teenage boys. Just the dumbest ones amongst them clearly. Further proving the point.

Also weird you mention The Rock, as that's commonly considered Michael Bay's only good movie. It's the only one with a positive RT score.

[Mr. Smith]

No, while it may not be equally spread (because there's one predominant demographic of writers and directors and executives and animators that know what they know and dislike leaving their comfort zones), good writing and direction can make a movie towards any demographic good.

The true worst demographic is no demographic in mind and instead just randomly trying to make everyone happy (think Food Fight or Birdemic 2 or a Seltzerberg thing).

I guess if you're cynical enough you could call the demographic here idiots, but why go there?

Scarily enough, that's actually very very close to a movie made with a broad range in mind...the key difference is the characters, plots, mood swings, and jokes all have some kind of flow in those for the family...instead of just being freaking random.


Those with demographics in mind, there can at least be characters of some kind of worth even if for a nanosecond. There are expectations that can be cleverly played around with, and therefore good writing and direction can save.

Happy Gilmore and Eight Crazy Nights are both Adam Sandler flicks clearly meant for male teens, yet the former is held in high regard generally, while the latter everyone else cries at the wasted hours those animators spent

Twilight and The Notebook are chick flicks, and yet.

Or perhaps Michael Bay films vs Roland Emmerich films. Are both not disaster flick directors where characters take a backseat?  And yet people lovingly quote Independence Day and marvel at the White House going up while simultaneously wishing Transformers would just end.