Do you know what the #1 fear of most Americans is? According to a recent Gallup poll, it’s SNAKES, closely followed by our #2 fear: public speaking.

So, THAT, in my opinion, is why Snakes on a Plane has failed to charm movie-goers. Who wants to sit through a movie watching our #1 fear slither across the screen? Talk about nightmares!

I felt completely helpless on our plane last week as we bumped our way through storm clouds north of Atlanta. Our pilot’s calming voice came across the speakers: “Please remain in your seats and turn off all electronics, as we’re experiencing a little bit of turbulence.” I can’t even imagine if we were stuck in our seats with snakes in the floorboard!

But this editorial in USA Today makes the point that the movie’s lack of box-office success, despite a buzz among bloggers, shows that bloggers really don’t have as much power as they think they do.

The author writes:

… It is the underwhelming response to Snakes that reveals the real peril in relying on bloggers to take the nation’s pulse … Ever since the first smarty-pants posted his first unsolicited opinion on the Internet, Americans have become captivated by blog-o-mania — for good reason. For once, we own and operate our own public medium. Power to the people. Vox populi. Yadda-yadda.

He also claims this is “a wake-up call to the mythology of blogging.”

Huh?

It wouldn’t matter to me if every single one of you were blogging about that movie — begging me to go see it. I would NOT go. No way. In contrast, I HAVE gone to see movies and bought books that bloggers have recommended — because I thought, “Oh, that sounds like something I’d like.”

In fact, after reading this review in The Writing Life blog, I’d love to go see “Little Miss Sunshine: A Family on the Verge of a Breakdown.” He says, “It’s been a while since I’ve laughed so hard during a movie … It captured the human spirit in a remarkable fashion and becomes ‘a moving look at the surprising rewards of being losers in a winning-crazed culture.'”

Reading that makes me want to go see it, as well as this comment from a reader:

My husband and I saw this last weekend. It’s absolutely not the type of movie my husband tends to watch but we both loved it and highly recommend it! There is a wonderful review of it in the L.A. Times that is more fun to read after seeing the movie than before. It’s a piece of literature in itself.

I trust the opinions of my favorite bloggers more than reviewers in the newspaper. So I don’t think the influence of blogging is a myth at all. Do you?