Just for a change of pace, I watched a segment of "Scarborough Country," a sort-of conservative shout show on MSNBC, tonight. It was about the Academy Awards and whether the Hollywood elite had a liberal agenda because of the five movies nominated for Best Picture.
The nominated films are "Brokeback Mountain," "Capote," "Crash," "Good Night, and Good Luck."and "Munich." I have seen each of the films, and I say enthusiastically that they represent the best of a fantastic year in film. Together, they demonstrate the kind of thought provoking that can come from cinema. Whether it is a story of forbidden love, of telling the story of murder, of terrorism, of racism, of freedom of speech, these films had something to say. They prompted dialog.
The panel on "Scarborough Country" tried to convince viewers that these films represent a tilt to the left and that Hollywood is outside of where mainstream America is. As testament, one panelist said that these films made almost no money at the box office (keep in mind some of them have been out a very short time). Commercial success is not always a measure of artistic success. I know that sounds strange. Entertainment does not always equal quality -- sometimes I like a movie because it is fun or escape, but it is not good. The same logic would say that McDonald's is the best food because the most people eat it. Many would agree that a lot of the food served there is of low quality. A burger ain't Kobe beef.
The panelists said no one would watch the Oscar telecast because of how small the films were and because they did not achieve mainstream or widespread success. I doubt that will hold true.
So, I say to some of those panelists: Blow it out your ear. The Academy recognized five fine films. Steven Spielberg reportedly said that the current crop of films in America today might just be a reaction to the Neo-Conservative thinking that has become pervasive. That illustrates how important the arts are -- they provide perspective and contrast to the dominant thought and voice.
-- Wenatchee, Wash.
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5 comments:
Well said, Loganite!
Perhaps McDonalds is the most popular establishment because it offers inexpensive food. Last I checked, burgers are a lot cheaper than Kobe beef, whereas a ticket to "Brokeback Mountain" sells for the same price as a ticket to "King Kong."
Film has changed over the years, possibly more so than ever before, because of the independent film studios. Many films are not given as wide a release since they are not from the major studios.
The number of attendees or the amount of box office take does not determine or reveal the artistic merit of a film. That is an obvious example of flawed logic. Many excellent films do not have a high attendance.
Also, some people do not go to the cinema for a movie which comments on society or one that delivers a message of importance to the audience. Often, people simply go for entertainment.
Chris Rock revealed this with quite a bite at last year's Oscars. He surveyed people at the local cinema and asked them which Academy Award nominated films they had seen. He found that virtually no one had seen the nominated films, but almost everyone he interviewed at the theater had seen "White Chicks," almost universally critiqued as last year's worst (or near worst) film.
Trey Parker and Matt Stone are anything but liberal. I love 'em to death and they need to make more movies and keep South Park on the air forever!
This morning I found an Oscar show on Bravo that was quite good. They presented all of the nominees, showed a clip of the films nominated, and then interviewed one of the nominees in the main categories. Afterwards there was a panel discussion with critics (which had some real cattiness I found entertaining).
As I considered the films in the best picture category (Crash, Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Munich, and Good Night, and Good Luck), I found myself agreeing with some conservative critics that Hollywood is promoting liberal ideas. "Crash" targets prejudice and race relations, "BBM" presents a moving story of gay men trying to find their way in an ultra-straight environment, "Capote" does not promote a liberal idea per se but Capote was such an entertaining fag that his presence on screen alone can be said to promote acceptance of homosexuals, Munich addresses race relations on an international stage, and "Good Night, and Good Luck" reminds us of the importance of an independent media.
The idea of the liberalism of entertainment actually came to be last night when watching an episode of "JLU." For those who are actually to mature for cartoons, JLU stands for Justice League Unlimited. :D Anyway, the episode concerned this new creature whose purpose was to protect Americans from the Superheros and so he was fighting them and wreaking havoc along the way. A little old lady appears and asks the creature "how many of us do you have to kill in order to protect us?" Is that not the question democrats are asking Bush in this so-called war on terror?
I do not criticize these messages. I find it useful to be reminded of our humanity and common purposes. But I wonder whether the messages are resonating, or perhaps is it a matter of preaching to the choir? Another way of asking it I guess is, how well did "BBM" and "Crash" do in the red states?
I wrote this earlier this morning on another blog site and just thought I'd add it here.
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