Vince, I don't think most people, let alone the corporate forces behind mass-
marketed movies, know or care what a film theorist is or thinks. So we agree,
so far. Notwithstanding, my 'Movies we haven't seen' posting was mainly a
reaction to an undercurrent I detected of 'we all know what movies are a waste
of time.' If history (film or otherwise) tells us anything, it is that we
know nothing about what eventual significance a film will have. The B-
Westerns of the '30's were throwaway entertainments at the time, but in
retrospect some of them pointed the way toward the cinema's equivalent of
grand opera. The Charles Bronson vigilante films were laughable in the early
'70's, but once *Taxi Driver* appeared, they, in retrospect, became much more
important as a genre.
>From your posting:
<< And that is the argument I am proposing, that popular film has become
purely cultural phenomenon. Contemporary film is about the events surrounding
the film, not the actual film itself. The actual film is a spectacle to marvel
at and the viewer is left only with the question of whether or not it lived up
to his/her previewing expectations ("Did it or didn't it live up to the hype?"
"Is it better or worse than the original?")>>
I believe I made specific reference to the 'comedy of Adam Sandler,' or words
to that effect, demonstrating that I was indeed referring to the actual
content of the film, not the promotion of it or any other 'events surrounding
the film.' But, dammit, now I've talked myself to the point where I'm going
to have to leave my warm place by the fire and get drenched in the Seattle
rain in order to see a stupid Adam Sandler movie. More, after I've seen it.
Yes, I should have guessed that the bit about 'true film-philosophers' would
invite umbrage. I might have expressed that better. Would you disagree, at
any rate, that *The Waterboy* is precisely the sort of cultural phenomenon
that *sociologists* should be looking at? Maybe I should have said 'true
sociologists,' since it was a sociologist who proposed a 'boycott' of *The
Waterboy*. If our sociologists are not following these cultural trends, what,
exactly, is it that they do?
Whatever the case, I maintain that anything created in a moving picture medium
is worthy of study, not just the movies that make us feel superior to droves
of other movie goers. I doubt you will ever be able to draw a line between
those movies and filmic art worthy of your consideration, the reason being
that all cinematic art, and every genre within that art form, has evolved from
lowbrow trash.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|