John Hinderaker has done it again in his Powerline blog post on Pepsi's latest contraversial commercial. He has explained why I can no longer sit through the pap movies coming out of Hollywood ... see: Why Movies No Longer Move Me. Here is Hinderaker's observation that had escaped me:
Let’s start with Hollywood: why are most of its films so mind-numbingly stupid? Why do most have no dialogue above a grade-school level? Why are they mainly about explosions, superheroes, car chases and so on? And why are American movies no longer patriotic? A big part of the answer is that the Hollywood studios don’t care much about Americans anymore. Their biggest market is China, and foreign sales overall dwarf U.S. sales. American movies are made mostly for Chinese and Indian film-goers. If you think about it, that explains a lot.If you want to see the context of this ah ha moment, see: Powerline Blog.
13 comments:
Not to mention "Hidden Figures" "Fences" "Moonlight" "Lion" and a dozen other great movies which don't fit your mold. But hey let's go to the movies and check them out.
After I have eaten a number of bad cherries I usually throw away the pint ...
Hollywood makes what sells. Nothing new there. And threse days it for children and adolescents. You and Hindraker are not buying what they have the budget to pitch so stop looking there. Check top-RATED movies at https://www.rottentomatoes.com/top/bestofrt/?year=2016.
BTW, it is OK to sort through the cherries to pick out the good ones.
Why do you persist in peering at what you hate? If you keep looking into the outhouse, you'll always see sh1t. The question is really: why aren't there more talented conservative actors and an audience that supports their work?
Another good question is why so many current actors and musicians actively give time and money to the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness for everyone worldwide, while so many conservatives squirrel away their offshore in their yachts and mansions. They could easily sponsor a conservative acting school with scholarships, conservative studios and producers... even set up their own chain of theaters. But they don't.
There once were ... what happened?
I suspect you are thinking in stereotypes ... another form of prejudice. I do know that the Koch brothers give hundreds of millions to the arts and education.
I was just following your prejudicial lead in stereotyping all Hollywood actors.
Fair point. But are you saying that Hollywood is not a navel-gazing cesspool?
Having you been watching "Feud"? Betty Davis and Joan Crawford bash around each other when the Hollywood studio system WAS conservative. Awash in straight-up hard liquor and cigarettes, they show that were insanely self-centered.
Maybe you (and Hindraker) should follow country or Christian music and awards shows. Or even (gasp!) foreign film and limited distribution film sources.
As to patriotic films, they get sappy as long as are accustomed to never ending wars with no real sacrifices at home. War sells: See "Hacksaw Ridge", "Unbroken", "American Sniper", whatever that bomb squad one was. I liked "Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot". Seemed quite real to me. And do go see "Arrival".
Perhaps my cinema aversion is just a function of my many decades. But Hinderaker is much younger than I. What is his excuse? I thought that his observation that we Americans are not the target audience was right on ...
Read https://journalistsresource.org/studies/society/culture/changing-role-hollywoodglobal-movie-market
Ty Burr in the Globe on April 9 talks about "Peak TV" where the new series are not bound by appeal to a two-hour runtime and comic-book audiences. Original material from Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, and others running 8 hours or more to really tell the story.
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