The Weird and The Wacky Meet

Where YouBetIAm comes to write….

Media Diary 8:  Blockbuster Mentality in the Movies

What do you think of the impact of the blockbuster mentality on movies?  Should profit always be the determining factor in producing movie content?  Why or why not?

 

                 I honestly believe that there is a market for both “blockbuster” movies and more prestigious and artsy pictures.  I enjoy both, and I can’t be the only person who is willing to sit through both types of film.  I think the key is making a blockbuster that isn’t mindless.  They do exist; take Spiderman 2, for example.  This was a movie that didn’t talk down to its audience, which had fine acting, quality dialogue and those eye-popping special effects.   Other movies which have left out the more prestigious aspects of filmmaking and gone solely for the way to best awe the audience have not done so well, or at least haven’t been as memorable.

                 Still, there is an argument to be made that profit should not be the only consideration when making a film.  A film is art, and shouldn’t be made solely to produce money.  I think that a quality film, even without special effects, can make money, because people want to see something that is well done.  I also think that, when choosing to finance a film, a studio should not underestimate an audience.  Make a film then trust that, if it’s good, people will see it.

                 Hollywood has taken underestimating the audience to whole new levels.  Every time a film is produced that focuses solely on profit, they are saying they don’t care about the art aspect and expect the audience to be stupid enough to be tricked into wasting good money on bad films.  Instead of having the primarily goal of making movies, with money as the natural result for a job well done, these profit-oriented ventures are all about the money, with artistic merit entirely irrelevant.

They’re artists with the souls of bankers, seeing the viewers as people they can drain dry of cash.  What they don’t realize is that the public has power.  As the character of Jay Sherman said on The Critic, “If a movie stinks, just don’t go.”  Instead of making stinky movies that have to be hyped hard to get everyone to see it before bad word of mouth kills sales, they could make sleepers that people can see over and over again, and which gain popularity over time.

Copyright 2005

by Amanda Evans

Date: 05/03/05