Cinema & US Cultural Dominance

[pabloseb]

The movie industry is one of the most powerful channels of US cultural dominance, both in the US and abroad.

In my opinion, American cinema is on average below the level of many other national cinemas which are more concerned with authenticity (not to be confused with realism!) while American movies usually look totally artificial. People watch and enjoy Hollywood movies because that's all they're offered; later they won't enjoy other, better and deeper movies just because they're used to the famous, pretty faces and multi-million dollar effects, costumes, etc (all of which have NOTHING to do with art or even entertainment).

Needless to say, Hollywood movies ALWAYS carry an implicit ideology, which may be more overt in war flicks but is always there.

There's also "independent" American cinema but for the most part we're talking about a bunch of hollywood snobs. However, there are a few excellent American directors that without any funding (which is the American form of censorship) fight to speak their minds.

But if we turn to Hollywood, it's amazing to me how successful this overwhelming monopoly is. Many people talk about the Microsoft monopoly (another form of US cultural dominance) but there's much less discussion about the movie industry.

Even many American progressives can only come up with only hollywood movies (with maybe the addition of one or two european classics) when making favorite movie lists. What's so progressive about embracing one of the most explicit, powerful and overwhelming channels of American domination, which aims to kill any dissenting artistic and ideological alternative views, both in America and the rest of the world?

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

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[pabloseb]

2. Who is liberal?

You mean the hollywood industry? They are democratic (party) and they are not religious nuts (for the most part), but they're not liberal.

[kwassa]

7. Hollywood is extremely liberal, and always has been ....

[trotsky]

8. Huh?

How so?

[kwassa]

14. The movie business was mostly founded by

east European Jews, recently immigrated to the US. Just as the Jewish population in general has tended to be liberal, and more sympathetic to liberal issues, so has the industry. And yes, there really were Communists and commie symps in the industry in the '30s, not that it really meant anything.

There have been notable exceptions, of course, and some highly visible conservatives in the past few years, but on a per capita basis, very liberal.

[trotsky]

16. Others disagree.

http://cinemocracy.blogs.com/cinemocracy/2004/07/the_myth_of_hol.html

In a recent Hollywood Reporter interview, (Jack) Valenti told the paper that he “take(s) issue with that (notion that Hollywood is a Democratic town). There’s a lot more independence than you think out there. I think people in Hollywood tend to be more independent than Democrat or Republican, and then there are many high-profile Republicans like (California Gov.) Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is on the way to being one of the greatest governors California has ever known.”

[DrWeird]

13. That's absolutely right.

[smirkymonkey]

19. Where did you find that picture of W and Reagan together?

I had no idea they were THAT close.

[DrWeird]

4. They sure are.

:eyes:

[Lautremont]

3. You're telling me!

You really feel it when you make movies in Canada.

[kwassa]

5. Hate to tell you this, but ...

Foreigners not only like crappy American films, they also like crappy commercial films made in their own countries. That's Entertainment. They are no more intellectual than we are. The artier foreign films are the ones that make it across to the US, and those are often produced by government-funded movie companies, so they really don't have to be commercially successful.

A far more pernicious influence is MTV, which is beamed by satellite around the world, and all of the young people around the globe are now hit by fad fashions that are the same everywhere, plus global pop pap.

[pabloseb]

9. They like it because it's a monopoly

That's all they're offered. It's not better, it's all there is.

BTW, we agree on MTV. It's part of the same phenomenon imo.

[pabloseb]

12. To elaborate a little more

... people who grow up watching more diverse films do enjoy them. The argument "it's better because it's more popular" makes no sense at all. Otherwise we'll have to believe that * is better...

[kwassa]

15. And who is making that argument?

It isn't about diversity, it is about what people define as entertainment, and entertainment is no smarter than people demand it to be. Look at the average blockbuster. They make major dollars, and are usually pretty stupid films.

[pabloseb]

17. They make major dollars because it's a monopoly

And people like them because it's a monopoly.
So IT IS about diversity. If we had diversity, people would appreciate diverse movies.

[kwassa]

18. It isn't a monopoly, it is pure capitalism at work, market forces and

all.

All of the American production studios compete against each other for the same dollars.

The real issue is that the vast majority of people don't demand much from their entertainment. Just look at television.

[DrWeird]

6. Bollywood is larger and more productive than Hollywood.

FYI.

[pabloseb]

10. Bollywood's reach is one country

albeit a large one. Hollywood movies dominate the movie market in 99% of the globe. It's not about number of films produced, either.

[DrWeird]

11. pff.

pff I say.

[Rockerdem]

20. You dont understand the industry

Commercial films swamp anything that is not. Commercial films are star-driven. The public (young people, mainly) demands it. Producers want star vehicles because they are the best moneymakers, and the safest investment for their money. Screenwriters tailor their scripts with existing stars in mind. It increases their chances that a star or producer might pick their script out of the crowded in-box.

More than anything, stars themselves want commercial movies. Why wouldn't they?

[bloom]

21. I'm happy to see

"Sundance" movies make it into the mainstream video rental store. They are often advertised as such. More people be watching them.

If I make more of an effort - I can go to the independent video store that has foreign and more obscure things.

It also helps to live near a college town that shows independent films.