The second piece I wrote last year for my journalism night class
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Blockbuster. Hollywood. Spectacle. These words excite me and millions of cinemagoers across the globe.
They are also related by many to the status of low entertainment, made only for the masses, and soullessly driven by money.
I’m often challenged by people who seem offended by pure entertainment and claim to seek something bigger and better from filmmaking. It is not art. It is not intellectually stimulating. It is inferior. But I put it to them – why is it that making a film that millions of people across the world flock to see is 'easier' to produce than a film that a handful claim to be an artistic masterpiece?
Surely it takes great skill and talent to produce a piece of work that captures the imagination of millions? Surely it's much more difficult to whisk away from reality than to show it?
Someone once told me that Steven Spielberg (the love of my mainstream filmic life) was talentless – that he simply has lots of money to throw at movies for the masses. WRONG. Surely only a master of filmmaking can make so many millions flock to his films every year for laughs, cheers, and sobs in pure immersion of the worlds he brings to life on screen.
[Spielberg having fun on the set of Jaws]
And we are forgetting one vital aspect of filmmaking: haven’t films throughout history been created to entertain?
This is not even my main issue. The fact is... blockbusters are exciting! They make you laugh, they make you cry, they terrify you, and don’t you just love it!? A big price doesn’t mean a big fail.
Life doesn’t have to be serious. Sit back with your friends, stick on some spectacle and let yourself be absorbed. You might even enjoy it!
---
Blockbuster. Hollywood. Spectacle. These words excite me and millions of cinemagoers across the globe.
They are also related by many to the status of low entertainment, made only for the masses, and soullessly driven by money.
I’m often challenged by people who seem offended by pure entertainment and claim to seek something bigger and better from filmmaking. It is not art. It is not intellectually stimulating. It is inferior. But I put it to them – why is it that making a film that millions of people across the world flock to see is 'easier' to produce than a film that a handful claim to be an artistic masterpiece?
Surely it takes great skill and talent to produce a piece of work that captures the imagination of millions? Surely it's much more difficult to whisk away from reality than to show it?
Someone once told me that Steven Spielberg (the love of my mainstream filmic life) was talentless – that he simply has lots of money to throw at movies for the masses. WRONG. Surely only a master of filmmaking can make so many millions flock to his films every year for laughs, cheers, and sobs in pure immersion of the worlds he brings to life on screen.
And we are forgetting one vital aspect of filmmaking: haven’t films throughout history been created to entertain?
This is not even my main issue. The fact is... blockbusters are exciting! They make you laugh, they make you cry, they terrify you, and don’t you just love it!? A big price doesn’t mean a big fail.
Life doesn’t have to be serious. Sit back with your friends, stick on some spectacle and let yourself be absorbed. You might even enjoy it!
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