briand@tekig1.UUCP (Brian Diehm) (07/14/84)
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Whee! Isn't this fun, folks? We've smoked out a real live cretin, and
what's more, he's going to repeatedly stand up and defend cretenism as a way
of life!
Well, Mr. Whitney, I don't think boxoffice receipts make your point, they
just indicate a very sad state of our society. For you and your kind, the
Romans developed bread and circus, and then continued to a graceless decline.
BECAUSE PEOPLE RELINQUISHED THEIR RESPONSIBILITY TO THINK, Mr. Whitney.
Let's look at Mr. Whitney's view from the vantage point of an analogy.
For your information, Mr. Whitney, analogy is a literate tool used since the
ancient Greeks, e.g., since written history. It means, according to Webster's,
an "inference that if two or more things agree with one another in some re-
spects they will prob. agree in others." OK, ready David? Here goes. I am a
photographer, though amateur status. I do it seriously, I've had one-man
shows. I like to think that what I do is art, though only viewers of my efforts
can say whether it is or not. Be that as it may, I recognize and appreciate
the artistic potential of photography. You, David, have said (in the sense of
film), that not only is the proper use of photography for family snapshots, but
that family snapshots are the SOLE VALID PURPOSE of all of photography! Pre-
pos-ter-ous, David!
David, I'm NOT denigrating the use of photography for family snapshots!
I have NEVER said that movies shouldn't be entertainment, or that entertainment
is not a valid form of film, or literature, or photography, or any other art!
Have you got that yet?
OK, what I *AM* saying is that it is ridiculous to say that the ONLY use
for an art is the lowest common denominator!
All right, who does it hurt? Nobody, but like anything else (ask your
Dentist about candy, for another analogy) it can be carried too far, and THAT
is what I was complaining about on the net - lack of content in comments on
movies that lacked content. I was tired of the repeated "reviews" that went
something like "Gee, wasn't it neat? I saw it *TOO*!"
All right, next point. People won't pay for content, they want only the
vapid stuff. Wow, your statistics show it strongly, I can't argue with that.
Like the "Deteriorata" (a parody of the "Desiderata") said, "Remember, a walk
through the ocean of most souls would scarcely get your feet wet." That's
precisely how I felt when I originally flamed. I feel it yet. And the net
fits right in there.
The last point is interesting, so don't tune out yet, David. You have
said twice now that you don't need preachy movies "telling you how to live your
life." I DON'T EITHER - I DON'T WANT ANYONE TELLING ME HOW TO LIVE MY LIFE.
But if you don't think vapid movies are instilling a lifestyle into you, you're
wrong. And if you think that's the point of literate movies, you're wrong too.
Literature, like any other art, is a form of communication. In communication,
people make points, and other people accept or reject them. I certainly don't
agree with the tenets of every film I've seen, BUT THEY HAVE HELPED ME TO UNDER-
STAND THE VIEWPOINTS OF OTHERS, and they have FORCED ME TO REASSESS AND VALIDATE
MY OWN VIEWS. Nobody CAN tell you how to live your life, but they can point
out things that you have to consider in order to justify your lifestyle, to
yourself, your neighbor, your policeman, and maybe if you have one, your God.
By rejecting any use of this art above entertainment, you have rejected
your responsibility to examine and justify your attitudes, whether or not you
realize that. And that, David, is bigotry, just as it is bigotry to try to
control the content of movies in society, or even the content of net.movies.
I cannot tell you what movies to see, and I don't want that kind of resp-
onsibility. But don't try to tell me, either. And the fact that it doesn't
sell in the boxoffice - well, that's the pressure of the people in our society
who have abdicated their responsibility to think for themselves. I am deeply
saddened that these children now outnumber the thinking people.
Happy 1984. I hope you like the results.
Brian Diehm
Tektronix, Inc. (By now, I guess I ought to put in the obvious disclaimer
about my posted views being my own and not my employer's.)msc@qubix.UUCP (Mark Callow) (07/15/84)
This discussion brings to mind an apropos quote from a road test
I once saw of the Toyota Celica (or Corolla; I don't remember which
and it isn't important) at the time the world's largest selling car
(it may still be for all I know).
"The Celica is completely bland and has no personality which would
offend anyone. How else could it become the world's largest selling
car?"
--
From the TARDIS of Mark Callow
msc@qubix.UUCP, decwrl!qubix!msc@Berkeley.ARPA
...{decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4}!decwrl!qubix!msc, ...{ittvax,amd70}!qubix!msc
"Nothing shocks me. I'm an Engineer."