I’d like to comment on two particular issues brought up in the reading; Media convergence and the merger of art and commerce. Now that all types of media are available to all demographics, the tendency of producers is to dilute entertainment and information as much as they can to avoid offending anyone and therefore increase their circulation. But while this can lead to higher short term profits, their products have no staying power and therefore never pass into the long lasting realm of “art”.
I think this is a major problem facing our society because our culture is becoming disposable. Everyday brings a new viral video, political “Battle”, or television guest star while the ones that came before nose dive into oblivion. And this is no accident. It has a design. Everyone in a position of power wants the masses to have a microscopic attention span so that they can fuck up and no one will notice. And the business moguls like it because they can produce the same low grade swill over and over and still reap obscene profits.
Somehow I think the “revolution” in Reganomics has finally warped this country to the point where we can’t even produce relevant art anymore, at least not on a massive level. Almost every movie that I’ve liked in the last decade has been labeled an “independent” film, and the ones that weren’t slapped with that label were either Oscar grabs or foreign films. And they all comprise only about ten percent of the total market. That means nine out of every ten films made now I will either only watch once or never watch at all. And that disturbs me because I’m trying to make a career in filmmaking and I’m going to the movies less and less.
Media today is designed to be a hit and run experience. Come in, take the money and run; and under no circumstance leave any evidence you were ever there.
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