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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   21611 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 9, 2023

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The anon wasn't talking about in movies? Because that's a defensible statement - outside of fidelity increases in camera tech (which really isn't better, it just gives film makers more options) nothing about the cinema industry has improved in the past decade certainly, and imo things have gotten significantly worse. Even the indie side is worse - most mumblecore (and mumblegore) might have been dull and pretentious, but it was so great seeing all those artists putting their visions on film without studio interference. And even if you don't agree, and think things would have been better if Greta Gerwig had run over the Duplass brothers and been jailed for manslaughter in 2004, it was surely better than nothing, better than watching all of those creative visions get bought out and sanitised by Disney so that now they're turning out more cookie cutter live action remakes and comic book adaptations.

I don’t think it’s just sanitizing after the fact. The issue for me is that almost all of them are coming from the same places — the same circles in Hollywood, the same film schools, the same social and political culture and so on. This makes it really impossible to have a truly unique take on a project as there’s nothing unique about your artistic history and therefore you’re interchangeable with anyone who graduates a film school.

LA in general has a very high COL, and most people trying to make it in Hollywood spend years practically unemployed (they become waitstaff and baristas basically, and have to have a very flexible part time schedule to leave time for auditions). That combination pretty much excludes most people who don’t have families that can spend tens of thousands of dollars to bankroll a child chasing that dream. Most art is that way, if you’re going to “go pro” you need the family to bankroll you while you’re trying to break in. That’s a pretty effective filter for working class voices and given that conservatives tend to value financial independence and gainful employment, a fairly effective filter for conservative views as well.

That combination pretty much excludes most people who don’t have families that can spend tens of thousands of dollars to bankroll a child chasing that dream.

Or, alternately, you can have families that are already in the business — note how many Hollywood types are related (Angelina Jolie is Jon Voight's daughter, George Clooney and Miguel Ferrer were first cousins, and then there's the Coppola and Barrymore families). So add competition with those "born into it" as another barrier for those trying to "break in."

Also that this cultural clique has become far more insular over time, which leads to even more homogeneity.

The paradox of diversity... All skin colors sexulities and shapes united in ideological monoculture.

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