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American cinema’s creative zenith was reached in the 1970s, just as movies were being displaced by TV. Now we have a golden age of American TV drama, just as TV is under threat of being completely displaced by the internet. Was it always thus? Are we doomed to see the economic models of great art forms disrupted, just as they have reconciled their artistic and commercial imperatives?
April 20th, 2008 · 1 Comment · 
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Filed under: Culture & Media, Rav Idly Wonders, Technology
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1 response so far ↓
1 g // May 9, 2008 at 9:33 am
hi Rav.
interesting to consider the arrival of the ‘blockbuster game’ in this context. The fourth Grand Theft Auto game on the Playstation 3 seems to have introduced new levels of multi-narrative complexity, characterisation, scale and style. And its budget, media campaign and launch were akin to the Hollywood blockbusters of yore.
Also, worth mentioning that the recent popularity of American TV dramas probably owes quite alot to the internet, filesharing, online communities, etc… in the same way that during cinema’s zenith the spread of television helped cement and disperse the hollywood myth. like most things, it about accessability, really.
Given the rising popularity of user-driven content in mainstream media (broadsheet newspapers quoting blogs —-> channel 4 teen dramas allowing chatroom members to decide the fate of a character) i wonder how long creative industries can rely on people’s acceptance and enjoyment of the strict linear narrative schemes that underpinned all traditional mainstream visual artforms up till now…
also, in response to your last point i’d say the answer is mercifully yes.
i wonder if the arrival of creative equilibrium (”reconciled their artistic and commercial concerns” is another way of saying “sold enough of their stuff to live well off it”) doesn’t in some way or other render an artform inert. i aspire to be, therefore i create. to put it another way, POP is the celebration of a bubble bursting, etc… :-]
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