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New Hinda
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Israel
469 Posts |
 Posted - 10/16/2006 : 08:08:45 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by jackspencerjr
Storytelling is an important part of the human condition, and since film is the dominant story form these days, then it is important to be studied. Without it, everyone will be on Prozac or some other mood-altering drug. The Bible is, after all, a collection of stories.
However, it is ironic that comment came from Lucas who has shown little more than contempt for his own films.
People can TELL stories. They can READ stories. They can WRITE stories. They don't need to watch movies, though movies are fun to watch, now and then. You can rest, chill out, unwind, without watching a movie. Ever try to create your own needlepoint pattern?
To really relax, combine a good old movie with crocheting or needlepoint. |
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jackspencerjr
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
262 Posts |
Posted - 10/16/2006 : 3:54:55 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by New Hinda
People can TELL stories. They can READ stories. They can WRITE stories. They don't need to watch movies, though movies are fun to watch, now and then. You can rest, chill out, unwind, without watching a movie. Ever try to create your own needlepoint pattern?
To really relax, combine a good old movie with crocheting or needlepoint.
I have no idea what you're getting at with the needlepoint thing.
My point was that movies seem to be the dominant story form these days. Well, movies and television, at any rate. |
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New Hinda
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Israel
469 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2006 : 07:56:24 AM
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I was suggesting that you don't need movies to relax and unwind.
quote:
Originally posted by jackspencerjr
quote:
Originally posted by New Hinda
People can TELL stories. They can READ stories. They can WRITE stories. They don't need to watch movies, though movies are fun to watch, now and then. You can rest, chill out, unwind, without watching a movie. Ever try to create your own needlepoint pattern?
To really relax, combine a good old movie with crocheting or needlepoint.
I have no idea what you're getting at with the needlepoint thing.
My point was that movies seem to be the dominant story form these days. Well, movies and television, at any rate.
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nshumate
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
464 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2006 : 08:41:02 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by jackspencerjr
My point was that movies seem to be the dominant story form these days. Well, movies and television, at any rate.
It does not necessarily follow that storytelling in any of its forms should be subjected to as rigorous an academic analysis as a hard science. Storytelling is indeed endemic to human culture, and yet doctorates are not needed to be a competent storyteller. That kind of treatment only guarantees that the butterfly will be pinned to a board, or that film will become an unsular academic "arts" community where academics produce films which will only be appreciated by other film academics. (See also the current state of poetry.)
Anyway. I'm not going to trust George Lucas as the grand prophet of film. If USC's film school turns out directors like Lucas, maybe we need to back off from academic regard a bit.
Or in
Nathan Shumate
http://www.coldfusionvideo.com |
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twitterpate
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Canada
1026 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2006 : 09:44:55 AM
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Actually, there are "film scholars" who treat works by, oh, Fellini or Bergman as sacred text. Perhaps Lucas has never encountered them. If he had, perhaps he'd learn to be careful what he wished for.
IMHO, modern artistic scholarship usually has a deadening effect on whatever art form to which it's applied. The problem I perceive is that it values obscurity and abstraction above all else - if Joe Public can "get" what the book/poem/picture/musical composition is about, then why the heck waste your time getting a Ph.D. to reach the same conclusion? So, "serious" authors/artists/composers are encouraged to create works that defy any understanding, or interest, in the general public. I was rather amused recently to read about a Canadian poet who was horrified to learn that his most recent publication had sold (gasp!) 20,000 copies. FAR too many for a "serious" poet - he took great pains in his subsequent interviews to sneer at those who bought the books, saying that 90% were just buying it to pretend to be intellectuals.
Movies (as opposed to "films") are still an art form of the mass audience. While they may pander to the "lowest common denominator", they mostly avoid pandering to the "incomprehensibility means depth" aesthetic that took over academic studies in the 20th century. I suppose Lucas really wants it both ways - to be able to sell multigazillion tickets, and yet be considered an ARTIST, dadgummit. This means he really doesn't understand the current artistic zeitgeist - to sell your artistic works is, by definition, selling out. If he had any artistic integrity, the academics would say, he'd be living on government grants, creating "installations" in obscure university spaces, rather than (ick!) entertaining the masses.
As much as I might descry much of what Lucas has done with his own vision, I'd hate to see Episode IV replaced by a "serious" study of Campellian Archetypes and in Western Epistemiology, as Interpreted by Dialectic Materialism, or something of that nature. |
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New Hinda
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Israel
469 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2006 : 10:39:41 AM
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Bravo, Nate! Beautiful! Perfect!
quote]Originally posted by nshumate
Storytelling is indeed endemic to human culture, and yet doctorates are not needed to be a competent storyteller. That kind of treatment only guarantees that the butterfly will be pinned to a board, or that film will become an unsular academic "arts" community where academics produce films which will only be appreciated by other film academics. (See also the current state of poetry.)
Nathan Shumate
http://www.coldfusionvideo.com
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BradH812
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1294 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2006 : 1:48:56 PM
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Kinda OT, but when Nate mentioned the current state of poetry, I was reminded — not for the first time — of watching an old Tonight Show re-run, where Jimmy Stewart read a sentimental verse about his dog. When I first saw it, I thought, "As corny as it is, this is a lot more important to our culture than anything written by Allen Ginsburg."
I still believe that.
It applies to movies. I don't care whether it's Citizen Kane, Koyaanisqatsi, or Mortal Kombat (which I finally saw last week, and thoroughly enjoyed). Good is good.
Now, if Lucas could just remember how to make a good movie, then we'd be getting somewhere.... |
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New Hinda
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Israel
469 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2006 : 02:43:07 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by BradH812
Kinda OT, but when Nate mentioned the current state of poetry, I was reminded — not for the first time — of watching an old Tonight Show re-run, where Jimmy Stewart read a sentimental verse about his dog. When I first saw it, I thought, "As corny as it is, this is a lot more important to our culture than anything written by Allen Ginsburg."
I love corny poetry myself, Kipling and Whittier. If you like sentimental poems about dogs, try Kiping's "The Power of the Dog." |
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