Popular entertainment and the irredeemability of it all
One of Amy's recurring themes is the idea that we share a rejection of current popular culture with the Christian fundamentalists. Yes, it's true, but we wouldn't make the same recommendations for its replacement. If anything, I prefer the debauched commercial dreck we are supposed to consume now to the brainwashed religious dreck the fundies would prefer our kids were exposed to.
But my preference is sometimes only slight. On NPR this morning, they were talking about high expectations for DreamWorks SKG's latest juggernaut, the animated film Over the Hedge, and how it's got tough competition in Sony's The Da Vinci Code. Now, set aside the fact that I think it's absurd that films are considered commercial failures unless they make dozens of millions of dollars in their first weekend, and are generally not allowed an opportunity to grow an audience over weeks or months. What really bothered me was the remark that DreamWorks had a tough year in 2005 because they had financed Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, which "although it won an Oscar, was a flop at the box office. Apparently Americans couldn't connect to it."
Huh? Were-Rabbit, like the Wallace & Gromit shorts, is a brilliantly constructed bit of entertainment, a delight for adults as well as for children. It never condescends to children's intelligence -- something that makes me send any child entertainment right to /dev/null -- and contains sophisticated, subtle jokes that appeal to grownups. That American audiences should prefer middlebrow entertainments where they can only laugh at references to reality television, sports, and junk food, makes me think we're irredeemable.
I really am becoming too much of a crank, at the ripe old age of 38. (OK, not 38 just yet, but I'm rounding up.)
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home