|
You know how the saying goes:
One man's trash is another man's treasure.
It's all subjective.
This relates to the other thread about how you judge or rate a movie? Again, it's all subjective.
However, I always come back to this line of thought: As you grow older and hopefully have more diverse life experience(s) how you view movies and the kinds of movies you like (or don't like) will evolve too.
For example, at this stage in my life I'm sick of the over-blown PG-13, CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) hyped-to-hell crap fests mainstream Hollywood churns out on a weekly basis (Fantastic Four; Spiderman; Pirates; etc.) I say this not be an intellectual snob... Because I am going to be first in line to see "Transformers" next month... But the majority of mainstream movies are not geared toward people over the age of 15, and thus, are not very appealing to me.
Yes, there are some very good movies out there. "The Constant Gardner", "The Departed", "Blood Diamond", and many others that are aimed at adults. But they are too few and far in between most of the weekly crap-fests aimed at pre-teens, unfortunately.
Also, I don't blame Hollywood for this because it is a business. They are only doing what any good business should do: Try and cater to the widest audience possible. The problem is they really are not trying to cater to the largest audience possible and are content mainly with teenagers and comic book fans. I have nothing against either group, but that leaves a huge percentage of the possible movie-going population just out in the cold. Consider the fact the largest growing segment of the population in the U.S. is the Baby Boomers who are in their 50s. A 50-year old has different sensibilities than a 15-year old and what they want to see at the movies.
It is ironic I post this because recent data suggests box office receipts have actually gone UP in the last year and a half. It's true. Even with all the talk of piracy and illegal online distribution, box office receipts in the U.S. have supposedly gone up in the last year or two (from previous years).
This may seem counter to what I just said... But it isn't if you consider all this really means is more and more teens going (and more than once) and that older people are going to these films, not liking them in the end... But their presence is counted as part of the increase in ticket sales.
So, the point I'm trying to make is on the surface there is no right or wrong way to say a movie is good or bad because in the end it is subjective.
However, I do believe an age bias geared toward teens and pre-teens is present in the movies being offered by mainstream Hollywood, and this ultimately effects the quality of the product (due to ratings restrictions and other elements). I feel there needs to be more of a balance to the kinds of stories told that don't treat the audience... of any age... Like idiots and that dare to be controversial and even informative in some ways like "Blood Diamond" and other movies that entertain and educate at the same time.
|