GREASE, it's the one Oldsters want! |
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From people older than I, or, at least, from people older thinking than I, I frequently hear the lament, "They sure don't make movies the way they used to." Or, this slight variation, "I wish they still made the kind of movies that I loved growing up."
It's common to remember the past as being somehow better than the present. It's not unusual to long for the way things were, rather than the way they are. We frequently think of the past as being simpler, more innocent - or, of better quality. The longing for things fondly remembered commonly extends to motion pictures.
Perhaps 1978's GREASE, ANIMAL HOUSE, SUPERMAN, and JAWS were better, or even more satisfying, flicks than this past year's top box office attractions, or maybe, time, space, and reputation have only made them seem better.
It's also true that our memories of days gone by are often-times inaccurate, altered more favorably, mellowed by time, distance, and sentiment.
Retro-loving Match-Flickers have a valid point: the kind of motion pictures that thrilled and delighted their generation of 
But Isn't HAIRSPRAY Just GREASE for the 21st Century? |
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Match-Flickers may not be playing at a multiplex or theater near them, right now. Or, maybe they are. Were 2007's HAIRSPRAY, SUPERBAD, SPIDERMAN 3, and PIRATES really that far removed from your parents' 1978 Golden Classicss? We think not.
What every Match-Flicker must understand: the box office literally dictates the kind of movies that Match-Flickers see. This was true in your parents' time, and it is true in your own. Every time that you buy a ticket, you are casting a vote for the kind of movies that Hollywood will offer in the future. Quite literally, your boxoffice purchases are to the motion picture industry what your voting ballot is to a political election.
For Hollywood, the Bottom Line is the Bottom Line, first, last, always. In all areas of show business, the show almost always takes a back seat to the business. If you purchased tickets for SHREK THE THIRD last summer, rented or purchased the DVD, then you were among the millions who "green-lighted" SHREK GOES FORTH. On the other hand, if you, like most Match-Flickers, avoided NANCY DREW as if it 
ANIMAL HOUSE and SUPERBAD are really kissing cousins |
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were the plague (and some insst that it was), then you helped insure that sequels about the perky teen sleuth will not be forthcoming.
You should reject the conservatives' belief that Hollywood promotes a liberal agenda. Hollywood's only agenda is making a fast buck. Toward that end, the film factories don't really care if they're churning out family fare or pornography, comedy or drama, musicals or action-hero adventures, or science fiction, religious epics, or war stories. For as long as a genre, a star, a writer, or a director can turn a profit, then Hollywood will be there to cash in.
If the oldsters who lament, "They don't make movies the way they used to!" would get off of their La-Z-Boy recliners and start buying box office tickets, then they could, by virtue of their box office purchases, vote for the kind of movies that will be at the multiplex the next time that they crave a bigscreen adventure. Till then, all of the votes belong to those of us who regularly "escape to the movies!" - Match-Flickers who vote as often as they can with their all-powerful box office dollars.
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| The Business of Show |
Every other Friday
Does advertising, public taste, or overindulged stars determine a movie's box office fate? Christoper Stone explores what's going on behind the box office.
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| Christopher Stone |
Christopher Stone is the author of the international best seller Re-Creating Your Self. With Mary Sheldon, he co-authored three highly successful hardcover books of guided meditations.
He is a member of the Writers Guild of America, West.
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| Contact |
If you have a comment, question, or suggestion, you can send a message to Christopher Stone by clicking here.
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