Sid Vicious died in February of 1979. If you were following the incendiary rise of the Sex Pistols, as I was, brilliantly engineered by Malcolm McLaren, and based on Situationist International theory, you might have picked up their 2nd 45 single “God Save The Queen” in May of 1977. Or perhaps, after being bombarded by constant tabloid stories and photos of this new enfante terrible band of outsiders seeking and provoking anarchy on British soil, you got on their bullet train by purchasing their first LP, Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols upon release in October 1977? I mean, how could any young self respecting music fan not take a risk for $7.99 and at least check out this new Punk sound? The point here is, McLaren, an independent outsider and thinker, knew how to surgically manipulate peek interest with the media tools barely at his disposal into something that one month earlier was unknown to John Q. Public. But, the key difference here is that he wasn’t selling bullshit. The Pistols were the real deal, and delivered a visual, Sonic, cultural, and political spectacle (like a great film) beyond anyone’s wildest imagination for a brief one and a half years until they imploded in San Francisco in January 1978. Any contemporary film distributor that hasn’t studied the story of McLaren and his application of Situationist International theory, in order to apply modern tools in marketing their own occasionally great films, is doing their films they release (and the public) a great disservice. But back to the point of your post... The movie of the tumultuous Sex Pistols saga, Sid & Nancy, directed by Alex Cox, was released in theaters in November 1986. This was not even six years after Nancy Spungen’s and Sid Vicious’s tragic deaths, after Sid’s quixotic solo career played out in the tabloids uninterrupted from the riveting Pistols adventure and their tumultuous break up date. So, the point is, if you had followed the story and music closely, as they were intertwined, seeing the movie in the theater six years later, felt, at least to me, like I was experiencing a story that I already knew. This was a strange and new feeling. In theory, I was the perfect audience for this story, yet, as I tried to get lost in the cinema, I couldn’t get past the Actors playing these roles, and the costumes, and the storytelling, which had no new twists and turns or revelations that would be new to me or anyone who paid attention in real time. Part of the magic of great cinema is not knowing where the film will take you. So unfortunately, for me, a knowledgeable fan of the story, I was not able to connect. I walked away thinking that nonfiction stories are like fine wine, they need time to ferment and deepen, and that this Pistols tale was way too soon to re-create on film. I felt this way about Sid and Nancy for the next thirty something years until I watched it again recently with my teen son, Kember, with fresh eyes and distance. And with this distance and passage of time, it was like watching a totally new film. I loved it. I loved everything about it. Everything that had gotten in the way from knowing the story previously was relegated to distant memory and now the entire production looked and sounded perfect. Sid and Nancy, in fact, may be the last great biopic, a genre that I loved, and at its best, was wildly inventive (Raging Bull and Lenny are both biopics) but has gotten so dumb-downed, that it’s almost impossible to care about who the corporations have chosen to profile next. So, I agree with Ted, insta-movies, one year later from the real life stories people have fresh in their consciousness, are just lazy cynical bad ideas.
Amen to this quote of yours: "Particularly now that we have recognized that cultural relevancy is a competitive advantage if not an outright business necessity."
Have the gatekeepers and the Kings of the FKATFB have realized this? I guess it's how you define cultural relevancy. We seem to get a lot of what David Foster Wallace referred to as "Infinite Jest," which the audience is all too ready to consume.
I think the recent Noah Baumbach film, "White Noise" nailed it as all the "White" noise that is diverting our attention from the looming "Black" cloud of death that we should be paying attention to: whether that's global warming, inequality, mental health, etc -- or our own limited time on this planet. The downers of our own destruction aren't good for business; hence, more TikTok.
So how do you rise above all the noise, be culturally relevant in your work, and also be heard? ... Ah, there's the rub.
I have loved the movies since I was a child and I could buy a ticket at our neighborhood theater for 45 cents. I started screenwriting about a 15 months ago and will turn 70 in a few months, so that gives me a short history as a writer and a longer perspective as a citizen and lover of movies.
It seems clear from my POV, that social media, while maybe not the root of all evil, facilitates all of it. Yes, it helps people find long lost friends and it allowed NFL fans to express their prayers for the fallen Damar Hamlin (thanks God he is doing well), but that is more than outweighed by it's destructive force on our society. Just get on an elevator or sit in a restaurant and see how many people are focused on their screens and not the humans just inches away from them.
What is happening in the movie industry seems to be the logical extension of that effect. As I work to get my work noticed, I look at the listings in my surrounding multiplexes and it's all IP vomit. I understand as an investor trying to manage my 401K, that I can't afford to make bad decisions, but movies aren't a retirement plan, they're art. And art shouldn't be defined or limited by something that seems to have a guaranteed payoff.
Someone needs to do a "positive" article on everything you do and give it the kind of publicity they gave all the bad stuff that happened in Hollywood. I think "the taste" of the ilk that has been given so much publicity over the past few years has actually "driven" the gap between middle America (prospective audience) and Mainstream media markets. Don't get me wrong, it's been politically motivated as well, but for real, there be some brainwashing afoot, and "rather" than win the battle "for" public opinion by showcasing the work ethic and good that comes from creative folks.........the tarnish has been over-exposed and the opposing forces used it to their advantage. When is the entertainiment industry going to showcase some "principle's", instead of the worst dredges of society. Of course, if you put the focus on the worst parts of something, which they have done to Hollywood, I'm telling you Ted, those kinds of stories just aren't helping Ted. It's going to take a massive amount of PR of something with integrity to get people to let go of "the rationale" behind Ricky Gervais' commentary at the "freaking Oscars dude" just a couple of years ago. Please recognize that Hollywood needs an image overhaul to anyone with minimal conscience. Again, don't shoot the messanger, I'm just reporting from middle America, and the political enemies of that which Hollywood supports.....have amplified this paradigm. The regular folks, don't get much of anything to shift their views.......It's just anothe piece of this puzzle. Not denying your truths as well. Definitely, also plays a big part too what you are saying.
Sid Vicious died in February of 1979. If you were following the incendiary rise of the Sex Pistols, as I was, brilliantly engineered by Malcolm McLaren, and based on Situationist International theory, you might have picked up their 2nd 45 single “God Save The Queen” in May of 1977. Or perhaps, after being bombarded by constant tabloid stories and photos of this new enfante terrible band of outsiders seeking and provoking anarchy on British soil, you got on their bullet train by purchasing their first LP, Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols upon release in October 1977? I mean, how could any young self respecting music fan not take a risk for $7.99 and at least check out this new Punk sound? The point here is, McLaren, an independent outsider and thinker, knew how to surgically manipulate peek interest with the media tools barely at his disposal into something that one month earlier was unknown to John Q. Public. But, the key difference here is that he wasn’t selling bullshit. The Pistols were the real deal, and delivered a visual, Sonic, cultural, and political spectacle (like a great film) beyond anyone’s wildest imagination for a brief one and a half years until they imploded in San Francisco in January 1978. Any contemporary film distributor that hasn’t studied the story of McLaren and his application of Situationist International theory, in order to apply modern tools in marketing their own occasionally great films, is doing their films they release (and the public) a great disservice. But back to the point of your post... The movie of the tumultuous Sex Pistols saga, Sid & Nancy, directed by Alex Cox, was released in theaters in November 1986. This was not even six years after Nancy Spungen’s and Sid Vicious’s tragic deaths, after Sid’s quixotic solo career played out in the tabloids uninterrupted from the riveting Pistols adventure and their tumultuous break up date. So, the point is, if you had followed the story and music closely, as they were intertwined, seeing the movie in the theater six years later, felt, at least to me, like I was experiencing a story that I already knew. This was a strange and new feeling. In theory, I was the perfect audience for this story, yet, as I tried to get lost in the cinema, I couldn’t get past the Actors playing these roles, and the costumes, and the storytelling, which had no new twists and turns or revelations that would be new to me or anyone who paid attention in real time. Part of the magic of great cinema is not knowing where the film will take you. So unfortunately, for me, a knowledgeable fan of the story, I was not able to connect. I walked away thinking that nonfiction stories are like fine wine, they need time to ferment and deepen, and that this Pistols tale was way too soon to re-create on film. I felt this way about Sid and Nancy for the next thirty something years until I watched it again recently with my teen son, Kember, with fresh eyes and distance. And with this distance and passage of time, it was like watching a totally new film. I loved it. I loved everything about it. Everything that had gotten in the way from knowing the story previously was relegated to distant memory and now the entire production looked and sounded perfect. Sid and Nancy, in fact, may be the last great biopic, a genre that I loved, and at its best, was wildly inventive (Raging Bull and Lenny are both biopics) but has gotten so dumb-downed, that it’s almost impossible to care about who the corporations have chosen to profile next. So, I agree with Ted, insta-movies, one year later from the real life stories people have fresh in their consciousness, are just lazy cynical bad ideas.
Amen to this quote of yours: "Particularly now that we have recognized that cultural relevancy is a competitive advantage if not an outright business necessity."
Have the gatekeepers and the Kings of the FKATFB have realized this? I guess it's how you define cultural relevancy. We seem to get a lot of what David Foster Wallace referred to as "Infinite Jest," which the audience is all too ready to consume.
I think the recent Noah Baumbach film, "White Noise" nailed it as all the "White" noise that is diverting our attention from the looming "Black" cloud of death that we should be paying attention to: whether that's global warming, inequality, mental health, etc -- or our own limited time on this planet. The downers of our own destruction aren't good for business; hence, more TikTok.
So how do you rise above all the noise, be culturally relevant in your work, and also be heard? ... Ah, there's the rub.
Thank you for your post!
I have loved the movies since I was a child and I could buy a ticket at our neighborhood theater for 45 cents. I started screenwriting about a 15 months ago and will turn 70 in a few months, so that gives me a short history as a writer and a longer perspective as a citizen and lover of movies.
It seems clear from my POV, that social media, while maybe not the root of all evil, facilitates all of it. Yes, it helps people find long lost friends and it allowed NFL fans to express their prayers for the fallen Damar Hamlin (thanks God he is doing well), but that is more than outweighed by it's destructive force on our society. Just get on an elevator or sit in a restaurant and see how many people are focused on their screens and not the humans just inches away from them.
What is happening in the movie industry seems to be the logical extension of that effect. As I work to get my work noticed, I look at the listings in my surrounding multiplexes and it's all IP vomit. I understand as an investor trying to manage my 401K, that I can't afford to make bad decisions, but movies aren't a retirement plan, they're art. And art shouldn't be defined or limited by something that seems to have a guaranteed payoff.
Someone needs to do a "positive" article on everything you do and give it the kind of publicity they gave all the bad stuff that happened in Hollywood. I think "the taste" of the ilk that has been given so much publicity over the past few years has actually "driven" the gap between middle America (prospective audience) and Mainstream media markets. Don't get me wrong, it's been politically motivated as well, but for real, there be some brainwashing afoot, and "rather" than win the battle "for" public opinion by showcasing the work ethic and good that comes from creative folks.........the tarnish has been over-exposed and the opposing forces used it to their advantage. When is the entertainiment industry going to showcase some "principle's", instead of the worst dredges of society. Of course, if you put the focus on the worst parts of something, which they have done to Hollywood, I'm telling you Ted, those kinds of stories just aren't helping Ted. It's going to take a massive amount of PR of something with integrity to get people to let go of "the rationale" behind Ricky Gervais' commentary at the "freaking Oscars dude" just a couple of years ago. Please recognize that Hollywood needs an image overhaul to anyone with minimal conscience. Again, don't shoot the messanger, I'm just reporting from middle America, and the political enemies of that which Hollywood supports.....have amplified this paradigm. The regular folks, don't get much of anything to shift their views.......It's just anothe piece of this puzzle. Not denying your truths as well. Definitely, also plays a big part too what you are saying.
Are you starting the McCarthy story ? Better jump to it before someone beats you to the rights!
Hahahaha. Someone had already set it up before it even began!