cultural imperialism

[Carl Remick]

>From: Chuck Grimes <cgrimes at rawbw.com>
>
>Most people have no idea what turn of the century NYC/London
>or steam ships were like. I don't either, although I am certain they
>were a lot more filthy, noisy, smoky, ugly, rundown, dangerous,
>crowded, and chaotic than anything a Hollywood production would dare
>to portray. Nevertheless, Titanic took us there (cleaned up simulacra)
>and made us believe it looked like what we saw. But The Last Emperor
>and Gandhi did a better job, as did Alien, Terminator, and
>Matrix. Judging from this summer's previews, most likely Harry Potter
>will also.
>
>So the universal appeal of Hollywood blockbusters is their ability to
>creat or craft another world.

Schlock on a grand scale is still schlock.  I can't think of any Hollywood 
blockbuster that was as convincing in suggesting it had captured the actual 
feel of a historical period as John Sayles' low-budget productions Matewan 
and Eight Men Out.

Carl

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