CMNS 110 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Kinetoscope, Junk Food, Max Horkheimer
20 Jan 2017
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Experience emotions as legitimate but then will realize that maybe what is happening on screen in not realistic and not how it would happen in real life. Those who criticize films often argue that movies are nothing more than commodities whose sole purpose is to sell tickets and distract people from the truly important social, political, and cultural matters of the day. This approach to understanding culture is sometimes seen as the bread and circuses view of culture, a phrase borrowed from the roman satirical poet, This view means that is you give them enough bread to feed them, and just enough of something to entertain them, then they will not rebel. Hollywood makes blockbusters because they draw huge audiences, not because they are artistically appealing. Hollywood uses the same a-list actors in title roles because past experiences show that they are guaranteed box office successes (and because they are celebrities), not because they are better actors than lesser-known performers.
