History proves that cultures are judged on their traditions.
Remember the finer points of Aztecan rural agrarian norms?
Didn’t think so.
But the whole human-sacrifice-to-appease-the-god-of-the-sun thing–that’s memorable.
If any cultural staple defines American culture, it is film. More than jazz, more than blues, movies are the greatest contributors to American cultural hegemony and influence across the globe.
For instance, after “The Matrix” hit the screen, even the fruit vendors in New Delhi were bending backward to imitate Keanu Reeves’ bullet-time-maneuver-cum-parody-clich.
True, American moral/political clout may have gone bankrupt years ago, but cultures worldwide still look to America as bastion of the 35mm reel. It’s our saving grace as a culture, and its effect on peoples everywhere should not be underestimated.
What better way to win hearts and minds than the alabaster smiles of Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom staving off sudden doom and death?
Can anyone say no to the adorable foibles of Shrek?
Representative of the same United States that has made movies into an art form, film creates a union among its disparate viewers. Cultural and political ideologies subside for the span of roughly ninety minutes and red/blue, east/west and with us/against us mentalities dissipate when the lights dim.
The summer movie season, in particular, exhibits the biggest and most grandiose aspects of American cinema–arguably what makes it most appealing and easily accessible.
Gone are the subtleties of Truffaut and Bergman, in are the explosions, sex appeal and braggadocio of big-time money plastered on the screen–the budget for “Spider-Man 3” alone could have fed an entire Sudanese village for a year, which says nothing of its advertising costs.
No, summer movies aren’t typically Oscar-worthy. They carry none of the human experience and delicate undertones of a finely polished “film.” They are “movies”–“flicks” even–and there is a difference between that and a “film.”
Summer movies aren’t about groundbreaking narratives; they’re about groundbreaking profits for large studios and their executives. But the impact of these movies–both in expanding the influence of American culture worldwide and in financing small, independent studio fare–cannot be underestimated.
As a whole, the summer movie season is one of the greatest cultural exemplars of Americana. Like apple pie and hardboiled clichs, the summer movie is one of the hallmarks of American society–something we as Americans have to look forward to.
So despite the irony inherent in celebrating the summer equinox inside a darkened auditorium, go to the theater. Yes, ride a bike, exercise, what have you, but don’t avoid the cinema.
Movies will likely be remembered as our cultural moniker, which is a great deal better than the ritual sacrifice history remembers the Aztecs for.
Viva la cinema!
