On Dixon: Twenty-five Reasons Why It's All Over

Wheeler Winston Dixon (say that ten times fast) writes about the "death of cinema." It's understandable that when the theater goes from old school film strips with a scratchy sound and appearance to high definition, special effects induced ADD plots, that one would be critical of our society and where this field is heading. However, it in any way does not mean that the appreciation of that old school film is dead and gone forever.

He makes several good points regarding the cost of production nowadays and the constant remaking that takes barely any thought and is simply a money-maker... He talks about how everything is geared toward the teenage mind and black and white won't satisfy everyone so movies have to be in color... And he of course discusses the increasing use of special effects and boring, simple story lines. And he repeats these problems several times in his essay. Though these are solid arguments, he fails  to acknowledge that there are people who do not enjoy these types of movies, and there are video and film screenings that are happening all the time. There are websites open to the public for those scratchy sound films that Dixon seems to think are dead. The movies that are the most advertised, most merchandised, and most expensive are the ones that are in the popular, money-making theaters such as Century, and I agree that those are sad places for film. But everything is about making money, that's what any big corporation cares about, and that's our society today. And that attitude affecting much, much more than cinema. It's nice that there are people like Dixon who argue against this fact and attempt to fight it. But, again, it does not mean that cinema is DEAD.

One more thing... he mentions that theaters now are no longer the same "social gathering places" that they were in the first half of the 1900s... "With the rise of television, families began to stay home. Whatever sense of community that had existed within the darkened space of the cinema auditorium was abolished." This is mainly because of the incredibly increased population since the 1900s. Let's be honest, there's not enough room for all of these people to gather socially in a dark theater. It sounds like it was a nice time and I unfortunately cannot relate because I was born wayyyy later, but there are just too many people now. I always find that it's nicer to be able to have the bathroom breaks and rewind and pause in the comfort of my home, not to mention the obnoxious people that go to theaters. Not that I don't enjoy going to the theaters (but I wouldn't if I had my own enormous screen and comfy theater chairs in my house), so when I go, I try to wait until after the movie has been out for a few weeks.