The Two-Tiered System of Allusions :: essays research papers

In Hollywood today, most films can be categorise according to the genre organization. There are natural process films, horror flicks, Westerns, comedies and the likes. On a broader scope, films are often separated into two categories Hollywood films, and nonparasitic or foreign blind house films. Yet, this give awaylook, albeit superficial, was how many viewed films. Celebrity-packed blockbusters filled with action and drama, with the use of seamless top-of-the-line digital editing and special effects were considered Hollywood films. Films where unconventional themes like existentialism or paranoia, often with excessive force play or sex or a combination of both, with obvious attempts to send word its audiences from the film were often attributed with the generic label of foreign or art house cinema.In recent times, such stereotyped categorizations of films are bonnie inappliccapable. Blockbusters with celebrity-studded casts may have plots in which characters explore the de pths of the human psyche, or cutting edge film techniques. Titles like American Beauty (1999), Fight Club (1999) and fling off Bill 2 (2004) come readily into mind. Hollywood perhaps could be gradually losing its stigma as a m superstary-hungry machine churning out predictable, unintelligent flicks for messiness consumption. While whether this image of Hollywood is justified system open to debate, earlier films in the 60s and 70s like Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and Taxi Driver (1976) already revealed signs of depth and daring film techniques. These films were successful as not only did they appeal to the mass audience, but they managed to communicate alternate messages to select groups who understood subtleties within them.This was achieved via a two-tiered system, in which films could be viewed and interpreted on different levels. On one level, audiences could lever the film at face-value the cohesive union the plot and playacting of the characters to bring about a story which entertains and sometimes, carried messages or morals, such as Lumets Dog Day Afternoon (1975), which had political implications. On other level, the other group of audience those who have knowledge of film archives or are learned in film culture were able to admire artistic craftsmanship of film techniques the director employed, or appreciate the subtleties and allusions embedded within the film. As Carroll (1981 56) explained, most movie-goers in the late mid-seventies often felt as if they were watching two films simultaneously the wide genre film, and the art film, coordinated with allusions in which the film-literate could pick out. He states that this system allowed Hollywood to remain faithful to the mass audience, yet popular among the arise film-literate generation.