Re: RARA-AVIS: Movie Industry Wimps?

Mark Sullivan (ANONYMEINC@webtv.net)
Thu, 30 Jul 1998 09:14:24 -0400 (EDT) The other thing I underestimated in my accusation of movie industry
wimping out is that the movie business was a business and there were all
sorts of business reasons not to adopt an antagonistic role with
government. For instance, I don't quite remember the timing on this,
but the movie industry had to deal with the government threatening its
vertical integration where the movie studios owned the theatres and the
means of distribution.

So I was being more than a bit idealistic wishing that down those mean
streets a man had gone who put artistic rights before business concerns.
Of course blacklisting and Production Codes and ratings are all business
decisions, not artistic ones. And in a business as expensive as the
motion picture industry, business concerns are usually going to win.

Even in the relatively less expensive publishing business, we see book
publishers turning their backs on hardboiled, not because it isn't
profitable, but because it isn't profitable enough.

Mark

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