Turan: Modern Television

A detailed Summary of Turan: Modern Television

Pumped-up Films With Nothing to Show

The article "Opening weekend becoming be-all, end-all for movies" by Kenneth Turan argues that modern movie producers are more interested in generating revenue than making quality content for movies. Large advertising campaigns, marketing research, and speculative producers are making movies more and more like one hit wonders of the 80s.

Specifically, Turan wants to bring light to the tactics of movie producers to the general public, in hopes of letting producers realize that the people does will not stand for movies with little or no content. In his article, good movies and bad movies are compared to stock market prices. Shrek and Momento were classified as stable movies that were consistent through several weeks during the summer. Movies such as Tomb Raider, The Fast and the Furious, Cats & Dogs, and Jurasssic Park III were viewed as dot com bombs that did well their first weekend, but then dropped in sales by as much as 40 - 60 percent by the end of the second weekend.

How do so many movies do so well during the first weekend and drop in sales by so much the second weekend? According to Turan, movie producers are to blame. His emphasis is on how producers are more interested in

Several notable actors, directors, and producers, having grown wealthy within the confines of the commerce of the film industry, decide to branch out with the altruistic motive to resurrect the "art" of film. Such notables include Robert Redford, Sally Field, Ron Howard, and Tom Hanks, all of whom have experienced both sides of the film industry, the commercial as well as the artistic. However, given the lack of regard demonstrated by the movie industry on the supply side of the economic equation, the viewing public must accept its share of responsibility when it expresses its demands. In any consumer-driven business, the deep ceded changes to any commodity such as movies require change in the demands from the consumers. More discrimination between the trash films feeding the popular culture and films possessing social and artistic value must be exercised; this requires the public to withdraw financial support of the movie studios producing inferior films. Consumer restraint is necessary; they must be patient, wait for the reviews, and make more informed decisions about where they wish to spend their entertainment dollars.

Just as the movie industry trades on the stock exchanges on a daily basis, as expressed by Turan, the major movie studios trade on the popular culture, a fast-paced, competitive culture demanding instant gratification and apparently expressing little demand for quality entertainment from the movie industry. The supply and demand economics of any commer

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1005
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Movies