The Commercial Versus Creative In Movies & Television

When discussing the relationship that exists between the commercial and the creative, it seems as if the creative has been put to rest in order to gain a larger profit. This seems to have been the focus of our class, thus far. This is why Roberts' article was a breath of fresh air -- perhaps monetary gains are not the primary goal that the media industry strives for! Roberts specifically focuses on the constructive aspects that may result from this interplay within the media industry, and shows us the ways in which TV programming does, in fact, attempt to keep up with audience culture and give the people what they want.

This, however, cannot necessarily be said for the movie industry as is demonstrated in the article by Harris. Sure, we love to go see sequels to the movies we love (Transformers 3 and the final Harry Potter were the only movies I cared to pay for this summer, as a matter of fact), but is the fact that all we receive are sequels and remakes of comic books slightly insulting to American society's level of intelligence? Within the movie industry, it seems clear that the commercial outweighs the creative in terms of actual content; however, creativity has emerged in a different sense. When Harris discusses Top Gun and its creators, notably Jerry Bruckheimer, he mentions that these movies appeal to "the transient heigh of sensation." Perhaps the commercial has allowed production companies greater creativity in visual and digital effects, leaving us relatively complacent with the lack of intellectual stimulation that we receive from the movie industry.

Nonetheless, Roberts makes a valid point in that the audience opinion is what drives media industries. Without catching our interest, what will be left of the industry? It is their responsibility as entertainment providers to ensure that we are happy with our programming. What happens, though, if soon enough all we care about is digitized content, stripped of true drama? Then will the television industry switch over to the style  of its cousin of Blockbuster films?