In the 1970s, Hollywood didn't seem to know where its audience went, as ticket-sales increasingly flat-lined until two young tyro directors named Spielberg and Lucas had a blinding flash of the obvious: American moviegoers want to be entertained, not beaten over the head with obviously political agitprop.
In the 1990s, Hollywood longed for a strong 50-something president who would kick terrorist butt and could even fly a plane when needed. Having witnessed such a man actually get elected, they very quickly went insane and in their seven year temper tantrum, slowly forgot the key to success given to them by the two young directors in the late 1970s.
Since Hollwyood's lacks the collective humility to look within themselves when the bucks don't gush as fast as they'd like Hollywood's film makers actually lapsed into quite a novel series of excuses in the post 9/11-"naughts":
And the newest excuse? Halo 3.
Many film executives are convinced audiences stayed home to play Microsoft’s carpal-tunnel classic, “Halo 3,” which went on sale on Sept. 26. The game sold an astonishing $170 million worth of copies on its first day, before going on to sell well over $300 million…In contrast, Hollywood's memory lapse is eternal.For Microsoft, it’s no wonder video games, and in particular “Halo 3,” are competing with blockbusters for opening weekends. “We marketed it like a film,” said Josh Goldberg, a “Halo 3″ product manager at Microsoft, adding, “and now, we’re just as big or bigger than film.” He said “Halo 3″ was marketed as an event film in terms of its partnerships, with beverage, automotive, fast feeders and mobile-phone companies all joining up.
“The audience on this game is the 18-to-34 demographic, similar to what you’d see in cinemas,” said Mike Hickey, an analyst at Janco Partners, a Denver research firm, adding that “this could last for several weeks.”
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Ed Driscoll says the L.A. Times spiked a column suggesting that the paper join up with older artists to give away free music. And he's got the goods.--Howard Kurtz, the Washington Post, July 26, 2007
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