----------------------------Original message----------------------------
 
Geez, Mr. Freelancr, let's get a grip.  Some people make movies, other
people watch and analyze them.  Some can do both.
 
>Does absolutley EVERYTHING that one does have to have some impact on our
world, and does
>that impact HAVE to be resolved by some bookworm?
 
Well, I would have to vote that everything that one does *must* have some
impact on our world, unless the do-er  lives in a vacuum.
 
You accuse these "bookworks" of being snobs, but I've never seen any
evidence that the cinema studies-type folks contributing to this list (or
elsewhere) feel that their determination about a film's meaning is any
better than yours, each others, or anyone elses.
 
>Do you REALLY have that low an image of the film-going public in general?
 
I've also never seen any evidence that people who analyze or discuss film in
greater detail than the general film-going public have any contempt for that
general public.  It seems to me that *you* more than any of the theorists
here give less credit to that public by assuming that they go to the movies
and form only two opinions: whether or not it looks great and whether or not
it tells the story well.  The people who analyze and study films for the
most part are educators, and always seem patient with those of us who like
to contribute to these discussions without having read the Bazin and
Kracauer and (god help me-- she knows I tried!! - the Metz)  I skipped a lot
of my reading in film school-- I was too busy shooting-- and now that I'm
older and wiser, I'm happy to have a chance to listen to all these
professors et al. chew the fat.
 
By closing your recent post with the terrible challenge to prove what they
know about film by making one is worse than snobbishness on your part: it's
mean.  You know how much time and work goes into making films-- what makes
you think any less time and effort goes into watching and analyzing them.
 Yes, it's less physical, but probably more mentally challenging, especially
if a filmmaker doesn't care about the meaning of his work but simply whether
or not a shot "looks cool."
 
 
Melissa Tonelli
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(don't read enough to have a cool quote--not creative enough to invent one,
although I enjoyed your take on why it takes so much time to take takes)