On Thu, 4 Aug 1994, Edward R. O'Neill wrote: > Several posts have also pointed out specific economic differences > between, say, the studio era and the contemporary scene. Donna > Cunningham's point about the rapport between theme parks and films is > particularly apt, since the blockbusters in question resemble rides > more and more, rather than literary texts. > My earlier question about the pleasure in watching such massive > expenditures still stands. Is there not something in the massive > display of capital which is somehow fetishistically pleasurable? > EVEN when what is presented is destruction... > Edward R. O'Neill, UCLA > *Especially* the destruction. Aren't all so-called teen movies about destroying the parents' house, car, etc., which to a teenager is often a "massive display of capital?" Perhaps it's not so much fetishism as it is symbolism, but seems to give pleasure; that's often the most popular part of the movie (e.g., Ferris Buehler's Day Off).