----------------------------Original message---------------------------- << In what way was Langlois the enemy of "academics and critics"?>> Note that the rest of my statement was that he worked closely with both. However, you must understand that Langlois was a mass of contradictions. Primarily, however, he was what we would call a "bohemian". His personal style in part, out of necessity and in part, out of conviction, was that of an outsider, a rebel, a congenital upsetter of the establishment. He loved true scholars, but hated the institutionalized "academics" who limited his catholic view of films by categorizing them, excluding them and establishing hierarchies and "theories" which kept people from the raw material - the films themselves. Of course he encouraged critics, but detested those who spoke authoratatively with little or no knowledge of the subject. In short, he valued individualists, but detested them when they gathered together as an institution. His sole goal was to preserve films and their artifacts and to make sure that they were constantly screened for as many people as possible. Gene Stavis, School of Visual Arts - NYC