>In reply to the suggestion of Brian Taves regarding the study of the most >popular films of an era or genre I must strongly disagree. I don't think he was suggesting a curriculum based on such a notion, just a class and I agree and suggest that this would be a incredibly insightful class. To ignore this segment of the film population is to encourage ignorance about what people go to see. I think a segment of a class such as this would have to explore marketing though because for larger films, this is an equal partner in the film's making. (To break even, big release movies need to make back 3 times what the budget of the film is because the other two thirds is for prints and advertising). While studying at UCLA, I took a popular literature class where we studied Stephen King, Zane Grey, Dianelle Steele, etc. After studying endless playwrights like Shakespeare and Chekov and many novelists like whose names I have forgotten how to spell, this class was truly fascinating. Exploring popular themes, popular attitudes, discovering what the mass of people chose to read and why, what this meant about leisure time, all these questions create a better understanding of people's relationship to entertainment and attitudes towards "art". These sorts of classes may not idealize what we love, but they provide valuable exploration which I would hope is the goal of a good cinema program. Sincerely, Mark Allen Xantherboy ****XANTHER ****http://www.directnet.com/~xanther/ ---- To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]