Viet Nguyen wrote: >corporate location. It would be difficult to see in what way the >_reception_ of ideological content would not be altered by the ways in >which films are produced, distributed, promoted, etc. For films which >expressly attack capitalism, this becomes an added problem. Let me clarify I'm big into ideological criticism, so don't misunderstand me as rejecting it, but I really can't see how "_reception_ of ideological content" is or could be altered "by the ways in which films are produced [or] distributed." Promoted, yes, since that will influence the context / background that viewers bring to their reception, but except insofar as specifics about a film's production and distribution become part of the general context / background people bring to a film (as with, say, Waterworld), again informing the viewer's perceptions, I don't see how they can influence reception. Perhaps you are thinking very broadly: that film viewers are all aware, albeit perhaps dimly at times or in some cases, that (most) films are produced by large corporations, as profit-making ventures. Fewer but still many viewers may also be aware that films constitute part of the US's second largest export industry (entertainment / culture) after the aerospace industry (and gaining fast on it) and now routinely earn, and need to earn, at least 50% of their profits on overseas sales. Etc. That information about production and distribution I can see affecting at least in limited ways any ideological reading of a film, particularly a film, eg, attacking capitalism, large corporations or US cultural hegemony. Is that what you had in mind? _____________________________________________________________________ Nick Chapman [log in to unmask] http://www.umich.edu/~nwc Program in American Culture, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor MI 48109-1027 USA There can, of course, be no apolitical scholarship. -- Chandra Talpade Mohanty _____________________________________________________________________ ---- To sign off SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]