They shoot film critics, don't they?

I was reading the latest issue of Vanity Fair and in it was an article about film critics and their deteriorating status in the arts and media community. Many high profile critics have found themselves unemployed, such as Andrew Sarris (I have quoted this gent in a few essays and was shocked - though if I recall I was disagreeing with him. Ahem.). The article discussed a debate these firings had raised regarding whether or not film critics are even necessary.

It's an interesting point if you think film criticism is merely a matter of deciding if a film sucks or if it's totally flipping sweet. Some people for a long time have probably resented the idea of someone telling them what movie to see. Others need to be told. I must say I have stopped listening to my beloved David Stratton regarding which new release to see - but I would go to one of his classes in a heart beat.

And it did make me wonder when I've spent most of my time recently watching films that you may argue are hardly the stuff of serious or high art; films like Sex and the City 2 and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Or even my beloved Step-Brothers or The Hangover...but these films are not without interest to the earnest film critic. Ahem. I would like to say that I am neither Team Edward nor Team Jacob. I am staunchly Team Bella's Dad, for the record.

I wonder if this same argument is turned upon art criticism or theatre criticism. Is it the same hierarchy of art forms all over again? Literature with a capital L as opposed to literature? Does a Global Financial Crisis mean that we suddenly start deciding what is necessary and what is a luxury and we've decided that since film and television isn't really art the practice of analysing it is also now redudant? I protest loudly, because the last time there was a similar economic depression, the movies did a roaring trade. And if you want a perfect summation of why something considered 'escapist' is not a bad thing but a wonderful thing, please read the Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.

What we're talking about is taking art and attempting to find meaning within it, or to translate the images in terms of what they are expressing about our culture and society. Sure, I'm trying to justify one of my chosen careers (well, a future career necessitates that the career still exists in the future). If we think there is no value in film criticism, we may as well pack up half of the humanities department of every university in the world. Why don't we all do a Commerce degree and talk about the economy for the rest of our lives? Dear lord, take me now.

My field's endangered existence got me thinking about my goals and what I would like to do in this area both right now and in the future.

So here it is:

Some sort of superhero exploration - I find Watchmen such a fascinating superhero film and I have an article about it bookmarked and ready to read. But I found myself thinking that superheroes tend be quite an American phenomenon. Or rather, the Hollywood superhero expresses something quintessentially American. It would be ridiculously easy to say it's a fantasy designed to perpetrate the myth of America's control over the world. And I think it would be wrong. I think there's something more to be gleaned from the likes of Iron Man and their context in contemporary society and contemporary warfare. So I'm a gonna research this and try to write something meaningful.

The masculinity thing - I wrote a post about all this stuff I was researching and subsequently lost it all and being too lazy to write it over again, I did some bullet points and included pictures of boys holding hands. Would like to explore that and make it more intelligent.

Blog combining fashion and film - Russh magazine did a fashion spread based on Badlands and I wrote a post a while back about how my style influences are usually movie characters, not models or trends. I want to combine that and style looks from films, hopefully using clothing that is both affordable and available now. My friend was thinking of almost exactly the same thing so we need to put our heads together and write that shit!

Film and television scripts - I'm working on several ideas for television series with friends and a feature film that's a cross between gossip girl and sartre's nausea. Read more about one of the television projects, The Innocents, over at Hell Is Other People.

PhD - yes, for a while now the plan has been to do the old doctor of philosophy business. I'm interested solely in the relationship between the screen and the viewer and how that relationship has developed. Completely afraid that it has all been done and I am completely irrelevant. And a lecturer suggested in a seminar (not directly at me but I still felt the sting) that it was shortsighted. Fuck you! Says I. Maybe. Not really.

Teach in Uni - so I probably need to achieve the goal above first before I do this but I would dearly love to teach film studies at university. I've already designed two courses in my head, one of course on spectatorship (I don't think it's been taught as a subject in its own right very much) and one on music in film that is more about music as mood, genre convention and so on. I also would love to teach a course about horror - of course that's been done but I'd love the chance to make it my own.

So there you haves it! I think I'll achieve at least one of the things on this sucker before I die. I am an optimist, after all!

A word to all those naysayers re: film critcs: Cahiers Du Cinema (well, that's three, but you get my drift). And Wikipedia tells me Martin Scorsese is a film historian. So, go die.