Sex Sells - But Whose Buying?
Over the weekend, the "much anticipated" sequal to Basic Instinct came out - appropriately titled "Basic Instict 2". As we all know, it bombed.
Basic Instinct scored big in 1991 or 1992 because a 33 year-old Sharon Stone, wearing a skirt with no panties, crossed her legs. This was a big deal back then, for some reason. Oddly enough, it has never been repeated.
Come to 2006. It bombs. Why?
Two talk-show hosts today presented the answer. Rush Limbaugh said that people do not want to see people old enough to be their mothers - or grandmothers - engage in inappropriate behavior. Michael Savage said it better (and how I would say it). He stated "who would run out to the movies to see a middle-aged woman [do this] when they can get x-rated movies off of their cell phones?"
This happened half-a-generation ago. And a lot can happen in 1/2 a generation. And a lot has.
First, Sharon Stone got older. She is now 48. People are not interested in older people engaging in obscene behavior. If this were Jessica Alba doing this, I can almost guarantee that there would be huge lines at the box office. But it is not, so there aren't. As to my proof naked older Americans is not the most attractive thing, check out this site (caution, not family friendly!!!):
www.zombietime.com/breasts_not_bombs/
This weekend, Hollywood should have learned a lesson. This weekend should teach it that it is no longer competitive in the sex portion of the film industry. Especially, due to the internet, of a sex-drenched American culture, what Hollywood is able to produce is now tame with a pervert's palette.
Why? It is cheap to make an x-rated movie. All you need is a video camera, two partners, and a way to upload it onto the internet. There is probably more, but I still suspect it is much cheaper than the $10 million budgets that are required for a major studio to release a film.
You see, after nearly one century of destroying America's social fabric, Hollywood is about to find out what it's like being on the receiving end of Gresham's Law (the cheap drives out the dear, as best defined).
Hollywood no longer has the entertainment monopoly it once had, even as recent as ten years ago. Hence, rather than produce movies scatterbrained, it will need to specialize in what it can be good at - whatever that is. Or, it will be taken over by Bollywood - and no, I'm not being lyrical here, for Bollywood is the name for the Indian film industry.
So what to specialize in? That is a good question. For one thing, the producers and writers will need to stop hanging out in bars in west Hollywood and actually live somewhere in middle America - say, a Chicago suburb? For they will keep generating things that are sexually themed - which, by-and-large, the American public will not flock to.
So what to produce? Adventure? This is one of my favorite genres. However, they are very expensive to make, and video games may now draw the audience for this aspect like porn draws away the perverts. Drama? Somewhat, but oftentimes, too boring (it will have to be of more of a lowbrow variety, and less highbrow). More old-fashioned humor? I say yes. More family fare? I say yes. There is some room, too, for historical themes, and maybe Hollywood could bring back some mystery movies. If done right, political themes may work. Horror might, too, if done tastefully, like in the Hitchcock genre (and not gore). And - gaaack! - maybe start writing musicals again? One of my favorite movies recently was American Treasure - pre-Eisner Disney fare, which would be nice to see again.
While trying to avoid being curmudgenly, I suggest that Hollywood look back to the movies of the Production Code era. This was the Golden Age of Hollywood. And a lot was done right. And people went to the movies. Now, while Hollywood will never lure the percentage back into the theaters (or video stores) that existed during the era of the Production Code, it will certainly halt the slide, and keep up our exports. Especially since entertainment is now an important American export.
Fifteen years ago, when Basic Instinct was first produced, Michael Medved produced a watershed book, Hollywood vs America. His thesis was that sex doesn't sell. That was not totally true then, but now, more true than ever. Hollywood will need to wake up and realize this, or it soon will be as glamorous as Hollywood - and by that, I mean the seedy, Hollywood neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles.
Basic Instinct scored big in 1991 or 1992 because a 33 year-old Sharon Stone, wearing a skirt with no panties, crossed her legs. This was a big deal back then, for some reason. Oddly enough, it has never been repeated.
Come to 2006. It bombs. Why?
Two talk-show hosts today presented the answer. Rush Limbaugh said that people do not want to see people old enough to be their mothers - or grandmothers - engage in inappropriate behavior. Michael Savage said it better (and how I would say it). He stated "who would run out to the movies to see a middle-aged woman [do this] when they can get x-rated movies off of their cell phones?"
This happened half-a-generation ago. And a lot can happen in 1/2 a generation. And a lot has.
First, Sharon Stone got older. She is now 48. People are not interested in older people engaging in obscene behavior. If this were Jessica Alba doing this, I can almost guarantee that there would be huge lines at the box office. But it is not, so there aren't. As to my proof naked older Americans is not the most attractive thing, check out this site (caution, not family friendly!!!):
www.zombietime.com/breasts_not_bombs/
This weekend, Hollywood should have learned a lesson. This weekend should teach it that it is no longer competitive in the sex portion of the film industry. Especially, due to the internet, of a sex-drenched American culture, what Hollywood is able to produce is now tame with a pervert's palette.
Why? It is cheap to make an x-rated movie. All you need is a video camera, two partners, and a way to upload it onto the internet. There is probably more, but I still suspect it is much cheaper than the $10 million budgets that are required for a major studio to release a film.
You see, after nearly one century of destroying America's social fabric, Hollywood is about to find out what it's like being on the receiving end of Gresham's Law (the cheap drives out the dear, as best defined).
Hollywood no longer has the entertainment monopoly it once had, even as recent as ten years ago. Hence, rather than produce movies scatterbrained, it will need to specialize in what it can be good at - whatever that is. Or, it will be taken over by Bollywood - and no, I'm not being lyrical here, for Bollywood is the name for the Indian film industry.
So what to specialize in? That is a good question. For one thing, the producers and writers will need to stop hanging out in bars in west Hollywood and actually live somewhere in middle America - say, a Chicago suburb? For they will keep generating things that are sexually themed - which, by-and-large, the American public will not flock to.
So what to produce? Adventure? This is one of my favorite genres. However, they are very expensive to make, and video games may now draw the audience for this aspect like porn draws away the perverts. Drama? Somewhat, but oftentimes, too boring (it will have to be of more of a lowbrow variety, and less highbrow). More old-fashioned humor? I say yes. More family fare? I say yes. There is some room, too, for historical themes, and maybe Hollywood could bring back some mystery movies. If done right, political themes may work. Horror might, too, if done tastefully, like in the Hitchcock genre (and not gore). And - gaaack! - maybe start writing musicals again? One of my favorite movies recently was American Treasure - pre-Eisner Disney fare, which would be nice to see again.
While trying to avoid being curmudgenly, I suggest that Hollywood look back to the movies of the Production Code era. This was the Golden Age of Hollywood. And a lot was done right. And people went to the movies. Now, while Hollywood will never lure the percentage back into the theaters (or video stores) that existed during the era of the Production Code, it will certainly halt the slide, and keep up our exports. Especially since entertainment is now an important American export.
Fifteen years ago, when Basic Instinct was first produced, Michael Medved produced a watershed book, Hollywood vs America. His thesis was that sex doesn't sell. That was not totally true then, but now, more true than ever. Hollywood will need to wake up and realize this, or it soon will be as glamorous as Hollywood - and by that, I mean the seedy, Hollywood neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles.
posted by EricMatthew at 1:00 AM
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