Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by RGA (A) on June 11, 2006 at 04:05:39

I was thinking about this the other day and was wondering that many seem to place a great deal of a film's value on character development. Character study is often popular in the art community over plot though Aristotle would roll in his grave.

Anyway, Dramatic one hour television programs which run for possibly 13-26 episodes in a given year and often devote significant time to character development have the backing to say quite a bit more than most any 2 hour film.

I was thinking for example of television programs like Start Trek TNG or Deep Space 9 and how watching the movies that come tend to be very stripped down microcosms of what Roddenberry created. In other words the films tended to be Star Trek light -- usually a lot of action and ships getting blown up which was not really the point. The story arc of Deep Space nine carried over an entire season or two with everything from slavery, religion, prejudice, terrorism, greed etc. These shows were largely alegories of our time and other than the "otherness" of being in space with aliens with different heads are probably the only hour longs that had something relevant to say. Not that other hour long programs were not good but...

I wonder why we are paying such huge money to go to the movies when TV has, in theory anyway, a far better chance to be far better than a 2 hour film. Even the special effects of some of the TV programs are getting very good. The 2006 series of Doctor Who I saw last night was set in space -- had the Doctor fighting the devil with effects that were mighty impressive -- not quite at the level of the best Special effects films perhaps but they were impressive. From last year to this that show has improved in the effects department dramatically.

So with the effects taken care of they have 13 hours in a season to have adventures and develop the character, satire etc. I know lots of people into a show called Lost and the other is the mob show neither of which I have seen.

Consider that most movies coming out here in Korea: I walked by and they are Mission Impossible III, Poseidon, Omen. TV is free and better than the first two dregs. I almost went to see the Omen -- but thought -- man they don;t even have the decency to TRY and be original.