As far as the “big meltdown” Spielberg describes, I think we’re seeing boomer wistfulness for the original big meltdown of the late ’60s that spawned the Hollywood Renaissance. As much fun as it might be to see a repeat of those utterly atypical industrial conditions, I can’t imagine a scenario where this could happen a second time (hence the wistfulness!) As Brenda and Chuck suggest, with the corporate ownership of studios, the increased value of international markets, the importance of franchise synergy, etc. it’s going to take a lot more than “three or four” mega-flops to overturn such a deeply entrenched production model. Remember, Disney’s stock dropped .46% for one day after the JOHN CARTER write-off.

At least Lucas is consistent — he has always positioned himself as iconoclastic and anti-establishment, even as a blockbuster mogul. He frequently spoke of the “great risk” of self-financing the STAR WARS prequels, for instance. His “struggle” to release RED TAILS fits this personal narrative, which includes Warners recutting THX-1138 and Fox very reluctantly supporting STAR WARS in the mid-seventies. Although when RED TAILS was first released, Lucas framed it more in terms of institutional racism (or at least, Hollywood’s devaluing of black audiences), which was more sanctimonious but certainly more accurate than the idea that the Hollywood establishment is out to get George.

Finally, the clueless comments on video games remind me of Roger Ebert’s (RIP) and smack of fogeyism. I bet Lucas hasn’t played a game since the REBEL ASSAULT cd-rom. Both Spielberg and Lucas slap their names on enough games, they should know better. But to fully understand the narrative complexity and emotional potency of a contemporary game, they’d need to make the typical gamer commitment of 10-30 hours, and I don’t see that happening.

Spielberg implies that this is in deep trouble, as might seem to be the case if even he struggled to get a Lincoln into theatres. But this is another area where general media discourse tends to be at the level of over-stated hype. One minute, we’re told, the ‘quality’ film is dead. Soon after, a few appears and there are general expressions of astonished disbelief at the existence of such things within the blockbuster-dominated studio economy. This happens every couple of years or so. Here, again, the reality tends to be rather less dramatic. A certain limited space seems to be available to such films (under certain conditions, often requiring the presence of someone with large economy clout, either filmmaker or star), for reasons that I’m seeking to explore further, a space that seems to persist despite what sometimes might appear to be its endangered status.