Hollywood's Basic Instinct, Whine
Veering away from economics, policy and markets for a moment...I gotta take on these doofuses:
Paul Verhoeven, director of the first "Basic Instinct" (which scored $353 million worldwide) as well as the widely ridiculed "Showgirls" (now regarded as something of a camp classic), attributes the genre's demise to the current American political climate.
"Anything that is erotic has been banned in the United States," said the Dutch native. "Look at the people at the top (of the government). We are living under a government that is constantly hammering out Christian values. And Christianity and sex have never been good friends."
Scribe Nicholas Meyer, who was an uncredited writer on 1987's seminal sex-fueled cautionary tale "Fatal Attraction," agrees, noting that the genre's downfall coincides with the ascent of the conservative political movement.
"We're in a big puritanical mode," he said. "Now, it's like the McCarthy era, except it's not 'Are you a communist?' but 'Have you ever put sex in a movie?'"
First, they need to get off their high horse. Movies just ain't that important. Also, there is more competition for Americans' leisure time and dollars. And maybe, just maybe Basic Instinct was a one-hit wonder, and recycling it with its sultry star 14 years older and precisely that less sultry (despite the miracles worked by the southern California cosmetic surgery industry) was not appealling to audiences. And maybe, just maybe in 1992 there were alot of us who were stupid and voyeuristic enough to pay $6 to see Sharon Stone's bush for .4 of a nanosecond. Maybe young men have gotten smarter and wouldn't pay $10 to see a 48 year old's bush for anything less than 2.5 full seconds or something. Finally, maybe Basic Instinct's appeal wasn't even sex, maybe it was the thriller aspect and the fact that this genre was relatively fresh at the time, and now it is stale.
I am sick of Hollywood doofuses blaming conservativism for their shitty numbers. Body Heat and 9 1/2 Weeks did OK even though Reagan was in office, because they were not crappy movies. Give us a fresh exciting plot, good acting, and sub-30 year old boobs, and we will come.
Paul Verhoeven, director of the first "Basic Instinct" (which scored $353 million worldwide) as well as the widely ridiculed "Showgirls" (now regarded as something of a camp classic), attributes the genre's demise to the current American political climate.
"Anything that is erotic has been banned in the United States," said the Dutch native. "Look at the people at the top (of the government). We are living under a government that is constantly hammering out Christian values. And Christianity and sex have never been good friends."
Scribe Nicholas Meyer, who was an uncredited writer on 1987's seminal sex-fueled cautionary tale "Fatal Attraction," agrees, noting that the genre's downfall coincides with the ascent of the conservative political movement.
"We're in a big puritanical mode," he said. "Now, it's like the McCarthy era, except it's not 'Are you a communist?' but 'Have you ever put sex in a movie?'"
First, they need to get off their high horse. Movies just ain't that important. Also, there is more competition for Americans' leisure time and dollars. And maybe, just maybe Basic Instinct was a one-hit wonder, and recycling it with its sultry star 14 years older and precisely that less sultry (despite the miracles worked by the southern California cosmetic surgery industry) was not appealling to audiences. And maybe, just maybe in 1992 there were alot of us who were stupid and voyeuristic enough to pay $6 to see Sharon Stone's bush for .4 of a nanosecond. Maybe young men have gotten smarter and wouldn't pay $10 to see a 48 year old's bush for anything less than 2.5 full seconds or something. Finally, maybe Basic Instinct's appeal wasn't even sex, maybe it was the thriller aspect and the fact that this genre was relatively fresh at the time, and now it is stale.
I am sick of Hollywood doofuses blaming conservativism for their shitty numbers. Body Heat and 9 1/2 Weeks did OK even though Reagan was in office, because they were not crappy movies. Give us a fresh exciting plot, good acting, and sub-30 year old boobs, and we will come.
posted by Donny Baseball at 12:09 PM
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