The Last Movie I Saw

The key aesthetic differences between indie films and their Hollywood counterparts almost always be expressed in terms of size. Indie films are smaller, obviously in budget and promotion, but often thematically as well, resisting the so-called high concept construction of the blockbusters. The irony of this distinction is that indie films often exhibit considerably more emotional and intellectual depth, which is consistent with their smaller scale because there are no high tech distractions or pandering to star power to draw attention away from what the filmmaker wants to say. I'm not suggesting anything radical here, but it's interesting to think about how that trade-off results in really good movies going largely unseen, and the consequences of that on the culture in general. In a perfect world, Lisa Cholodenko's The Kids Are All Right could make an intelligent contribution to the ongoing cultural debates about family and marriage mostly dominated by the ignorant and self-serving loudmouths who appear on cable TV news shows. Instead, it's measured tone and willingness to engage more than one side of those issues (while clearly representing a specific position), not to mention its status as an indie release, leaves it largely on the sidelines while the latest Jennifer Aniston vehicle gets all the hype along with the re-release (really? already?!?) of the pretentious, simplistic nonsense of Avatar. I certainly don't believe that movies can change the world, but there's no reason why they can't offer something constructive to our understanding of the world, and do so for more than the handful of people who are likely to make an effort to seek out those films that require more involvement than checking your brain at the theater door for a couple hours. The Kids Are All Right is no classic, but it is thoughtful, somewhat complex, and it allows several excellent actors to build memorable characters from within a realistic premise. Why can't we have more of that?