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| Voices Of A Distant Star | | (And The Democratization of Popular Culture) | | 01 November 2008 | | Makoto Shinkai's anime 'short', Voices of a Distant Star, is not the greatest movie ever made - the animation is jerky, with a shocking amount of re-use for such a short film; the battle scenes are confusing and derivative; and following the plot is a bit like reading one of those Choose Your Own Adventure books IN CHAPTER ORDER! However, it is also possibly the most culturally significant movie of the 21st Century.
The most important point to make about Voices Of A Distant Star is that it is, despite its technical limitations, a beautiful film. The artwork is breathtaking, painting images upon your eyes that you'll be able to recall in perfect detail days and weeks later. The world it creates, while fantastic (in the literal sense) is deeply emotionally engaging; and we really felt every inch of the distance between the protagonists, who continue a love affair by text message across the depths of space and time.
But that isn't why it is such an important film.
Its significance lies in how it was made - essentially, by one man, sitting alone in his apartment, with a computer little more powerful than the one you are using to read this web site. This, we believe, makes it an early example of a phenomenon we expect to see much more of as the 21 Century progresses - the democratization of popular culture.
For the past 100 or so years, popular culture has been dominated by big corporations, who were the only ones who could afford the costs of producing and distributing the highest quality works of art, from Judy Garland's Wizard of Oz to Ozzy Osbourne's Blizzard of Oz.
For some years now, however, these costs have been falling, starting with music, where a $500 Mac Mini offers now more recording power than the Beatles ever dreamed of when they were making Sergeant Pepper.
And now it is happening to movies too - as Shinkai has proved.
Of course, you still need artistry - the creativity, talent and ambition to create great works; but the one thing you increasingly don't need is the financial backing of a huge corporation - art belongs to all humanity... and it is coming home. |
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The point is we are all connected... through love... through loneliness... through one lamentable lapse in judgment!
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