“The Takeaway” is the concluding chapter of Razzle Dazzle, a six-part series about fame as depicted in motion pictures. Chapter 1, “The Pitch,” laid out the premise of the series: that while there are many things Hollywood movies do poorly, one thing they do very well is show the effect of mass media on societies, on individual lives and on our collective perception of reality. Succeeding episodes looked at familiar social types—”The Hero,” “The Fraud,” “The Parasite” and “The Maverick”—and showed how people’s actual personalities are shaped, sometimes distorted, by the media’s need to fit everyone into predetermined narrative slots. “The Takeaway” traces all these forces back to their roots. The media is a business, and its business is telling stories: the more simplistic the better.
To see the video essay in its original context at Moving Image Source, click here.
This article was originally published on The House Next Door.
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