Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Spitting On Wired Webcomics In A Marginal Revolution

So someone spat on Scott Kurtz and it ended up being mentioned in a Wired News article on webcomics. I know everyone in working in webcomics is supposed to be really grateful for any attention given but, really, that was a pretty piss poor piece of journalism. Or no, I'm being harsh, it's just that it's the sort of article you'd espect to find in a local newspaper - one that's aimed at Mr. and Mrs. Joe Soap who've never even heard of webcomics. I'd have expected something a little more informative from Wired. Still, someone spat on Scott Kurtz.

I found this great little piece through Kottke. It's a just a short list of reasons Hollywood is in trouble and it doesn't once mention piracy. No. 2 in the list is the one that caught me. Television gets an awful slating, far more so than film and yet, it's where creativity and innovation are thriving - not in the cinemas. From The Simpsons to The Sopranos to The Wire to Six Feet Under, televison is creating the cultural landmarks of our time. How many truly innovative, potentially significant works have you seen in a cinema over the last ten years? I can think of very little I'd even consider memorable - certainly very few I wouldn't wait to see on DVD. Yet I know in years to come I will be looking back on Homer sneaking Lisa into a musuem to show her that life is all about taking risks or Tony taking time out to kill a rat while driving his daughter on a tour of colleges or the look on McNulty's face in the final episode of The Wire's first season when Rawls asks him what's the one detail he doesn't want. Yes, of course, there's alot of guff on telly but most mediums are dominated by crap. For the time being, televison, not cinema, is what gets me sitting up and attentive.