Struggling to remember where I read about it but books and movies inspired the builders of the CIA more than I realized - James Bond and Our Man in Havana and stories like them can actually shape the future of their subjects if they’re big enough
Let's not forget the assertion that the CIA funded post-WWII American fine art as part of the cultural front of the Cold War. Reciprocal influence along the creative and political planes.
Nice one!!! Reminds me of Lewis Hyde's work on the anthropology of gift giving -- The Gift: On Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property .. that we are products of culture, and the artist is one who transfers the gifts of culture -- ( here, great movies -- though I could say the same for great music ) -- into a gift of new culture.
For Hyde the artistic gift is threefold:
The gift received from the culture (the great movie)
The gift of developing talent (the ability to make great movies)
The gift of art (the contribution of giving a great movie in return) ...
I love this idea, and how you blended the fixation with great people with their consummation with great culture. Thanks for the piece. love your work.
What a lovely metaphor of gifts, hadn't heard of it, just looked up the book. So many ways to slice it but this is my favorite kind of chicken or egg question.
I wish the Progress Studies movement would read this. I was approached by an org run by the movement’s founders to provide editorial support to their fellows. And when I dove into their curriculum, I found no sign of art or design anywhere. The implication is that the Progress Studies movement doesn’t believe art has played a role in human flourishing. Either that or they’re getting around to it eventually and saving the best till last 🤞
Thanks, Anu, for the thoughtful article. I'm not sure I can wholly agree. The main limitation of a movie produced for the big screen is its runtime. Movies reach a hard limit at maybe 3 1/2 hours of runtime and even as a master, you cannot express infinite ideas within this canvas. This is where the novel shines. Hundreds or even thousands of pages afford the author to shape a much wider, deepr and richer story arc. The author is free to muse about philosophy, follow characters through decades of their lives, together with all their acquaintances and so much more. While I agree that a movie has the ability to impart a much more visceral effect on the viewer, since it appeals to all senses, I still think the novel reigns supreme as the ultimate 'heavy' thing (to use your own nomenclature). But regardless, all heavy things are worth pursuing and there is are good reasons we cherish the masterworks of the trifecta of movies for cinema, novels and music albums so much and it is them that transcend time.
You write about a “legacy worth of the big screen”. Do you think the increasing shift of movie consumption to the small screen will reduce their impact on the consciousness of “great men”?
Struggling to remember where I read about it but books and movies inspired the builders of the CIA more than I realized - James Bond and Our Man in Havana and stories like them can actually shape the future of their subjects if they’re big enough
The ultimate top-down power play, if, like you said, they're big enough.
Let's not forget the assertion that the CIA funded post-WWII American fine art as part of the cultural front of the Cold War. Reciprocal influence along the creative and political planes.
Having your story told in film is the closest thing we have to immortality. It's a permanent legacy. Love this theory Anu!
🙏 I concur!
Nice one!!! Reminds me of Lewis Hyde's work on the anthropology of gift giving -- The Gift: On Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property .. that we are products of culture, and the artist is one who transfers the gifts of culture -- ( here, great movies -- though I could say the same for great music ) -- into a gift of new culture.
For Hyde the artistic gift is threefold:
The gift received from the culture (the great movie)
The gift of developing talent (the ability to make great movies)
The gift of art (the contribution of giving a great movie in return) ...
I love this idea, and how you blended the fixation with great people with their consummation with great culture. Thanks for the piece. love your work.
What a lovely metaphor of gifts, hadn't heard of it, just looked up the book. So many ways to slice it but this is my favorite kind of chicken or egg question.
It's a really excellent work of scholarship and creativity -- great stuff on Whitman in there too...
Added to the list..
Love the theory and it works both ways. Apparently, Vladimir Putin decided to join the KGB because he saw the spy movie The Shield and the Sword
I wish the Progress Studies movement would read this. I was approached by an org run by the movement’s founders to provide editorial support to their fellows. And when I dove into their curriculum, I found no sign of art or design anywhere. The implication is that the Progress Studies movement doesn’t believe art has played a role in human flourishing. Either that or they’re getting around to it eventually and saving the best till last 🤞
Thanks, Anu, for the thoughtful article. I'm not sure I can wholly agree. The main limitation of a movie produced for the big screen is its runtime. Movies reach a hard limit at maybe 3 1/2 hours of runtime and even as a master, you cannot express infinite ideas within this canvas. This is where the novel shines. Hundreds or even thousands of pages afford the author to shape a much wider, deepr and richer story arc. The author is free to muse about philosophy, follow characters through decades of their lives, together with all their acquaintances and so much more. While I agree that a movie has the ability to impart a much more visceral effect on the viewer, since it appeals to all senses, I still think the novel reigns supreme as the ultimate 'heavy' thing (to use your own nomenclature). But regardless, all heavy things are worth pursuing and there is are good reasons we cherish the masterworks of the trifecta of movies for cinema, novels and music albums so much and it is them that transcend time.
Amen. As I wrote somewhat recently:
"Good stories make prices go up and help things happen.
They get you the job or the girl.
Great stories create generational wealth and unlock leaping emergent effects.
They get you the promotion or the “yes” in response to proposal.
Bad stories destroy fortunes, friendships, future opportunity."
More here: https://www.whitenoise.email/p/storytelling
You write about a “legacy worth of the big screen”. Do you think the increasing shift of movie consumption to the small screen will reduce their impact on the consciousness of “great men”?