Gary-Jenkins

I'll try to comment on Jenkins since he is the lucky name I drew on the Dr. Rog Postmodern Lottery game. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I could have drawn B-a-u-d-r-i-l-l-a-r-d. (Sorry, just working on my spelling for the midterm). I could have been lucky enough to draw my two favorite Germans, Colonel Klinck and Sgt. Schultz (Horkheimer and Adorno). Ok, Ok, enough kidding around. Time to get to this weeks issues.

Henry Jenkins, may hit it on the head in this weeks article (my head to be exact). Unfortunately, I am guilty of contributing to the immense wealth of George Lucas. Jenkins said that 'Lucas's decision to defer salary for the first Star Wars film in favor of maintaing ashare of ancillary profits has been widely cited as a turning point in the emergence of this new strategy of media production and distribution" (554). Lucas was the king at this mass marketing in my opinion. My son had every Star Wars action figure, spaceship, light saber, clothing, plates, mugs, etc that my money could buy. We did the same for Batman, Toy Story, etc. Guilty as charged, but I don't care!

The evolution of low cost technology has spawned a monster industry that continues to grow and expand. Amateur films, internet fan sites, etc follow the most popular films and television shows from Hollywood. Lucas tried to contain it by claiming copyright infringement, but in reality, I don't think he has enough lawyers to chase all of the amateur film producers in existence today. Obviously the internet and all of the tools available today has exploded amongst the ranks of amateur film producers.

Legal battles will never cease to exist. I read a story this week regarding the newest craze "You-Tube" and it's growing legal battle. The flamboyant Mark Cuban gave a speech (in a capitalistic attempt to discredit) about the royalty and copyright infringements happening on a daily basis on You-Tube. It seems that You-Tube is garnering over 30% market share on the internet, but a majority of the material posted violates copyright laws. Of course Mark's real motivation is the loss of revenue from his own internet venture (called HD-Net I believe).

A new film today, more specifically an action film, provides the opportunity maximize profits in venues way beyond the film itself. Lucas started it and i really don't see an end to it. Luckily my son is almost 16, and if he wants the action figure or light saber, he has to buy it himself.