PATRICIA VOIGT
FINE ARTS COLUMNIST
Though I have gotten to the point of preferring books, I do love a good movie. Marvel, “The Hunger Games,” “Harry Potter,” classic disney and tons of random other movies. I love them all! Though I personally have never been on the set of a film, I have family in the industry and have spoken with many about the filming process. One thing is for sure: it is an extremely complex system, making a movie. However, though it is obviously an art, can it be considered a fine art?
It is rather shocking how many people I have come across who do not even consider movies to be art at all. I suppose when you have all of these ridiculous films that are just out there to be shocking, violent, gory and vulgar, I can see why many critics on the snobby side of art would be annoyed.
Though I would argue that does not keep it from being art, but rather it is just bad art. That exists in all forms of art. There are plenty of bad plays, poems, literature, dances, songs, paintings and sculptures. However, that does not negate the form’s ability to be art. Surely each one of us can think of at least five movies that have just thoroughly moved us. Whether it was the acting, the score, the special effects or a combination of the elements, movies have a lot of power.
Much of this power, I think, derives from the fact that movies encompass so many different elements of art. This gives it an advantage that I think some find to be what keeps it from being a “fine art.” But most of the fine arts, or classical arts, can use each other. Plays and lyrical music use poetry, dance uses music, paintings can use the movement of dance and movies use a little of everything! Is this advantage unfair? No. It’s just more contemporary and based on the definition of a fine art: it still fits.
The definition merely implies that something aesthetic is presented with moving images, beauty and a moving message. Okay, so pretty much every decent movie, ever. Again, there are a ton of bad movies out there, but you don’t throw out the baby with the bath water, right? Movies have so much potential; just because movies like “God’s Not Dead” and “The Room” exist does not mean all movies stink. They are not always just for entertainment, and I would argue they are a fine art, just one with much more technology involved.