Not Quite Hollywood
There’s an argument I’ve seen made from time-to-time that there should be no government funding for the arts, particularly for such things as movies, which, according to the argument, would make plenty of money if there were any good. There’s something to be said for this, I suppose, but it’s usually only raised by the same kinds of people who argue there shouldn’t be any government assistance to anything or anybody, including, often enough, for health care or housing. These same people can be found also arguing that stop-light cameras and speed traps are an income-generating rort, an intrusion on the public simply to build up the state’s coffers for spending on things they don’t agree with. (Let’s leave aside the fact that if you’re running through red lights or speeding you are also endangering others and probably deserve to lose your license a lot sooner.)

So when actress and filmmaker Rachel Ward bemoans the inevitable fate of her movie in the public press, I’m inclined to let it through as more than just whinging. The fact is, one of the best Australian movies I’ve seen, Somersault, got great reviews – until it didn’t make any money. At that point, everybody dog-piled on to say how bad it was, and it started turning up as the argument against the independent Australian film industry.

Does anybody successfully compete against Hollywood? O.k., I guess Bollywood manages, but that seems a rather specialized market, like romance novels are, with a built-in audience share capable of competing with anyone. Similarly, most foreign films cater to their indigenous audience by reason of using the local language. Chinese films generally aren’t going to do as well outside China as they do inside, Crouching Tiger notwithstanding.

No, this is cultural-cringe stuff, I reckon. Australian movies don’t have to be Mad Max to garner audience share sufficient to sustain the industry as a whole, and it’s tough to get any sort of blockbuster out against Hollywood budgeting capacity, whether for production or marketing. Please also note that Hollywood finds it highly advantageous to spend that budget here in Australia, where they can access state-of-the-art equipment and highly accomplished professionals while taking advantage of the exchange and wage rates. Australia is unlikely to be able to compete against the Matrix or any of the other multi-multi-million dollar projects coming out of U.S. studios, but we can produce engaging, interesting, even entertaining features that are expressive of ourselves instead of imitations of some other culture. If we accept the worth of our culture in the first place.