Mariele G.
Manhattan and Monopoly: Creativity, copyright, and culture
March 31, 2014“The artist’s job is not to succumb to despair, but to find an antidote for the emptiness of existence.” For those who live by such words, today’s North American cultural industries have infinitely failed us. The corporate monopoly production of culture that comes out of Hollywood reflects capitalist values that individualize life’s miseries rather than provide a remedy. But thanks to the sharing capacities of the Internet, not all North American art production has succumbed to this despair. In the last 10 years, the economy has become increasingly dependant on the generation of knowledge through creativity and innovation, otherwise known…
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Manhattan and Monopoly: Four ways Nollywood is more successful than Hollywood
March 17, 2014“If my films make one more person miserable, I know I’ve done my job.” In the existential eyes of Woody Allen, the world is a miserable place. As a great filmmaker, his job is to communicate the harsh realities of…
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Manhattan and Monopoly: Sleeper, Stuart Hall, and the downtown eastside
March 3, 2014“I believe there is something out there watching us. Unfortunately, it’s the government.” One of Woody Allen’s silliest films, Sleeper (1973), delivers 87 minutes of comical genius through slapstick humour and politicized romance. Sleeper is set 200 years in the…
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Manhattan and Monopoly: the American press, as told by Muntadas and Bananas
February 17, 2014Why are people leaving the Vancouver Art Gallery pondering the same things as those who recently watched Woody Allen’s 1971 film, Bananas? Probably because the stinging satire of the American press in Bananas takes the same critical approach to the…
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The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
November 4, 2013If the old adage is correct and prostitution is the world’s first profession, childcare must be the second. Long before the days of professional childcare, parents have struggled to balance raising their children and supporting their families. In this day…
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