Hollywood Heist

So apparently Hollywood just had a great year in 2007. I remember less than two years ago there was this hue-and-cry about how the Internet, file-swapping, Video games, TV, TiVo and everything they could possibly think of (someone even mentioned, gasp, books) that was destroying Hollywood movie industry. No one would watch films in theaters anymore. Articles were written in the papers (yes, those things that no one reads anymore, or so we say now) about how the industry is doing and how there was no hope. They had been left behind. There was no tomorrow (though Bond seemed to disagree) and it was all over.

So what explains the great 2007? The same thing that explains most of the economic and business discussion these days. It is all fickle and reactionary. Things are not things anymore -- they are precursors to chains of things. They are not complete within themselves -- they foretell stories. They predict doom. They tell us that an event is a trend or at least it predicts a trend.

To me it defies all logic but then emotions aren't about logic and unfortunately most of our public discussion has been taken over by emotion from reason. Hence the rise of the blog culture, the talk show culture, the youth culture and other such cultures that think from various organs all below the neck.

Of non-fiction and not quite

So once again there is much hullabaloo on a fake memoir (as if there is any other kind.) To me it simply exposes the naiveté of Western media, readers and editors. Editors, for trusting the authors, readers for trusting the editors and authors and for the media for trusting anything.

More than that is this perversely stupid idea that the terms 'fiction' and 'non-fiction' have kept their meaning while everything else has been morphing around them. For some, the terms seem to have, for some reason, circumvented the last few centuries and are still stuck in the age or reason (or darkness, take your pick.)

I for one have always been skeptical of non-fiction for it seemed too fictitious and fiction for being a bit too less so.

Sriram wrote about something similar the other day though on a slightly different topic but discussing, while on it, the fundamental issue that we need to be a little more awake. These days the terms Fiction/non-fiction aren't a basic classification of a human pursuit any more than sports/gambling are or news/entertainment are. It is all the same thing.

But everyone has the right to remain stupid. It is our fundamental right. Next only to suicide.

Someone please stop Best Buy...

So now a hard-disk box was found to contain dried beans! Of Course they are not going to refund the customer anytime soon. This makes such a pattern. Every few days someone buys something from Best Buy and realizes that the box contains something completely different (Tiles, older camera and now beans.)

There is no getting way. Why would anyone buy anything ever from them?