Reading Response: Profit margins=pointless films

In the excerpt from the Oxford Guide called "Concepts of Culture: cultural policies and the cultural industries," Nicholas Garnham discusses the effects on mass consumerism in our profit driven capitalism on the cultural industries, which include the film industry. Previous class readings and discussions showed that the "auteur theory" is not truly applicable to films; films are not works that purely display the meaning intended by a single creator, but a product for profit created through the work of hundreds of people under the direction of the studio. Despite this handicap though, the film is still a legitimate medium that can convey important insights into human nature and social phenomenon, just like any book, painting, or other work of art.
Unfortunately, according to Garnham's essay, the studios have come to the point where they must aim at audience maximization when producing, drawing as many people to the film as possible to maximize profit before the film hits the underground market. To do this, the industry often relies on formulaic plots, such as this example from comedy website Cracked.com:

Ultra-Masculine Action Star Gets Stuck With Small Child or Children

When Hollywood discovers a plot line that draws large crowds, they then produce several other releases with an identical idea because they are sure it will work. The result is a string of unoriginal movies with no intellectual value, defeating the purpose of film as an art.

The thing that Hollywood has not fully grasped, is that audiences will in fact go see a movie with a controversial, thought driven plot, as long as it still has an effective amount of special effects, action, and sex thrown in to appease the less cultured class of movie viewers. For example, the recent film, Watchmen, directed by Zach Snyder, made over $50 million profit. It not only contained a plethora of action, fighting, sex scenes, and effects, but was also driven by a highly philosophical plot, where a utilitarian genius creates world peace by nuking all the world's major cities. After much infighting and thought provoking discussion, the heroes decide that the controversial action is in fact justified, and kill the remaining dissenter to keep the peace, as seen in this clip:

This is proof that film makers can afford to take risks with their plots and still be successful economically. Once Hollywood adopts this viewpoint across the board, film will regain its place as a respectable, meaningful art form.