Some weeks ago we were discussing the film media. We learnt about the first film industry which is Hollywood. For a while there weren’t any sound in films but that changed with the Jazz singer, a film created in 1927 which used a synchronized talkie.
Jazz singer film (1927)
We then started to learn about the Hollywood blacklist which restricted artistic freedom and also what can be put out to the public. This made me think about something similar happening with video-games and the ESRB. I realized that art is something that should not be censored but also at the same time I know that if it were to be monetized a law of some kind must be implemented. In addition to this point, i noticed that anytime art is being monetized whether it be music, films, games etc. especially if it is not a personal company creating them there is always an agenda to be upheld, meaning that if an artist would like to make a personal work, the company most of the time wouldn’t allow it because it will more than likely not sell as much as the artist mainstream work.
This is when i learnt of commodification, a practice which turns services, ideas and work into objects of trade. Personally, i hate the idea of using the work that an artist puts their heart and soul into and sell it of as if it were a product. It feels like a cash grab and somewhere along the line the message that the artist is trying to get across, the story they are trying to tell gets lost in the need to attain money. I understand that companies and studios needs to be paid but as it stands right now i would not like to work under anyone just because of fact that i feel like i don’t get the final say of how I want my project to look like.
This can also be seen in video-games where writer want to tell certain stories a create world building and character development but the people wouldn’t like to much story to overwhelm the game play because they don’t think it will sell as well and in the end it feels like all of the hard work that the writers put into their stories are all for nothing.
I love that artist can make a living of what they do but i feel like businesses should be more understanding of the artist and the amount of passion they put into their work.
EPHRAIM SAKUGA 