Actually, by definition, a manifesto is a “public declaration of principles, policies, or intentions” or a “proclamation of opinions and motives.” Its synonyms include “creed” and “credo,” which are, of course, belief statements. That’s what Spout–and not many others out there–seems to have created. I’m not sure where this “sweeping, important, profound” definition came from. If Spout wanted to be naive and incredibly unrealistic, they could talk about how a group of film-lovers could wipe out stupid movies and television shows forever, or how they were going to take to arms and force every Hollywood mogul to put half his blockbuster profits into grants for talented, unknown filmmakers. But it seems to me that Spout’s approach is right on: encouraging people to reflect, to engage in dialogue, and to embrace something small but very real, like finding a good movie to invest a couple of hours in and good people to interact with. And there’s even a larger purpose that’s actually obtainable–joining together to impact the status quo in the film industry, and getting more good films out to more people. Personally, I’m all for working to perfect these small but noble causes in my own life before I begin clamoring for “sweeping, important, profound” statements that are hollow because they’re built on falseness and naivet