Elizabeth Wurtzel (yes, that Elizabeth Wurtzel) recently published a Wall Street Journal editorial entitled The Internet is Killing American Movies and Music, the point of which seems to be –– an emphasis on the seems –– wrapped up in its final couple of sentences.
After boldly making the case that Pete Yorn should be more famous than he is, Wurtzel bitches for a bit about how downloading has decreased not just the profitability but the intrinsic value of music and movies as compared to the fine, object-oriented arts like painting and sculpture. Implying the falsehood that movies and pop music are more inherently American than these mediums because “We’ll never overwhelm the planet with brushes and clay and pencils the way we did with celluloid and vinyl and acetate,” Wurtzel ultimately directly connects the health of America’s cultural exports to our national identity and international standing:
Our movies and music are America. And the day the music dies, the party’s over.
Scary stuff, huh? I won’t reiterate the arguments made by Idolator in regards to the dated nature of Wurtzel’s references and statistics, but from my perspective, the piece reads like it was written by someone who hasn’t even seen a movie since long before Pete Yorn had his career peak of just barely cracking the Billboard Top 20 (for the record: that happened in 2003).
The only recent film reference in the story is a jab at “crazy Harry Potter fans” for showing the kind of enthusiasm that Wurtzel laments is found in short supply since “the days when lines formed around the block at New York’s Ziegfeld Theater because the latest installment of Star Wars had opened.” Though Wurtzel laments a de-emphasis on “talent” in pop music, she has not a single qualitative statement to make about a single contemporary film––she’s simply concerned that studios are making more money off their back catalogs than new releases, and that foreign territories “have found they favor the locally produced fare over yet another sequel to Rush Hour.” Which is maybe not the best example, considering that Rush Hour 3 made $114 million internationally––just $6 million less than its predecessor-–while the third film’s domestic gross was a full $86 million short (!) of Rush Hour 2’s $226 million. In terms of sustaining “favor” through serialization, this is one franchise with exponentially greater staying power overseas.
Also: neither of those points about the film industry, even if backed up with examples that were true, would have much to do with downloading. Also: there’s no mention of how legal downloading and streaming of media––although she does bash iPhone owners for their love of the gadget, without noting that one of its big plusses is its ability to carry legally acquired movies and music. Also: Has she heard of The Dark Knight?
There are valid arguments that could be made regarding the relationship between the export of American popular culture and our political status as a superpower. It’s just that Wurtzel makes none of them.
Today in 
Tropic Thunder held up much better than expected in its second week, declining just 38% to take in $16.1 million. Its $16.1 was just enough to overcome The House Bunny’s $15.1. Meanwhile, The Rocker, The Longshots and Death Race basically bombed, and Vicky Cristina Barcelona proved that implied threesomes sell in the Midwest.
