Has the MTV generation hurt the quality of films today?

I've heard quite often, that people think certain films are tarnished and unwatchable because they have certain characteristics similar to the fast moving images that MTV created.
Directors of this style include Michael Bay, Tony Scott and Rob Cohen. Common movie complaints are its too fast, jumpy editing, snazzy colors and special film effects that often hide the faults of the story or film or tarnish whatever good the film does have. and this takes away from good storytelling, slow and developing dialogue and character development and less inconsistencies with movies.
what are your thoughts?

I wouldn't say wholeheartedly, but partly, yes. Of course, I have a lot of problems with MTV these days, when compared to the MTV of 15 years ago.

Most of these movies that fall under that too fast classification are the action films where a plausible storyline and dialogue are not required. Sometimes, this doesn't affect the story (much), but there are other times where mindless action is just not enough.

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"I was walking down the street with my friend and he said, "I hear music", as if there is any other way you can take it in. You're not special, that's how I receive it too. I tried to taste it but it did not work." - Mitch Hedberg

well yeah...15 years ago it was about music. a music channel

nowdays it's about lifestyle and tv games...not a music channel anymore. practically not a lot of people (especially the new generation of kids in their teens) are interested and excited about music anymore, the way they were 10 or 15 years ago.


they should change the name to LTV (lifestyle TV)

Movies? Yeah probably. A lot more fast cutting and far little dialogue and conversations on TV to meet the short attention spans of the MTV viewers who probably happen to be a lot of the ticket buyers to the latest teenie bopper and Michael Bay film.

If you call Michael Jackson, Cindi Lauper, and Madonna music I reckon it was good 15/20 years ago. Eh, OK. It wasn't all bad. I like the idea of music videos, but now they're so expensive, commericals for albums and merchandise you can buy whether it's the Beyonce butt pump or the My Chemical Romance suburban boy eyeliner.

MTV certainly led the way with the reality TV craze, which is garbage I think because there is no good story telling involved, just gossip. It's only a minor step above horrible garbage like Jerry Springer.

As the Dead Kennedys said, MTV Get OFF the air!

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I miss Friday night video fights. That was a cool show.

As far as the idea of MTV somehow ruining movies... Nah, not really. Your mileage may vary is all. I sometimes wonder if most of you can wrap your minds around the incredible volume of films being made today. That to me more than anything helps account for so many mediocre to bad films. It is what it is.

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Maybe a little bit, but not that much. There are still too many good new movies out there to watch them all. But TV-Shows (like the ones on MTV) and popular music generally hold much lower standards nowadays. I think that´s a reference to the new viewing habits.

It's a different kind of quality.

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In short: VH1 > MTV. MTV doesn't even do music anymore. Except for like TRL, and that's pretty much it. While VH1 does music ALL THE TIME, and STILL manages to pull off the oh so funny "I Love" Series', and the "Top 100's."

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McG is a shinning example of the music video director turned movie-maker, he also embodies the very reason I despise most summer movies these days. I realize that it's a genre that doesn't ask anything of it's audience, but still I don't think you have to beat them over the head with crass idiocy. The Charlie's angels movies are a classic example, loaded down by gratuitous cg effects, wire-work, and juvenile attempts at humor.

The quick-cuts are a great example of how little they understand about action or adventure. They confuse alot of things happening at one, with suspense and adventure. Both are a moods conveyed by the direction of a scene, not a series of pyrotechnics.

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...uh the post is up there...

You`re right. But Charlie`s Angels was nevertheless highly entertaining. Only the second part really sucks. It´s like throwing LSD and staring at a running washing mashine.

I wouldn't know, but that sounds about right.

Yeah...a bad kind.

Hehe, but seriously, I don't care enough about most newer movies to get particularly fired up about it.

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Yes, for all of the reasons above. It's all style, no substance.

That sounds like William Randolph Hearst's review of Citizen Kane!

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What about Spike Jonze or Michel Gondry?

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Those are good examples of music video directors turned film directors. But they both made very excellent music videos. Not everyone does.

Really now?? Why pick on M. McGinty there? lol. Sure he's not known for much except for Charlie's Angels, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Stay Alive, We Are Marshall and the recent Terminator Salvation...but what does he gotta do with "most summer movies" of today except for the latest Terminator? Just curious.

That's weird because i just caught about twenty minutes of the MTV movie awards today because they were replaying it and i wanted to throw a bomb in the room. It was disgusting. I can't even find words to describe my irritation as Twilight won everything and ****ing Robert Pattinson beat out Dev Patel and then i turned it off.

I don't really have an on topic opinion though. I mean i don't think it's MTV's fault i think that it was just bound to happen no matter what with the advances in technology of course people are going to go all out on style and not much else. Older movies couldn't do that because they didn't have the technology so they actually focused on plot. But still there are hundreds of movies made each year that don't rely on fast special effects.

Pointing the finger to a certain generation is an easy fix, but there are so many influences from our social reality which from the use of technology,past the times of industrialisation, there is a huge market. Marketibility is the number one reason we have these pop princesses, making multi million pay checks and we are blaming a certain demographic?
Its the power of the dollar, and the corruption and manipulation of the media to earn capital at the expense of raw talent which is only marketable to a certain smal percentage of the public. If the majority of teenagers like hannah montana, we'll be seeing her again and again until hollywood disapointingly chews her up and spits her out.

Cheers,
I
Jez