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Originally Posted by Vexx
I don't know if you've actually *visited* the U.S. and spent much time there but ... respect has to be earned to some degree and it can be lost with repeated exposure.
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I have visited the US, but I don't pretend to know much about the complexities of American demographics.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vexx
The U.S. audience is highly fractured in terms of modern commonality to the extent one could argue we have a dozen parallel cultures that barely intersect (unlike, say, twenty or thirty years ago when entertainment sources were more limited)...
Oh, Ghilbi isn't "mainstream" in the US. It is barely on the radar, a bone Disney throws to the small percentage on the right of the bell curve.
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Which is why I think it's probably a good time to define more clearly what we mean by "mainstream". As you say, given the fractured demographics of the United States, can we even reasonably identify what counts as "mainstream"?
And mainstream for whom? Because Ghibli is as mainstream as you can get, as far as Japanese audiences are concerned. And Ghibli movies are comparable to those of Disney, which, to me, are as mainstream as Western animation gets. Both enjoy broad appeal, and not just in their home countries. The common trait they share? An emphasis on universal themes, which, unsurprisingly, could be considered bland and not innovative by some.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vexx
I suppose one could argue that the media in the US underestimates the audience but the numbers essentially say over and over again - the more banal or superficial the better the stats. Using incredibly tortured scenarios to extract maximum emotionalism from contestants and viewers at the expense of intellectual content. Prime time drama with plots paper thin and painful dialog. Even watching a science documentary often induces stupidity as the cycle of dumbing down data increases.
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As someone who hardly watches TV any more, even for the news, I'll just take you at your word.
