Is it just me or has the independent film industry fallen prey to an emergent malady of mediocrity? This, of course, is an overly generalized observation; there are a few noteworthy examples and some have even garnered accolades from foreign audiences, but let’s face it – the remarkable ones are few and far in between and is no way indicative of the homogeneity of our prevalent cinematic experience. I don’t fancy myself as a professional critic; and compared to Froyo, am no movie buff. I’ve had a few experiences during my undergraduate years as a student critic, and have graced several lectures and workshops on film and film theory enough to display a capacity to formulate an educated opinion.
I may not have the acute wit of a Pauline Kael, nor the practical sagacity of a Robert Ebert, and to speak of the profundity of cinematic semiotics would be hugely detached, but I’m certain that even the most layman and shallow would notice how the phrases “indie film” and “experimental cinema” have been used too loosely and without concern lately that it dilutes and damages the essence of these lexis, and consequently shedding the more legitimate instances of the genre in insipid light.
