Spectacle vs Substance

At one time personal and intrinsic skills were highly valued and in demand. Once, 'handmade' was a positive term...

In industry, those higher values have been relegated to cheap knockoffs, sweatshops, high profit margins, and the use of machines to mass 'emulate' artisan skills.....

In the movie industry, thoughtful and arguably important 'small' productions are usually trampled by tentpole blockbusters valued by the number of explosions, blood spills, and sex scenes. Exceptional writing, acting and cinematography are often overshadowed by a billion anonymous keystrokes in a cgi lab.

In the music world or any of the arts fields, hard earned and impassioned personal skills seem to only gain wide public attention if wrapped in a swath of hoopla, fireworks, light shows, hit producers, or in a bevy of hot dancers. The truest artistry is often lost or under exposed to the point of extinction, mostly because appreciation skills are never taught and because the 'bottom line' has become the deciding factor in which skillful nuance will live to see the light of day (read: can be mass marketed).

As much as artists and supporters hope against hope that society will save the day, it's not much to hang one's hat on.

Only a groundswell of proactive believers with a true sense of value could ever possibly turn this around......

Are you one?