Black and white
is the original template for the movies; a perusal of any “Greatest Films of
All Time” list will reveal a bulk of black and white entries. One of the (many)
unfortunate aspects of contemporary media culture is that black and white
visual expression has fallen by the wayside, leaving great swaths of Millennial
viewers ignorant of it. Contemporary black and white cinematography is most
likely to be seen, when it is, in independent or foreign cinema, almost never
in major Hollywood releases or on television. Black and white has come to be
seen as an obstacle for viewers to overcome instead of something to embrace;
consider Ted Turner’s misguided “colorizing” of classic films to make them
accessible. Such a strategy is tantamount to producing a Shakespeare play from
one of those “No Fear” editions—easier comprehension doesn’t result so much as
grotesque cheapening.
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| Yay... | |
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| ...or nay? |
