I know a lot of people dislike the American Film Institute’s (AFI) Top 100 lists, berating them for leaving key movies off their lists, or getting the order messed up, or one of a million other complaints. I typically don’t worry too much about their lists. It’s a lot of fun reviewing what they think are the best action movies, or best lines of dialog, or whatever other flavor they’re celebrating this year. If nothing else, it expands our film knowledge, and I would wager a lot of people hear about movies through the list that they never would have heard of otherwise.
I do have to take a bit of issue with AFI’s Moments of Significance for 2008, however. While I do think they’ve picked some really valid and important Moments for their list of eight, they’ve strayed pretty far from the realm of film with many of them. You’re the American Film Institute, remember? Stick with the movies.
As reported by Variety (the official press release of this year’s Moments hasn’t hit AFI’s website as of yet), Slumdog Millionaire, ”stands as a monument to the possibilities of cross-cultural storytelling.” Considering the massive accolades the movie has received, I can’t say I’m surprised to hear the AFI recognize the movie like that. The Institute also recognized the world of independent filmmaking getting a bit tougher, with a lot of the major studios independent branches (Paramount Vantage, Warner Independent, etc) disappearing.
The critical side of film was also recognized in the list, noting how it’s also taking a downturn. Internet critics may be a dime a dozen, but influential positions like those at the Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Time Magazine, and the like are being filtered out. Either we have to built a more influential voice online, or criticism will stop having a big effect on film (which Roger Ebert says is happening already anyway).
The other moment I give AFI big kudos for recognizing is Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, the online phenomenon that was released over the summer in three acts. Sure, it’s online entertainment, but it’s also along the lines of what the writers (and now the actors) fought over in contract negotiations. It also showed what the online medium could be used for - and people were definitely taking note. Just about every filmmaker and storyteller I saw in San Diego at Comic Con was excited about the possibilities Whedon had unearthed.
The rest of the Moments of Significance deal with the television side of things, from the unforgettable performance by Tina Fey as VP candidate Sarah Palin, to television coverage of the 2008 Olympics and Presidential Election. AFI also noted how television is changing as a Moment of Significance, with the advent of Hulu, a Direct TV sponsored season of Friday Night Lights, and Leno moving to the 10pm time slot next year.
I think AFI has picked out some great moments from 2008 - and definitely some things here that are significant, but I think they need to change their name, since most of the list has little to do with film. How about the American Entertainment Institute? Or, since we’re now celebrating cross-cultural entertainment like Slumdog Millionaire, we just get rid of the “American” part of things altogether. After all, film isn’t solely an American thing, just like entertainment isn’t solely within the world of film.
