Many people believe that film is a less important art than other forms such as literature and painting. To what extent do you agree or disagree? v.1

Film is often looked down on as a less important art form in comparison with more elevated mediums like painting and literature. In my opinion, though the blatant commercialisation of film often undermines its claim to be art at all, it is a clearly more important art form for the 21st century. Those who would minimise the importance of film, can point out its primary purpose is to make money. This has become increasingly true in the last several decades as studios have assumed greater power. It used to be common for auteurs like Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and Robert Altman to make modestly budgeted films that earned decent returns. The advent of blockbuster films generally and superhero movies in particular make it much harder for studios catering to their shareholders to justify anything other than a tent-pole franchises. The artistic merits of these big movies tend to be low as they are often made by a committee and strive only for escapism and fan service. However, film has clearly overtaken other forms of art in the popular imagination. Hundreds of years ago, composers, playwrights, novelists, and painters were held in higher esteem and their works were the centre of popular culture. Music and film have now displaced them. Someone who would have become a great writer in the 19th century, would now opt to make films as they can reach the greatest number of people and the medium is newer and more open to possibility. A good example of this would be a young filmmaker like P. T. Anderson, who creates thoughtful and explorative works that also have a degree of mass appeal. In conclusion, film as an art form is ascendant today. It is, however, still important for audiences to tune in to a wide breadth of genres in order to encourage the film industry to remain vibrant and innovative.