Before I reveal this rubric, though, I want to discuss why the two are together in this and not separate, for the two are quite different entities. Art is difficult to define and I do not intend to attempt to give any sort of explanation to what "art" is, as everyone's view of it differs. Entertainment, however, is fairly straightforward. Entertainment is something that satisfies a need and serves as a distraction or catharsis. Entertainment is a filling of a void, a silencing of doubt, a quelling of the eternal existential dilemma. Entertainment is escapism, and it can be spectacular. Art can be entertainment, it can also be its polar opposite. In this lecture I will explore the relationship between the two, how they coexist and compliment one another, a yin and yang situation, to be sure, for without a scope of quality, entertainment would not function as it does. They are reliant on one another, as I hope to show here.
This is the Venn Diagram and Art and Entertainment. Each circle represents a need, a base desire, the three chief emotions and hungers of humanity: Sexual lust (as I have argued, the one base emotion from which all others evolve), violence, and intellect and introspection. The rule of the diagram is this: as you move further inward more "artistic merit" is added. By that right, the outside of the circles are the lowest forms of art, the center are the highest.
For the sake of comprehension, I will use comparisons for each circle in terms of entertainment. A, violence, starts on the far end as a form of entertainment that serves only to satisfy our inherent bloodlust. The furthest end of this circle would be underground prize fighting, unlicensed boxing and the like. As you move in towards the center, you get professional wrestling, a performance, a staging of actual violence.
Then there's C, sex. The outer rim is pornography, all out sex shown only for the pleasing of our sexual desires. As you move into the circle you get porn with plot, an example could be Deep throat or some Japanese pinku films, which brings us into our first subsection of our diagram: section F. More on that later. First we must establish what is in section B.
Section B is work that satisfies intellectual needs. This is the tricky circle, because there are two sides to it. One side is informative work, educational entertainment, Sesame Street for example. The other side of it is introspective work, work that fulfills on a purely internal level, often only for the artist. An argument for this side of the circle is that this represents what some call "high art" or pretentious art, art that does not entertain. Each circle starts with extremes, as such these are the extremes of circle B.
Since it's already been mentioned, our first subsection to explore will be subsection F. A perfect example of a work to be placed in circle F could be The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai, a pinku film involving a woman who, after being shot in the head (and surviving, of course), can only orgasm from intellectual stimulation, shown in one particular scene where she has sex with a college professor and begs him to talk about Noam Chomsky as he plunges into her. The film is an "out there" experience, and though it does suffer on many levels, comprehension being one of them, it is still significant, if only for this analogy. I would argue that the multimillion dollar Pirates also belongs in this circle, as so much money and time was put into its production, the use of high-end film equipment and sets, special effects. Even if there was little to no writing artistry in the production, artists from several fields were called in, to say nothing of the work of the performers.
Then there is subsection E, the blending of sexual desire and bloodthirst. This section begins with hardcore pornography, violent sex, domination, and exploitation films, even, as we move further inward, many action films. This circle goes from the Guinea Pig series (not to be discounted for lack of artistry; its special effects are second to few) and the work of Fred Vogel to films like Die Hard, with a massive stock of examples in between, from slasher films like Hostel and Friday the 13th to grindhouse exploitation films and their homages such as Policewomen and Hobo with a Shotgun.
Now let's explore subsection D: films that combine our lust for violence with our intellectual need to learn and understand. A good example can be found in the work of the Cohen brothers, especially Fargo and No Country for Old Men, films with violent content that disgusts instead of satiates. These films dwell not on violence but on its effects, on what violence does to those it touches. Other examples include There Will Be Blood, The Wrestler, and, perhaps, Reservoir Dogs.
Our final subsection is G, where all three come together to form one entity. This includes work that encompasses all three desires. On the outer rim would be films that do this more for mass appeal, pop culture films like Superbad, which satiate our desires for violence, sexuality, and yet still, while maintaining its place as a comedy, dwells upon the hardships of life at the age of eighteen. As we move further into the center we get even purer works of all encompassing art. My personal favorites, Death Race 2000 and Repo Man, fit into this subsection quite well, although I must confess Death Race 2000 does belong on the outer rim, as its intellect lies more in its story, its imagination, and its humanity.
This ends my presentation of the Venn Diagram of Art and Entertainment. I hope you've enjoyed this exploration and I hope this does not mark the end of your intellectual travels, but only spurs further contemplation. Spread love.
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