We're not big fans of witty, ironic t-shirts. You have to be pretty insecure if you feel the need to supplement your personality with a shirt made from cotton and the tears of emaciated Cambodian children. However, there's one shirt sold on Threadless that we enjoy. This manila T's simple yet witty slogan — "I listen to bands that don't even exist yet" — means a lot to us. The phrase makes us think of the people who roll their eyes when you list your favorite recent movies. You know these people as bullies or jerks or Angelica Pickles, but we have a technical term for them — Indie Elitists.
These people used to be a minority, but they have become more numerous and vocal as of late. These negative-Nancys believe that mainstream films are merely mimicking independent films, and they see most films as artless filth spewed by money-hungry businessmen anyway.
Before we get any further, let's define independent films. Any film not produced by a major film studio falls into this category. The vast majority are low-budget and rather idiosyncratic. Nowadays, studios cherry-pick from film festivals like Sundance and Cannes with hopes of finding the next Quentin Tarantino or "Juno" (2007). Most normal people complain about things like the upcoming production of "Pirates of the Carribean 4: Of Stranger Tides" (2011). Everybody knows a fourth "Pirate" project will tally three movies too many. Yet, indie elitists are of a different breed. We're talking about people who hated this summer's "Away We Go" (2009) without actually seeing it. Their reasoning: The film tries too hard to be an indie flick, even though it's not. After all, it was directed by "American Beauty" (1999) director Sam Mendes and featured actors from recent seasons of NBC's "Saturday Night Live" and "The Office." Well, we've got a newsflash for these people. "Away We Go" was written by two rookie screenwriters, one of whom has gone on to write the upcoming "Where the Wild Things Are" (2009), which is an indie fan's nighttime fantasy: a Spike Jonze film saturated with Arcade Fire songs.
Elitists hate movies that get picked up by major studios because this means the possibility of success and wider viewership. Elitists want to see films wallow about in obscurity, unfit even for Netflix's massive library.
"Juno" is a perfect example: Here was a film written by an ex-stripper named Diablo about a quirky (minor aside: Since when has quirky been tied to indie?) teenage preggo. As soon as 20th Century Fox snatched up the rights, it marketed "Juno" to the Urban Outfitters crowd. After much ballyhoo (and several Oscar nominations), the Elitists came in to rain on everyone's parade. They scoffed when you commented on how "fresh" the film felt, and ground their teeth when you commended the soundtrack's showcasing of Belle and Sebastian. They even spat in your face when you called it the best indie since "Little Miss Sunshine" (2006). Well, maybe they didn't spit, but they certainly were not happy.
Furthermore, elitists saw "Slumdog Millionaire" (2008) as proof that director Danny Boyle sold out to the suits. Here's something you didn't know: "Slumdog" was rejected by Warner Brothers and almost became a straight-to-DVD film. It was only when Fox's independent subsidiary (Fox Searchlight) picked it up that the film won Best Picture.
These Elitists are just snooty people who have a false sense of superiority. Just because you love a movie that no one else has ever heard of doesn't make you an insider or an expert of cinema. A movie should be judged by what's occurring on the screen, not what's going on behind it.
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Zach Drucker and Chris Poldoian are sophomores who have not yet declared majors. They can be reached at zachary.drucker@tufts.edu and christopher.poldoian@tufts.edu, respectively.
