Blockbusters as Vehicles for Cultural Debate in Cultural Journalism

Abstract | Abstract

Taking our point of departure in ‘the cultural intermediary’ as theoretical concept (Bourdieu, 1984; Maguire and Matthews, 2012) and in the coverage of blockbuster movies on Danish cultural pages from 1960 to 2012, this article analyses the changing role of the cultural journalist and the changing cultural approach in cultural journalism since the mid-20th century. The analysis shows that the negotiation and definition of the blockbuster as cultural phenomenon has changed; whereas it was originally, critically, interpreted as a sign of cultural imperialism, Americanisation, or artistic decline, it is increasingly viewed as a global, omnipresent cultural and industrial phenomenon with its own aesthetic, narrative, and cultural logic. In this manner, the coverage exemplifies that the blockbuster has been and continues to be negotiated as a (relevant) object of cultural journalism; that cultural journalism at different times provides different reflective spaces for popular culture; and that contemporary cultural journalism continues to be critical and contemplative at the same time as it provides cultural service and infotainment. Consequently, the analysis also illustrates how the role of journalists as cultural intermediaries has changed historically.