Essay Sample about Indie Culture

When one thinks of “indie”, a culture challenging the mainstream in areas such as music, movies and clothing is what comes to mind. When it comes to films, “many observers see independent films as coming in two varieties: inauthentic calling-card movies made by those gunning for a career in Hollywood and more authentic, true indies by artists without such mainstream aspirations” (Newman). Audiences are missing, however, the idea that while these films can be artistic and small-scale, the “mainstream” that these indie films/companies are against have bought, or even produced, these “indie” films as well.  

While indie is thought to be about opposition, it too can be something of “distinction,” as Michael Z. Newman put it. One would think that these indie films would be made for/by a more diverse audience seeing that it is defying the status quo, however indie films were often seen/created by “urban, educated, middle-class, straight, white... men” (Newman). Further proving that “indie is at once oppositional and privileged; it asserts its privilege by opposing itself to the mainstream” (Newman). This was especially true with companies like Miramax.  

Miramax, which began as a low budget distribution company, essentially had a part in “mainstreaming” indie films by joining Disney in 1993.  The Weinstein brothers, who owned Miramax, often had extremely provocative and controversial content. While they had to create a separate company in order to release Larry Clark’s 1995 film Kids, this still goes to show that they had a hand in marketing this controversial movie. The fact that they even joined Disney too goes to show that this indie culture began to join the very thing they wanted to challenge.  

Kids is a prime example of an indie film. It shows the realities of children defying rules and stereotypes of the kid characters audiences often seen in films and throughout everyday life. However, by showing the harsh truths of kids doing things like having sex, abusing drugs, and going through life more “adult-like”, viewers see the realities of society. The controversial atmosphere of the film itself proves that this film is opposing the status quo of the mainstream media because it shows society as something that isn’t perfect. We see minors having sex, getting HIV, rolling blunts, using foul language, smoking, drinking, almost killing a man, etc, for instance.  

As the Weinstein brothers have proven time and time again, controversy sells. While Kids was turning heads in a positive way to some parents in order to show their children how not to behave, others saw the film as despicable because of the vivid nature of the scenes. Yet, due to this debate, Kids was talked about and therefore seen repeatedly. The nature of this controversy brings back the idea of indie “asserting its privilege by opposing itself to the mainstream” (Newman). If the Weinstein brothers, who keep in mind were white men who had at least a bit of power at this point, had to create an entirely new company just to run this one film- they knew it would make them money with a larger audience, if not based on the story, then by the drama surrounding it.  

While indie films were meant to be “small-scale, personal, artistic and creative” (Newman) movies that reached an edgy audience, this lack of a want for power from society made it that much more profitable. As Michael Newman brilliantly compared it, “’Authentic’ indie styles are for sale at the upscale Urban Outfitters, not the discount Walmart” (Newman).