As one of the most pervasive and influential
popular arts, the movies feed into and off of the rest of
the culture in various ways. In the United States, the
star system of the mid-1920s—in which actors were
(5) placed under exclusive contract to particular
Hollywood film studios—was a consequence of
studios’ discovery that the public was interested in
actor’s private lives, and that information about actors
could be used to promote their films. Public relations
(10) agents fed the information to gossip columnists,
whetting the public’s appetite for the films—which,
audiences usually discovered, had the additional virtue
of being created by talented writers, directors, and
producers devoted to the art of storytelling. The
(15) important feature of this relationship was not the
benefit to Hollywood, but rather to the press; in what
amounted to a form of cultural cross-fertilization, the
press saw that they could profit from studios’
promotion of new films.

(20) Today this arrangement has mushroomed into an
intricately interdependent mass-media entertainment
industry. The faith by which this industry sustains itself
is the belief that there is always something worth
promoting. A vast portion of the mass media—
(25) television and radio interviews, magazine articles, even
product advertisements—now does most of the work
for Hollywood studios attempting to promote their
movies. It does so not out of altruism but because it
makes for good business: If you produce a talk show
(30) or edit a newspaper, and other media are generating
public curiosity about a studio’s forthcoming film, it
would be unwise for you not to broadcast or publish
something about the film, too, because the audience for
your story is already guaranteed.

(35) The problem with this industry is that it has begun
to affect the creation of films as well as their
promotion. Choices of subject matter and actors are
made more and more frequently by studio executives
rather than by producers, writers, or directors. This
(40) problem is often referred to simply as an obsession
with turning a profit, but Hollywood movies have
almost always been produced to appeal to the largest
possible audience. The new danger is that,
increasingly, profit comes only from exciting an
(45) audience’s curiosity about a movie instead of satisfying
its desire to have an engaging experience watching the
film. When movies can pull people into theaters
instantly on the strength of media publicity rather than
relying on the more gradual process of word of mouth
(50) among satisfied moviegoers, then the intimate
relationship with the audience—on which the vitality
of all popular art depends—is lost. But studios are
making more money than ever by using this formula,
and for this reason it appears that films whose appeal is
(55) due not merely to their publicity value but to their
ability to affect audiences emotionally will become
increasingly rare in the U.S. film industry.

1. The passage suggests that the author would be most likely to agree with which one of the following statements?

(A) The Hollywood films of the mid-1920s were in general more engaging to watch than are Hollywood films produced today.
(B) The writers, producers, and directors in Hollywood in the mid-1920s were more talented than are their counterparts today.
(C) The Hollywood film studios of the mid-1920s had a greater level of dependence on the mass-media industry than do Hollywood studios today.
(D) The publicity generated for Hollywood films in the mid-1920s was more interesting than is the publicity generated for these films today.
(E) The star system of the mid-1920s accounts for most of the difference in quality between the Hollywood films of that period and Hollywood films today.


2. According to the author, the danger of mass-media promotion of films is that it

(A) discourages the work of filmmakers who attempt to draw the largest possible audiences to their films
(B) discourages the critical review of the content of films that have been heavily promoted
(C) encourages the production of films that excite an audience’s curiosity but that do not provide satisfying experiences
(D) encourages decisions to make the content of films parallel the private lives of the actors that appear in them
(E) encourages cynicism among potential audience members about the merits of the films publicized


3. The phrase “cultural cross-fertilization” (line 17) is used in the passage to refer to which one of the following?

(A) competition among different segments of the U.S. mass media
(B) the interrelationship of Hollywood movies with other types of popular art
(C) Hollywood film studios’ discovery that the press could be used to communicate with the public
(D) the press’s mutually beneficial relationship with Hollywood film studios
(E) interactions between public relations agents and the press


4. Which one of the following most accurately describes the organization of the passage?

(A) description of the origins of a particular aspect of a popular art; discussion of the present state of this aspect; analysis of a problem associated with this aspect; introduction of a possible solution to the problem
(B) description of the origins of a particular aspect of a popular art; discussion of the present state of this aspect; analysis of a problem associated with this aspect; suggestion of a likely consequence of the problem
(C) description of the origins of a particular aspect of a popular art; analysis of a problem associated with this aspect; introduction of a possible solution to the problem; suggestion of a likely consequence of the solution
(D) summary of the history of a particular aspect of a popular art; discussion of a problem that accompanied the growth of this aspect; suggestion of a likely consequence of the problem; appraisal of the importance of avoiding this consequence
(E) summary of the history of a particular aspect of a popular art; analysis of factors that contributed to the growth of this aspect; discussion of a problem that accompanied the growth of this aspect; appeal for assistance in solving the problem


5. The author’s position in lines 35-47 would be most weakened if which one of the following were true?

(A) Many Hollywood studio executives do consider a film’s ability to satisfy moviegoers emotionally.
(B) Many Hollywood studio executives achieved their positions as a result of demonstrating talent at writing, producing, or directing films that satisfy audiences emotionally.
(C) Most writers, producers, and directors in Hollywood continue to have a say in decisions about the casting and content of films despite the influence of studio executives.
(D) The decisions made by most Hollywood studio executives to improve a film’s chances of earning a profit also add to its ability to satisfy moviegoers emotionally.
(E) Often the U.S. mass media play an indirect role in influencing the content of the films that Hollywood studios make by whetting the public’s appetite for certain performers or subjects.