"By the current definition, Dickens was a hack. So was Shakespeare. They were just brilliant hacks"
Shakespeare, certainly. Churchill, MacArthur, and I disagree on Dickens.
"And the best of Hollywood cinema is among this country's greatest cultural achievements."
Among? Perhaps. It remains to be seen if they stand the test of time. Seems to be Dickens is already slip-slipping away.
Not to quibble but Dickens was a Brit who pre-dated movies.
I didn't mean their work was bad. Just that the way they worked doesn't fit our contemporary ideas of great artists striving to give posterity their all. They were scribblers wokring against a deadline. I wouldn't say Dickens is sliding away. Anyone who wants to know anything about the English novel can't avoid him. And some movies have already been around almost a century without losing much of their repuation. 'Intolerance' and so forth.
Me? You talking to me, Mrs. Haversham? Then who the hell else are you talkin' to? Well, I'm the only one here, Mrs. Haversham?