Anyone who wants to do something that entails social responsibility or expectations - leading groups, owning weapons, treating illnesses, fishing, selling things or films - needs a certificate, permit, license or approbation.
A medal or a certificate of honor also helps less often.
They indicate to the state or other people involved that the action has been approved by a higher authority.
They are issued and given to you, sometimes for a small fee.
When there is a lot of money involved in gaining this kind of recognition, it is often not going to be right.
Amazon, Jeff Bezos' delivery service for all kinds of things, including moving images, offered $ 8.45 billion for such certification on Wednesday.
Instead of a written license that could have been framed and visibly hung in the office or posted on Instagram, Bezos has hacked an entire film studio: the traditional Hollywood studio with the roaring lion, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM ), which, depending on the reading, long withstood the advances of the streaming providers or just waited for the right offer.
Sunbathe in old Hollywood
However, Bezos has not only bought an illustrious series of figures - James Bond, Rocky, Robocop - and around 4,000 “Hollywood films”, which are gradually expanding its video-on-demand offering; with MGM (if you go strictly by the numbers) he is absorbed in something that is long gone. Something that shapes the ideas of happiness and success in the minds of all people in the western world to this day. Something that other video providers such as Netflix and Apple also love to bask in the glory of: old Hollywood. A cosmos of its own, the staff of which became more and more similar to its characters and lived in a film world, so to speak.
Netflix also tried to maintain this connection to the old cinema nobility with the film “Mank” about Herman J. Mankiewicz, the screenwriter of “Citizen Kane”. And although these efforts are rarely rewarded with Oscars, the hope that shines through from the companies' point of view is clear: If we continue to spin the story of Hollywood, then it seems as if we have always been a part of it. But even if there is only evil tongues of grocer's souls, it doesn't hurt to keep in mind: Before they got into the movie business, Netflix was an online video store, Apple sold computers, and Amazon traded books.