Cinema—The New Cathedral of Hollyworld

"After one hundred years of tinkering, film has arrived as an alternate form of transcendence, replacing in interesting and strange ways the once venerated position held by the institutional church. Or, to put it another way, the medium of motion film has finally received its birthright: born right around the time Nietzsche declared that God was dead, film has now matured to the point that America is now accepting cinema as the culture’s chief myth maker..."

Religion has returned to make something of a challenge to film in the years since this metaphilm article was written, but it still contains many fascinating insights. God is dead -- long live cinema!