ABSTRACT
As the tabloid reality show ascended, independent cinema was deep into the phase of ‘indiewood’ in which larger companies and studios were sponsoring marketable indie films. The infamous case of several Southern California teens who burgled a string of celebrity homes was the basis for both the E! reality show Pretty Wild (2010) and the Sofia Coppola film The Bling Ring (2013). The Bling Ring imposes the structures of Coppola's auteurism and a more conventional storyline, leaving the affect low and one-toned. Pretty Wild, with the tabloid reality genre of semi-scripted entertainment, allows for gaps and fissures in storyline and character development leading to affects high and low which can leave viewers perplexed but still interested. Looking at the film from a broader perspective, The Bling Ring's failure, both aesthetically and commercially, is another example of current independent cinema lacking in substance and execution. As the term ‘independent cinema’ has become more elastic since the last golden age of the 1990s, the difference of these films, aesthetically and socially, from mainstream fare has diminished. Tabloid reality television presents a more promising territory for viewer engagement and social change than the current world of independent cinema.
